Who is favored in Ball State Cardinals at Kent State Golden Flashes?

Kent State Golden Flashes are favored on the moneyline.

Who is predicted to win Ball State Cardinals at Kent State Golden Flashes?

Our pick is Ball State Cardinals. Ball State has actually out-scored Kent State in the losses that get lumped together as body-bag games, putting up 18 combined points against Ohio State and Liberty while Kent State managed just 3 total between South Carolina and Ohio State. That gap in offensive competence, even in defeat, should tighten the market's read on the underdog by kickoff.

Ball State Cardinals at Kent State Golden Flashes

Sep 26, 2026·11:00 AM CT·Kent, OH

By JR·1 min read

BALL(1-2)

KENT(1-2)

AT

11:00 AM CT

TLDR: Ball State and Kent State both open MAC play the same way — fresh off a blowout loss and looking for the first real read on who they actually are.

SAT SEP 26, 11:00 AM CT

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Ball State

(1-2)

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Kent State

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Ball State and Kent State both enter their MAC opener at 1-2, each fresh off a blowout loss to Power Four competition and still searching for a signature win against FBS opposition. Kent State is favored at home off a bounce-back win over Wofford, but Ball State has actually scored more in its own losses to good competition than Kent State has in its. The board leans on Kent State's floor more than either offense's actual body of work this season.

Ball State

Beat FCS Stony Brook 41-17 for its lone win
Scored 18 combined points across two FBS losses
Lost at Liberty 51-15 this past week
Still 0-2 against FBS competition all season

Kent State

Bounced back from a shutout with a 36-15 win over Wofford
DeShields threw for 248 yards, 2 TDs in that win
Outscored 116-3 combined in two Power Four losses
Managed just 3 points against Ohio State last week

Ball State's season has been a study in extremes: a 41-17 romp over FCS Stony Brook sandwiched between a 56-3 humbling at Ohio State and a 51-15 loss at Liberty this past week. Mike Uremovich's group is 1-2 with zero data points against MAC-caliber competition, which makes Saturday's trip to Kent the first game all year that actually tells the Cardinals what they are.

Kent State has followed almost the same script. A 57-0 shutout at South Carolina gave way to a 36-15 bounce-back over Wofford, where quarterback Dru DeShields threw for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, before Ohio State reasserted the gap 59-3 last weekend. Both programs enter 0-0 in conference play, and the market's early number leans on Kent State's home floor more than on anything either offense has shown against comparable competition.

The forecast at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium calls for a calm, clear 67 degrees with barely a breeze, so neither sideline gets a weather excuse. What actually separates these two rosters is buried in the box scores nobody circled — Ball State managed 18 combined points in its two losses to FBS teams, while Kent State was held to a combined 3 in its pair of Power Four blowouts.

That's the split worth watching under Mike Uremovich in his second year in Muncie and Mark Carney in his second season leading Kent State: two rebuilding jobs, two 1-2 records, and a Saturday that will separate a program that's shown flashes of offense from one that's mostly been shut out against anything ranked.

Neither team has beaten an FBS opponent yet, so whoever wins this one walks away with the first credible result of its season — and MAC play starts in earnest for both from here.

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