For years I thought "Bring Em Young University" was a joke about the mormon practice of marrying girls to old men. Come to find out the religion was started by a guy "Brigham Young" after whom an actual university is named and nobody thinks that's weird at all.
I thought "Joe Mansion" was some kind of bizarro world "Joe the Plumber". Maybe joking about rich conservatives putting on affectations of being working class. He is actually a politician and his name is spelled "Manchin" and some people seem to think he's on the left.
Ball State still feels like a joke university name.
100% chance that's an in-joke among people at that university.
Like the law firm that owns mofo.com
They sold T-shirts that said "Ball U" until the pearl-clutching started and ruined the fun.