Ball State football announces non-conference game with Auburn in 2025

The reigning MAC champion Ball State Cardinals announced a new future opponent on Tuesday afternoon, confirming a scheduled non-conference game in the heart of SEC country to face the Auburn Tigers on Sept. 6, 2025, at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“This game will provide our football student-athletes a platform to compete on another big stage with a rich intercollegiate sporting experience,” Ball State deputy athletic director Haven Fields, who attended Auburn as a student-athlete, said via press release. “It will enhance our recruiting efforts and create memories that will last a lifetime. As an Auburn alum and football letterman, it is exciting to have the opportunity to travel back South to compete against the SEC.”

It will be the fourth game all-time between the Tigers and Cardinals, with Auburn winning the previous three meetings by a combined score of 147-33, including a 63-3 route back in 2005 when Ball State was led by Brady Hoke. The most recent meeting was back in 2009, where the Tigers upended BSU 54-30.

This is now the third SEC team Ball State has lined up for future contest, as they have a meeting at Ol’ Rocky Top scheduled for 2022, playing the Tennessee Volunteers on September 3rd, and are also scheduled to play the Kentucky Wildcats in 2023 and 2027.

Right now the Cardinals are 0-7 against SEC teams, with Auburn being the only team to play Ball State more than once. BSU has also played Florida (2000), Kentucky (2001), South Carolina (1998), and Texas A&M (2015) in program history.

The Cardinals’ 2025 schedule is now almost complete, as they have also lined up games against Purdue (August 30th) and UConn (September 20th). They will likely seek an FCS opponent to fill out the final vacancy on the schedule.

Ball State will be back in action in just under four months, as they kick off their 2021 campaign on September 2nd against the Western Illinois Leathernecks.