The juice of the carrot, the smile of the parrot / A little drop of claret - anything that rocks "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" - Ian Dury & the Blockheads
Ball State Cardinals
76 71
FINAL Conference
Ohio Bobcats
Mid-American Conference · Worthen Arena · January 17, 2026
Betting Lines
Spread OHIO -5.5 Home covered
O/U 147.5 Under
Money BALL +190 / OHIO -230
Model Predictions
Spread Total BALL win
Actual BALL +5 147 Won
Massey OHIO -3.9 (+8.9)
Massey Totals 145.5 (+1.5)
Bradley-Terry 9%
Weighted B-T 6%
Efficiency Plus ML OHIO -3.2 (+8.2) 143.7 (+3.3) 34%
Baseline Tuned ML OHIO -5.3 (+10.3) 141.2 (+5.8) 28%
Baseline ML OHIO -5.9 (+10.9) 142.7 (+4.3) 31%
Baseline Plus ML OHIO -4.6 (+9.6) 143.1 (+3.9) 33%

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

Last 5 Meetings

Feb 18, 2026 OHIO 6957 BALL
Jan 15, 2025 OHIO 8671 BALL
Feb 7, 2024 OHIO 8479 BALL
Mar 9, 2023 OHIO 9070 BALL
Jan 11, 2023 OHIO 7671 BALL

Team Comparison

Record & Ratings BALL OHIO
Overall 12-19 15-17
Conference 7-11 9-9
Home 7-7 10-6
Away 4-11 4-8
Neutral 1-1 1-3
Last 5 0-5 4-1
Streak W4 L4
Avg Pts For 66.1 76.7
Avg Pts Against 71.4 80.0
Massey -9.8 (#308) -2.5 (#203)
Bradley-Terry -2.73 (#344) 0.22 (#153)
W. Bradley-Terry -3.28 (#343) 0.12 (#159)
RPI 0.376 (#349) 0.528 (#121)
Shooting & Four Factors BALL OHIO
FG% 40.1% 46.1%
3PT% 30.5% 29.4%
REB / G 30.5 33.9
OREB / G 9.9 10.6
AST / TO 1.13 0.98
Four Factors — Offense
eFG% 46.2% 51.7%
TOV% 16.7% 17.6%
ORB% 27.0% 30.1%
FT Rate 22.6% 25.0%
Four Factors — Defense
Opp eFG% 55.7% 52.7%
Opp TOV% 19.2% 17.3%
DRB% 66.6% 65.8%
Opp FT Rate 22.6% 24.3%

Game Analysis

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