Judging from the stunning stadium that bears its name and where the Patriots and Giants will collide in Super Bowl XLII tomorrow, the University of Phoenix must have a fine football team.

But I don’t recall the school’s nickname or its conference. Are they the Sun Gods or the Desert Rats? Do they play in the Mountain West of the Western Athletic?

Let’s check ncaa.org, home of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and repository of everything to do with college athletics. Now we’ll click on Fall Sports and Football and Division I FBS. That’s for Football Bowl Subdivision. Ah, here we go, every school in the old Division I-A that fields a football team listed alphabetically. Wonderful.

OK, let’s scroll down to the Ps. Here we go. Pennsylvania State University. University of Pittsburgh. Purdue University. Wait a minute. H comes before I. Phoenix should be before Pittsburgh. But there’s no Phoenix.

Let’s try the Football Championship Subdivision, the old I-AA. University of Pennsylvania. Portland State. No Phoenix. Division II? Pace. Pittsburgh State. No Phoenix. Division III? Pacific Lutheran. Plymouth State. No Phoenix.

Let’s check Division I members? No Phoenix. Division II? Not there. Division III? Nope.

Wait a minute. NAIA. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. It’s not among those 90 football-playing schools.

How strange. A university with a 63,400-seat stadium and no team? That can’t be true.

Let’s go directly to the University of Phoenix at phoenix.edu. Hey, a crimson banner, just like Harvard, Stanford and Alabama. Now we just have to find Athletics. Let’s see. Admissions. Online & Campus Programs. Tuition & Financial Options. Campus Locations. Alumni. Faculty. About Us.

Hmmm. No athletics page. Let’s check About Us. “Founded 1976 … online classes, library, e-books … largest private university in North America, with nearly 200 convenient locations … more than 100 degree programs … from business and technology to health care and education.”

Let’s click on History. Wow! Three paragraphs. One for each decade. Founded by Dr. John Sperling, “a Cambridge-educated economist and professor-turned-entrepreneur.” Now we’ll click on Faculty. Gee, 1,500 “Core Faculty” and 20,000 Associate Faculty. There’s no staff directory, but there is a list of directors. Hey, there’s Dr. John G. Sperling again, Founder and Interim Chairman, Apollo Group, Inc. The Apollo president is on the board. Two former congressmen. A former California state senator. A physician. A retired banker.

Still nothing about football. Let’s call the campus. But where? The University of Phoenix has campuses in 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. None in Rhode Island but two in Massachusetts, one off I-95 in Burlington and the other off I-495 in Westboro. There are four learning centers and one campus in Phoenix itself.

Let’s check the stadium Web site, universityofphoenixstadium.com. Now we’re in business. See those two football players in the corner?

But there’s nothing about the Phoenix football team. Let’s click on About Us and Partners. Hey, the Arizona Cardinals. But they’re in the NFL. And the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. At last, college football. And, finally, the University of Phoenix. But wait! The description is the same as the school’s Web site. Except for the following: “University of Phoenix bought the naming rights to the stadium for $154.5 million for 20 years.” That was in 2006, when the stadium opened.

Naming rights? What, no football team? That’s right. The University of Phoenix has no football team. Or basketball team. Or any team. Or extracurricular activities of any kind. The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, created by the Arizona State Legislature in 2000, owns the facility. Global Spectrum, the same folks who run the Ryan Center at URI, manages the stadium. The Cardinals and the Fiesta Bowl are the primary tenants.

Before we log off, let’s check wikipedia.org. It says UoP is the largest for-profit educational institution in the United States and specializes in adult education. Owned by Apollo Group, Inc., 220,000 undergraduates, 60,000 postgraduates. Revenues of $2.3 billion.

Uh-oh, it looks like there have been a few controversies over the years. A graduation rate of 16 percent, well below the national average of 55 percent. In 2004 a $9.8-million settlement to the U.S. Department of Education for alleged violation of the Higher Education Act. In 2003 a lawsuit alleging fraud in obtaining federal student financial aid. Phoenix received $1.8 billion in federal student aid in 2004-2005, more than any university in the nation. The fraud case is set for trial in U.S. District Court in Sacramento in 2009. A $6-million settlement with the Department of Education in 2000. Last month, Apollo Group, UoP’s owner, was found guilty of fraud for misleading investors.

Given those controversies, the NCAA is probably relieved the University of Phoenix does not field a football team, just names a football stadium.

mszostak@projo.com