The Cardinals, led by first year head coach James Whitford, played their home games at the John E. Worthen Arena as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference.

On April 10, 2013, Ball State announced James Whitford as the 19th head coach in program history.

[2] Nelson, a former honorable mention All-American at Florida, had previous assistant coaching experience at Marshall, Arkansas, and Drake.

[3] Grunkemeyer, a former player at conference foe Miami, joined the staff after several years as an assistant at Saint Louis.

Despite a solid game from Zavier Turner (17 points), the Cardinals fell in James Whitford's debut, 73–82.