Ball State Cardinals
Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals look to open with 10 wins for the first time in school history as they head to Yager Stadium to take on Miami of Ohio. At 9-0 and 5-0 in the conference the Cardinals look to avoid a letdown against struggling Miami.

Odds makers are calling Ball State huge double digit favorites on the road in this Mid-American Conference match-up. NCAA betting lines have the Cardinals at -19 with the total sitting at 54.5.

The 14th-ranked Cardinals are one of the nation's five undefeated teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision looking for a chance at a BCS bowl berth.

Ball State cracked the college polls at No. 25 for the first time in school history Oct. 5, and has been climbing the rankings ever since. With Wednesday's 45-14 victory over Northern Illinois, the Cardinals jumped a few spots to No. 14 in the BCS standings.

"Everybody talks
about going undefeated, but we just talk about trying to make every play that we can," Ball State quarterback Nate Davis said. "The biggest thing is we've got to keep our heads straight."

Davis has completed almost 70 percent of his passes for over 2,300 yards and 19 touchdowns including a 300 yard 4 touchdown performance last week against Northern Illinois.

Even with an unbeaten record, the Cardinals don't have much room for error in their conference.

Ball State is tied with Central Michigan atop the West Division, a half-game ahead of third-place Western Michigan. The division will likely be decided in the next two weeks, as the Cardinals visit the Chippewas next Wednesday and then wrap up the regular season Nov. 25 against the Broncos.

As long as Ball State is not looking ahead to Central Michigan, they should not have any trouble with the Redhawks. Take the Cardinals and give the 19 points on the road.