Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge "Ode to Billie Joe" - Bobbie Gentry
Ball State Cardinals
65 – 78
FINAL Conference
Akron Zips
Mid-American Conference · Worthen Arena · February 20, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread AKR -13.5 Home covered
O/U 147.5 Under
Money BALL +800 / AKR -1350
Model Predictions
Spread Total BALL win
Actual AKR +13 143 Lost
Massey AKR -16.6 (+3.6) — —
Massey Totals — 148.4 (-5.4) —
Bradley-Terry — — 5% ✓
Weighted B-T — — 3% ✓
Baseline Plus ML AKR -14.5 (+1.5) 141.4 (+1.6) 16% ✓
Efficiency Plus ML ★ AKR -14.4 (+1.4) 143.7 (-0.7) 14% ✓
Baseline Tuned ML AKR -14.1 (+1.1) 141.2 (+1.8) 14% ✓
Baseline ML AKR -14.4 (+1.4) 142.1 (+0.9) 15% ✓

Predictions use only rating snapshots dated before tip-off. Parenthesised values are the signed error vs. the actual result. Model performance →

Last 5 Meetings

Jan 14, 2026 AKR 87 – 77 BALL
Feb 26, 2025 AKR 87 – 82 BALL
Feb 5, 2025 AKR 81 – 73 BALL
Jan 10, 2024 AKR 80 – 76 BALL
Mar 1, 2023 AKR 87 – 83 BALL

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings BALL AKR
Overall 12-19 29-6
Conference 7-11 17-1
Home 7-7 15-0
Away 4-11 9-3
Neutral 1-1 5-3
Last 5 1-4 4-1
Streak W4 L1
Avg Pts For 66.1 86.4
Avg Pts Against 71.4 75.0
Massey -10.2 (#311) 9.4 (#64)
Bradley-Terry -1.85 (#325) 1.60 (#61)
W. Bradley-Terry -2.44 (#327) 1.75 (#75)
RPI 0.407 (#337) 0.591 (#40)
Shooting & Four Factors BALL AKR
FG% 39.8% 49.8%
3PT% 30.0% 38.2%
REB / G 30.8 36.6
OREB / G 9.8 11.2
AST / TO 1.08 1.69
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 45.7% 58.4%
TOV% 16.5% 15.2%
ORB% 27.1% 33.8%
FT Rate 23.5% 22.6%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 54.1% 51.2%
Opp TOV% 19.0% 18.4%
DRB% 68.2% 68.9%
Opp FT Rate 25.0% 23.0%

Game Analysis

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