Dec. 15, 2011

NORMAL, Ill. - The home-and-home football series between Illinois State and Ball State, which is scheduled to begin during the 2013 season, has been switched to allow the proper amount of time to complete the Hancock Stadium Renovation Project as announced by the ISU Athletics Department Thursday.

Ball State, a member of the Mid-American Conference (West Division) and the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), was originally scheduled to visit Hancock Stadium in the 2013 season opener. However, Illinois State will now travel to Muncie, Ind., on Aug. 29 to ensure the Hancock project has enough time to be completed prior to ISU's home opener that season. The Redbirds will open the 2013 season and the newly-renovated Hancock Stadium at later date in September, which is yet to be determined.

Ball State will then travel to Normal, Ill., on Aug. 28, 2014, for the second game of the home-and-home series between the two schools. The Redbirds have not played an FBS opponent in Hancock Stadium since 1987, when Illinois State picked up a 20-6 win over Western Michigan. Ball State and the Redbirds have met 16 times previously, with Ball State owning an 11-5 lead in the series. The two teams last met in 1993.

ISU did not play a FBS team during the 2011 season, but begin a string of five-consecutive seasons with a game against a FBS foe in 2012 when the Redbirds travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a Sept. 8 game against Eastern Michigan. The `Birds will then play the Cardinals in 2013-14, before facing two-straight Big Ten Conference opponents at Iowa (2015) and at Northwestern (2016).

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