Buying MSU: Defense will give them a shot against anybody and the offense, while not prolific, is averaging 5.61 YPP vs. FBS teams so it does have a pulse. If they were to keep it up, it would be their highest YPP mark since 2014. The improvement comes on the back of the running game as Elijah Collins is averaging nearly 6 yards per carry and Brian Lewerke is completing over 60% of his passes. Buy MSU to win 9 games and split the quad of OSU, Wis, PSU, Mich.
Buying USC: I'm going to go with the contrarian play here and buy a small position in USC. The Trojans 6.51 YPP vs. FBS teams ranks #16 among P5+ND teams. That average puts them just behind Texas and Oklahoma State as well as ahead of Washington, Florida, and Oregon. What's more, the Trojans have played tougher schedules than all five of those teams. USC also rarely gets to play as an underdog and with a chip on it's shoulder. With last season's embarrassment and the coaches' jobs on the line, motivation shouldn't be a problem. Buy USC to get to 8, maybe even 9 wins. Will that be enough to save Clay Helton's job? Probably not, but the team is better than a lot of people think.
Selling Oregon: I'm selling only because the stock is high. They are the current Pac 12 front runners so buying would indicate that I think that not only will they get to 10 wins, but they will also win their division. They have a one game lead on their primary competition for the division, Washington, but the Ducks will need to go on the road to face the Huskies as well as USC and Arizona State at the end of the season. Meanwhile, the Huskies most challenging games are all at home.
Selling Maryland: The Syracuse win has lost its shine since the Orange have revealed themselves to not be the team many thought they'd be this year. The Temple loss is also damaging considering it was a revenge spot for them, they won the turnover battle 3:1, and they lost anyway. QB Josh Jackson is completing less than half his passes and averaging a below average 6.3 YPA attempt the last two games. Meanwhile, the defense is last in the Big 10 in DYPP and Defensive Pass Efficiency against FBS teams. The Terrapins will play five Big 10 road games and life will start to get hard for them after mid October. They'll need to win 3 out of their next 4 games in order to put themselves in solid position to get into a bowl game. That's not something that this program is currently good enough to guarantee. I'm selling Maryland to make a bowl game.
Selling Texas A&M: I'm selling this stock now in 2019 with the intent of picking some up before the 2020 season. In the long term, Texas A&M is going in the right direction, but some early season injuries and a brutal schedule were going to make it difficult for this season to get off the ground as it started. Kellen Mond still struggles with consistency and the offense ranks #10 in the SEC with 5.49 YPP. Even with Mond's issues, he's still likely the #4 QB in the SEC, behind Tua Tagovailoa, Jake Fromm, and Joe Burrow. Unfortunately, the Aggies play all three with two of those games coming on the road. The Aggies will need more offense to pull off an upset against any of those top 5 teams, so I'm selling Texas A&M coming up with the huge upset, but this team brings back a lot of pieces in 2020 and it could be the quiet before the storm in College Station.