Saturday's 4 p.m. contest between Ball State and Central Florida at Ball State Stadium produced a crowd of just 5,309, giving the Cardinals a total of 71,497 on the season. The 14,300 average left Ball State short of NCAA's new Division I-A attendance requirement of 15,000.
Attendance was hampered by the coldest home-game temperature this year (44 degrees at kickoff) and the smallest visiting crowd of the season.
"It's disappointing to fall short, but I thought the overall attendance from an atmosphere standpoint was pretty good," athletics director Bubba Cunningham. "We have some work to do with the NCAA legislative group to navigate the next couple years."
By not reaching the mark this year, Cunningham said the worst that can happen is receiving a letter of warning from the NCAA for not complying with the attendance standard. The school could lose Division I-A status for football if it does not reach the 15,000 mark again in 2005.
However, Cunningham added that a proposal is before the NCAA Board of Directors to consider the 2004 numbers across the nation as simply an "advisory phase."
Ball State's first two games drew more than 41,000 fans, including a school-record 23,718 for the season opener. However, the numbers continued their steady decline. Homecoming on Oct. 9 drew just 14,612, nearly 3,800 less than the year before.
Saturday's crowd was also 3,000 less than the 2003 home finale.
While this season's average did not reach the NCAA requirement, it topped BSU's 2003 average, which was 12,339. Ball State (2-8 this season) had a 4-8 record in 2003.
"I thought the marketing was better than in the past," Cunningham said. "The atmosphere at night games was good. I liked finishing games in the evening with the lights on."
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