The College Football Stock Market, Week Four: Who I'm Buying and Selling

Well, it's almost time for the conference schedules to start, so I thought I'd take some time and tell you whose stock I'm buying and selling thus far in the season. Without further ado, I give you a look at the College Football Stock Market according to me.

Stock I'm Buying

UNLV

These guys are really playing well right now. Two weeks ago they went into Arizona State and upset the Sun Devils in a fantastic game. Many say that was ASU looking ahead to Georgia, but UNLV is a good team. This week they had a very underrated Iowa State team at home and put up 400 and some yards on their defense in three quarters.

This team has a great quarterback in Omar Clayton, and the skill positions around him are loaded with talent. The rest of the Mountain West needs to watch out for these Runnin' Rebels.

Georgia

"Their schedule is too tough. They can't run the table." That is all I heard at the beginning of the season—and right now, they look better than USC.

Tell me what you want, but right now Georgia can beat anyone. The way the rest of the SEC is playing, they can easily beat any SEC opponent, although Florida could be the only one that will give them trouble. Last weekend they went across the Mississippi for the first time in about 60 years and proved that they can travel and win. These Dogs are for real!

Miami

The 'Canes showed some promise against Florida and this weekend lit up supposed Big 12 dark horse Texas A&M, 41-23. Against Florida their defense looked outstanding, holding Tebow & Co. to only nine points through three quarters. This week it was their offense, led by quarterback Robert Marve and running back Graig Cooper, that looked amazing.

Miami has recruited very well the past two seasons, and it has shown, much like at Alabama. Miami may not stand out in the ACC this year, but they will be back to their old selves in no time.

The Mountain West Conference

Own up to it, Pac-10: You guys are getting dominated by these guys. The MWC is 5-0 against Pac-10 opponents in 2008. Granted, the Pac-10 isn't very good this year, but the MWC has at least two, maybe three "BCS buster" contenders.

Almost the whole conference is playing well, barring traditional bottom dwellers Wyoming and New Mexico, and for the first time in its 10-year history the MWC has three teams ranked in the Top 25. How many do the Pac-10 and ACC have? This conference is by far the best non-BCS conference out there, top to bottom.

Stock I'm Selling

West Virginia

Rich Rodriguez should have never left good old Morgantown. The separation has caused both WVU and Michigan to start terribly, but West Virginia was actually supposed to be good.

Three weeks ago West Virginia got absolutely dominated by East Carolina, and then this week they got run all over by Rodney Stewart. Pat White and Co. have shown very little offensive dominance except against Villanova, but they may still win the not so good Big East. For now, though, I'm selling out on them.

South Florida

What is this, hate on the Big East day? Only when their teams aren't performing to their capabilities. This past weekend South Florida beat Florida International 17-9, and they should have lost the game. Two weeks ago, however, South Florida looked great against Kansas.

Flip-flopping like this isn't really showing me that they are good enough to win the Big East. For now I gotta sell the Bulls out.

Penn State

Being the Big Ten fan I am, I do like to see Penn State performing well, but I just can't give them that much credit for defeating "bush league" opponents. Their offense does look good, but their opponents' combined record is 5-10. Those opponents were Coastal Carolina, Syracuse, Temple, and Oregon State.

Right now I just don't see all the hype. However, that will most likely change if they can beat Illinois handily this weekend. I'm not hating on the Kitties here. I am just stating that, while they have looked impressive, it has been against crapshoot opponents, and for that I have to sell their stock.

The Pac-10

Let's face it: This is the worst conference among the BCS six. USC is the only diamond among the coal here, and it's been that way for quite some time. Oregon loses to Boise State, UCLA gets smacked by BYU, and Cal gets stomped by Maryland, a middle of the road ACC team.

More than 50 percent of the conference is at or below .500, and yes, that is worse than the ACC. Don't worry, I checked. Except for USC, there is no Pac-10 team ranked in the AP poll this week, whereas the Mountain West has three.

The Pac 10, as stated earlier, is also winless against the MWC. All these things combined tell me that I gotta sell their stock.

Thanks for reading the abundance of absolute ranting. This is the first of a weekly segment. I know I started it in Week Four, but oh well—better late then never.