UF MBA successfully defends title at SEC case competition

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – UF MBA at the Hough Graduate School of Business won the 2014 Southeastern Conference (SEC) MBA Case Competition on Saturday at the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama.

UF MBA has now won the SEC MBA Case Competition in consecutive years. The inaugural event was held last year at the University of Missouri.

UF MBA, represented by Carly Escue, Stephen Faivre, Eric Frohman and Karl Kremser, was awarded $10,000 for its first-place finish. The quartet also won the Florida Intercollegiate Business Case Competition in February.

“Our team knew this was the last time we would compete together, and I’m very proud of how we prepared and executed,” said Escue.

Teams were presented a case from Regions Bank—the event’s sponsor—about a current, real-world problem facing a company, and were given less than 24 hours to analyze the information, develop a strategy and make oral presentations to a panel of judges. Teams were divided into four divisions for Friday’s preliminary rounds, and each division winner advanced to Saturday’s finals.

Auburn finished second in the competition, Georgia was third and South Carolina took fourth place.

In the divisional rounds, Escue earned the “Best Presenter Award” and Kremser received the “Best Q&A Award” in their respective divisions.

“We are honored to win amongst a field of very accomplished MBA programs,” said Jason Rife, Associate Director of MBA Career Services at the Hough Graduate School of Business. “Our students put in a lot of hard work and we’re extremely proud.”

Saturday’s victory made UF MBA a perfect 3-for-3 in case competitions this year. In addition to winning the SEC MBA Case Competition and the Florida Intercollegiate Business Case Competition, UF MBA won the BNY Mellon Katz Invitational Case Competition in January at the University of Pittsburgh.