The idea behind this is to build an investment portfolio, but instead of stocks you choose college football teams. In any portfolio you want diversification. You want some high risk and some low risk. You need to try to find some companies, or teams in our case, that have made a name for themselves in their industry. At the same time, you want to find some that fly under the radar and have the ability to increase their value tremendously. In the portfolio I am presenting, there is a distribution amongst different industries (conferences, regions, playing styles, etc.). There is also a good distribution between high-risk and low-risk assets. I believe this portfolio would be perfect for someone looking for an investment that is safe and able to grow.
Alabama Crimson Tide ($BAMA)
One of the very first books I ever read on finance and investing was Peter Lynch’s One Up On Wall Street. Lynch categorized companies in different ways. One of these he called a “stalwart.” A stalwart is a company that is “a large, well-established company that still offers long-term growth potential.” Alabama is just that. With 17 national titles and one of the best coaches to ever do it currently at the helm, the Crimson Tide football program is a true stalwart. I would compare Alabama’s stock to one like Amazon. It’s going to be very expensive, but is a safe investment for the long term.
Ohio State Buckeyes ($OSU)
Like Alabama, Ohio State can be considered a stalwart. The only difference is that Ohio State probably has more value since Alabama is at the very top now. Ohio State barely missed the CFP this season. They are around the top every single year. Urban Meyer is another great coach who an investor would be safe to put their trust in. Ohio State would be less expensive than Alabama, but would also provide about the same amount of upside. This investment would be safe and provide consistent growth.
Texas Longhorns ($TEX)
I believe Texas would be a good investment for many reasons. First, Texas is one of the top recruiting states in the country. This gives you a good reason to believe that the University of Texas could sign a hand full of these great athletes. With Tom Herman coming into his second year at Texas, I believe he has them moving in the right direction. They showed signs of being a good football team during their bowl game against Missouri. The Longhorns football program has historically been successful, and even though they have been down for a while I believe they will be back in contention in the years to come. This investment provides a lot of room for growth, but also has some risk to it.
Tennessee Volunteers ($UTK)
The Tennessee Volunteers are coming off of their worst season in school history at 4-8. Some may be asking “Why would we want to invest in that train wreck?” I’ve got one answer: Jeremy Pruitt. It’s no myth that Tennessee has great athletes. Their last 5 recruiting classes have all been in the top 20, with two in the top 10. Pruitt and Butch Jones have both shown they can recruit. What separates them is coaching ability. I believe Jeremy Pruitt can recruit quality high school players AND turn them in to quality college players. The price for Tennessee’s stock may be at an all-time low right now, and it can only go up from here. I honestly feel there is not as much risk as one would think with this pick. There is an unbelievable upside for large growth. Go long with $UTK.
UCLA Bruins ($UCLA)
Chip Kelly. The guy knows what it takes to win on the west coast. I believe that Chip will be able to start recruiting against teams like USC more competitively. UCLA is coming off of a 6-7 season. With recruits like Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who will play perfectly into Kelly’s offense, I see him stacking up his roster to compete for the PAC 12 very soon. The upside is very high with this as UCLA could compete on a national level soon with Kelly. There is a downside though, as their stock may be overpriced due to the signing of Kelly, and if things don’t get better in the next couple of years the stock could go down. If that happens you could always add on more, because I do not see Chip Kelly being unsuccessful during his whole time at UCLA.
Nebraska Cornhuskers ($NEB)
With the recent acquisition of Scott Frost I believe that Nebraska has set themselves up for success for a long, long time. Frost has proven himself as a great head coach. He took the UCF Knights from a winless team to an undefeated team in just two seasons. That is arguably one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. Even with the hiring, their stock price has to be low coming off a 4-8 season. The risk is not as high as UCLA, and I believe the long term growth potential is exactly what any investor would want. Hold $NEB long.
Baylor Bears ($BAY)
With the Baylor Bears coming off by far their worst season in 10 years, you could think things could only go up from here. That is why I would advise to maybe sprinkle a little investment on this team. Just two seasons ago the Bears were 10-3, but now they sit at 1-11. The only problem with this is what happens if this is the start of a bad stretch? Baylor’s football program is nothing like Kansas, but what if they have a losing stretch like them? Everyone in finance always says don’t speculate, but here I believe would be a good spot to put something on Baylor. The potential for growth is huge, but so is the risk.
SEC ETF
For those of you that don’t know, an ETF, also known as an exchange-traded fund, is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks that holds assets such as stocks, commodities, or bonds. Kind of like a collection of them. I was thinking, what if each conference were its own ETF, and when you owned one conference’s ETF, every team were a part of it. Which would you chose?
If you are looking for growth this ETF would be perfect for you. With 6 new coaches, I believe the upside is big. Several of the coaches, like Dan Mullen, Pruitt, or Jimbo Fisher, all have the ability to bring their new programs to a highly respectable level. On top of that, you already have two of the teams/coaches who were in the national championship in Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. The SEC is the worst it has been in a long time, but I think that makes this the perfect time to come in and buy, buy, buy.
Some of you may be wondering why I don’t have teams like UCF or FAU in there. I think that both of those schools stock price would be extremely high right now, and I feel as if it would be way too risky compared to the reward. I would almost consider shorting, or “betting against,” the UCF stock as I do not see them moving any higher.
Thank you for reading along as I get to combine two of my interests. I would love to get any feedback, and would love to hear who you would put in your portfolio in the comments below.