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Home Stretch Begins For College Football This Weekend

November 5th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 3 Comments | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

The final full month of college football is about to begin, though the argument can be made that for some schools, particularly Big Ten teams, the regular season will end on November 21st well before the end of the month. No matter, with teams having reached the two-third or three-quarter mark, there aren’t many games left in the season – every game matters!

Rivalry Action

college footballThis weekend’s action will include a number of rival contests with Kansas at Kansas State, Navy at Notre Dame, Duke at North Carolina, and Army at Air Force. The last time Navy played at Notre Dame they walked away with an upset. Though Navy is fielding a decent team, the Irish have their eyes set on a strong bowl bid and aren’t likely to allow the Midshipmen to spoil their season.

Other games of note include:

LSU at Alabama – Another SEC game, another contest that matters. #3 Alabama needs to win in order to play Florida for the SEC championship. That winner will likely play for the national championship, which means that the SEC would have four consecutive national title holders in a row. Don’t discount the #9 Tigers though – an upset would put them in the title hunt.

Ohio State at Penn State – At the beginning of the season I would have called this match up the Big Ten game of the year. Now, with Iowa on top, these two teams are playing for pride and a good spot in the bowl picture. Will this be Paterno’s final year at #11 Penn State? I doubt it: that’s something that has been uttered for the past fifteen seasons which means that #16 Ohio State won’t see the last of him.

Oklahoma at Nebraska – It wasn’t too long ago when these two teams were playing for the Big 12 (Big 8 ) championship. Now, they are both 5-3 and looking for some sort of accomplishment to hang their hats on. #24 Oklahoma has lost three games by a total of five points, which shows just how frustrating this season has been for the Sooners.

Next Week

Of course, it will be next weekend when the matches really heat up with Notre Dame playing at Pittsburgh, Utah at TCU, Iowa takes on Ohio State, Oregon at Arizona, and in a game that may surprisingly matter is Georgia Tech at Duke.

Yes, if the Blue Devils beat the Tarheels this weekend, then next week’s match with the Yellow Jackets could decide who represents the Coastal division in the ACC championship game. Duke?! Sounds crazy, but it is entirely possible – remember, this is the same Duke team which lost to 1-AA Richmond to start the season!

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$80.5 Million Settlement For University of Phoenix Wrongdoings

October 30th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in College News

The University of Phoenix is the largest private educator in the country and the most well known of the many online educators out there. But the company who owns the school, the Apollo Group Inc., is often a lightning rod because some people see the school’s way of educating adults as being a challenge to traditional higher education practices.

Online Education

Online Education Choice: University of Phoenix

Online Education Choice: University of Phoenix

No matter, online education is here to stay and many of the top schools now offer classes on the internet. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rutgers University, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Notre Dame are just some of the schools actively participating in online learning.

But it isn’t Phoenix’s study methods that are coming into question of late, rather it is the way that it performs its revenue accounting practices. The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking its second look at Phoenix this year with an eye toward the school’s sales particularly since 90% of the school’s funding comes from federal guaranteed student loans.

Revenue Recognition

Forbes magazine says that the “revenue recognition” matter takes issue with how Apollo determines when a student drops out of a class and how much income Apollo can leave on its balance sheet, and for how long. Apollo says it stops recognizing revenue when a refund is processed for a student that has dropped a class, according to attendance records.

Phoenix is also the subject of a whistleblower case where two former enrollment counselors took issue with the school’s recruitment practices. It is illegal for for-profit schools to pay recruiters and counselors based on the number of students they enroll in classes. The result of that action is that unqualified students gain admittance, with their college costs paid by federal student loan funds.

Big Settlement

As a result of whistleblower action, Apollo said on Tuesday it took a charge of $80.5 million in the fourth quarter for litigation settlement relating to the suit which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Though the settlement seems high, the original request was for $1.5 billion.

Shares of Apollo Group stock fell by 15% with the news of its pending settlement.

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Key Conference Tilts Highlight This Weekend’s Action

October 16th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

Forget about games between Top 25 teams for a moment. When it comes to conference play, some of the best action is between schools which aren’t ranked. Heck, even a pair of winless teams battling to stay out of the conference cellar can sometimes be fun to watch!

college footballAfter last weekend’s match between Florida and LSU, everything else pales in comparison this weekend. Then again, for Fighting Irish fans who are desperate for their team to regain their national notoriety, a win at home against #6 USC would go far.

Let’s take a look at what’s hot in conference play this weekend:

ACC – Is Virginia Tech for real? If they can beat #19 Georgia Tech on the road, then they will make a legitimate case for being a top BCS pick despite losing to Alabama in the first game of the season. I expect that this game will be tight to the very end with the Yellow Jackets giving no ground.

Big 12 – With five league teams in the Top 25, weekly action in the Big 12 is always interesting. One of the best games of the year will be played on Saturday when #20 Oklahoma does battle with #3 Texas at high noon (ET). The Sooners may be the best 3-2 team in the nation and if they lose they’ll become the best 3-3 team. Unranked Missouri (4-1) travels to Stillwater this Saturday to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This game should be a dandy.

Big East – Last night’s match between Cincinnati and South Florida may end up being the Big East game of the year. Then again, West Virginia may claim otherwise. Tonight’s tilt between Pittsburgh and Rutgers is a grudge match with Pitt trying to shake off four straight losses to the Scarlet Knights while RU works to prove that it has put its opening game blow out to Cincinnati behind it.

Big Ten – Are the Hawkeyes really that good to warrant a #11 ranking? We’ll find out this weekend when Iowa takes on a good Wisconsin team on the road. Win with finesse and the November 14th Iowa-Ohio State game could become the Big Ten game of the year.

Pac 10 –  Stanford at Arizona is the best match up between Pac 10 teams this Saturday, but most eyes will be on the Trojans-Irish game. #13 Oregon is idle this weekend.

SEC – When will #1 Florida play #2 Alabama? Well, that game isn’t scheduled this year. Instead, if both teams run the table, they’ll match up in the SEC Championship Game on December 5th in Atlanta. This weekend Arkansas visits Florida while #22 South Carolina will battle Alabama at night.

Best of the Rest – WAC conference leader Boise State had a scare Wednesday night, pulling out a late win against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes of Conference USA. Central Florida hosts Miami in a game that on paper shouldn’t be close – we’ll see. Central Michigan is at Western Michigan for a key MAC battle while a pair of improved teams, Temple and Army meet in Philadelphia.

Enjoy your favorite mid-October games this weekend and bundle up…cold, wet weather is now a factor for fans who hit the stands.

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Let’s Get This Football Season Rolling!

September 24th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 5 Comments | Filed in Collegiate Sports, NCAA Football

Okay, the preseason is over. Not that major college football has one, but the first two or three weeks of play typically feature games between Top 25 teams and small conference foes, making for perfect tune up games before league play kicks in. Still, a quick survey of this weekend’s action shows that intraconference activity isn’t in full swing, while several regional contests are worth noting.

Let’s take a look at four games worth watching this weekend:

college footballMississippi at South Carolina – Ole Miss is No. 4, one of three SEC teams in the Top 4. The Rebels get their first real test of the season when they visit the Gamecocks, a team that narrowly lost to the No. 21 Georgia Bulldogs on the road. I’m going with the upset, picking South Carolina to knock off Ole Miss tonight.

South Florida at Florida State – The Bulls have yet to be challenged this season, rolling up three blow out wins against minor league opponents. The No. 18 Seminoles were impressive on the road last week, knocking of then No. 7 BYU, 54-28. Though I think the Bulls have what it takes to win, they haven’t been tested which means that by the end of the third quarter, FSU will be ahead for good.

Miami at Virginia Tech – One of the best match ups of the season as far as ACC play goes, the Hurricanes are starting to look like the Miami team of old: fearsome. Thankfully, the team is much more disciplined under Randy Shannon who appears to be heading for a breakthrough season this year. I like the Canes over the Hokies at Blacksburg.

North Carolina at Georgia Tech – Just how good are the Tarheels? That may be proven on the road this weekend when they take on a tough Yellow Jackets team who is coming off of a loss to the Miami Hurricanes. Ranked at No. 22, North Carolina has a perfect opportunity to show everyone that they are “for real” by beating a tough opponent away from Chapel Hill.

Conference Play Looming

This weekend, the PAC 10, Big Ten, SEC and ACC with most of the Big East and Big 12 schools choosing yet another weekend to schedule non-league tilts. That means most of the top teams in the country will have a reprieve before their schedules heat up the first weekend in October.

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