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After losing its second consecutive game Tuesday, the Ball State University football team will finish the season where it started: unranked.
The Cardinals (12-2, 8-0 Mid-American Conference) received 13 votes in the final Associated Press Poll released Thursday morning to end the season listed at No. 32 and out of the nation's top 25.
Ball State - receiving 236 fewer votes than it did in the last AP poll - lost to the unranked University of Tulsa 45-13 in the GMAC Bowl on Tuesday after entering the bowl season ranked No. 23.
This is the first time Ball State has not been ranked since it was No. 25 in the Oct. 5 poll. It is also the fewest amount of votes the Cardinals received since the Sept. 28 poll.
Of the 65 AP voters, seven voted for Cardinals with the Birmingham News' Doug Segrest ranking Ball State the highest at No. 22. In addition, four of the Ball State voters were from West Coast newspapers, including three from California.
This is the second consecutive time Ball State has moved down in the AP Poll. Ball State was ranked No. 12 after finishing the regular season undefeated, but it dropped 11 spots following a loss to the University at Buffalo in the MAC Championship Game on Dec. 5.
The Cardinals received the sixth most votes of all the non-BCS conference teams and were the only MAC team to receive a vote in the final poll.
Tulsa received 61 votes to move ahead of Ball State and finish the season listed at No. 30.
Along with the AP Poll, Ball State received 14 votes in the coaches poll to end the season listed at No. 33.
AP Poll 1. Florida - 1,606 votes 2. Utah - 1,519 votes 3. USC - 1,481 votes 4. Texas - 1,478 votes 5. Oklahoma - 1,391 votes 6. Alabama - 1,264 votes 7. TCU - 1,193 votes 8. Penn State - 1,153 votes 9. Ohio State - 1,013 votes 10. Oregon - 997 votes 11. Boise State - 938 votes 12. Texas Tech - 916 votes 13. Georgia - 903 votes 14. Mississippi -857 votes 15. Virginia Tech - 713 votes 16. Oklahoma State - 534 votes 17. Cincinnati - 506 votes 18. Oregon State - 467 votes 19. Missouri - 435 votes 20. Iowa - 317 votes 21. Florida State - 246 votes 22. Georgia Tech - 223 votes 23. West Virginia - 144 votes 24. Michigan State - 138 votes 25. BYU - 137 votes
Others receiving votes California 128, Pittsburgh 106, LSU 95, Nebraska 64, Tulsa 61, Northwestern 53, Ball State 13, Boston College 11, Rutgers 11, Rice 8, Arizona 4, Kansas 2
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