The Blue Key Victory Bell is presented to the winner of the

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game between

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

and

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

. The two schools met regularly between 1924 and 1991 but sporadically since that season. They have competed for the Victory Bell since 1940; from 1924 to 1947 they were

Indiana Intercollegiate Conference The Indiana Intercollegiate Conference (IIC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1922 to 1950. It consisted of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, DeP ...

rivals and from 1951 to 1967 they were

Indiana Collegiate Conference The Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) was a college athletic conference in the United States from 1951 to 1978. It consisted solely of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University, Butler University, ...

rivals. Ball State was a regional campus of Indiana State University from 1918 to 1961; since the 1961–62 academic year, Ball State has operated independently.

History

Early in the series, games would be played either at

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

(hosted by Indiana State) or

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...

(hosted by Ball State). The first two games between the schools took place at Terre Haute in 1924 and 1925; then the series between the schools continued on a near home-and-home basis from 1931 to 1983. From 1984 to 1989, the games were played at a neutral site,

Hoosier Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984–2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention Cen ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

; during this era, Indiana State moved down to Division I-AA (now

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

) while Ball State remained Division I-A (now

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

). The last home-and-home cycle for this game was in 1990 and 1991. Since 2002, all games in this series have been played in Muncie. The Victory Bell continues to be the official game trophy, even though the Ball State/Indiana state series has become less frequent since the 1990s. In 1940, the

Blue Key Blue Key Honor Society is an American national honor society for college upperclassmen. Blue Key has over 50 chartered collegiate chapters within the United States. History Blue Key Honor Society was founded as Blue Key National Honor Frater ...

chapters at both Indiana State and Ball State agreed to donate a bell to the winner of the football game between their two schools. On September 13, 2014, Indiana State beat Ball State for their first win over Ball State since 1987. The two schools are scheduled to meet again on September 16, 2023.

Game results

References

{{Missouri Valley Football Conference rivalry navbox, state=collapsed College football rivalries in the United States College football rivalry trophies in the United States Ball State Cardinals football Indiana State Sycamores football

History

Game results

See also

References