Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Darian Mensah Transfer Portal CONTROVERSY | How this impacts the ACC

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

ACC football heats up as Darian Mensah spurns Duke to join Miami Hurricanes, instantly vaulting them into preseason title contention. Can Mario Cristobal turn his embarrassment of offensive riches—now including Cooper Barkate and Malachi Toney—into a national championship run? Isaac Shade and Brian Smith break down how Duke’s legal gambit to retain Mensah fell flat, what Miami’s explosive transfer portal activity means for the ACC, and why NIL money continues to upend college football’s power structure. CFP format shakeups, Notre Dame’s surprising auto-bid deal, and the fate of Group of Six teams spark debate about fairness and the future of the sport. With the new ACC football schedule releasing, questions swirl around Miami’s brutal run of Friday games and Cal’s coast-to-coast travel grind. Are the networks undermining the ACC’s parity? Will unbalanced schedules impact playoff odds? Don’t miss this fast-paced analysis of the shifting ACC landscape. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, after all of it, Dary and Mensa is headed to Miami after all. Gonna get crazy down in South Beach. You're talking ball with the ACC squad. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami, and from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the locked on podcast network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming ACC weekend. Hang on, it could get loud, it could get heated, and it will definitely. Definitely be fun. Squad up. You're part of the ACC squad. Hey there. What's up? Happy Thursday. It's

January 29th, 2006. Welcome into this ACC squad show, junior edition, Brian Smith, I think, because it's just you and me today, my man. It's great to have you all here at the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Now the number one sports podcast network out there. Thanks so much for making us your first listener watch to get this Thursday going the right way. special shout out to all of our everydayers who are hanging out here with us. Brian and I got some fun topics to look at today. Darian Mensa, he ain't hanging out in Durham, North Carolina, no more. It's all worked out.

And now he's going to go play for the national runner-ups to replace Carson Beck. We will talk about that. We're going to look at the changes to the CFP format. Yeah, it's still 12 teams, but there's some wrinkles that are very odd. And the ACC football schedules were released on Monday. We got some weird ones. with this. Welcome to a new era where some teams play eight conference games and some play nine. What on earth are we doing? Brian Smith of locked on seminoles. I'm Isaac Shade of locked on

tar heels. It's great to be with you all. Brian, let's get right into this thing. Darian Mensa. It's been a back and forth affair. Miami loses the national championship game a week or so ago. And now he is going to go see if he can help Mario Cristobal and company get one more win and get to the top of the heat. Brian, how did all this come together? How did it play out that Duke gets beat out here? Well, it's ironic. Duke went and grabbed a player from Tulane, and then suddenly that player was really good. By the way, he threw for 3,900 yards and 34 touchdowns this year. That helps. Then Miami decided they wanted a part of that too. So basically, this is the era that we're in, and I'm sure we'll talk about the Luke Pirelli story, which is just the same.

Miami needed a quarterback. And Darian Mentsa, he's already cast in once. He's cashing in the second time. And he's probably going to take his wide receiver Cooper Barcate with him and have some fun down in South Beach with Malachi, Tony and all those guys. This is now a top five team in 2006 preseason. I don't think there's much doubt about it. Dude, I didn't even think about that with Barcate entering the transfer portal

going down and playing him and Tony. Oh my goodness. That is an embarrassment of wide receiver riches. So we saw what Mentson was able to do at Duke this year. But to take all that to go play with all the toys that Mario Cristobal has at his hands, I mean, Dary Mentson must be licking his chops at this thing, Brian. Oh, he has to be. I mean, last year he completed 335 passes for Duke.

What's he going to be able to do when you've got not one, not two, but three guys that might play in the NFL at running back coming in the lineup? I mean, that's insane. Yeah, like Fletcher is a great player, but Shamar Brown's a really good player. Pringle, the freshman this past season was really like they're loaded there. Elijah Lofden at a tight end didn't even get a lot of run, but he's a guy that will probably end up getting a look in the NFL. They've got a couple young receivers that are good that haven't even played that much plus, obviously, Malachi Tony, who's probably a top five player in college football.

The offense, you know, if they could replace to some degree, at least the offensive line and they've recruited there really well, this might be the best offense in college football in 2006. Brian, did Duke play this right by trying to legal, like use the legal system to hold on to it? Or in this day and age, like, because I get it, right? Like, you have a contract, bro. Like you cannot break this. And that's where we're at. Did Duke play it right by trying to hang on to that?

Or should they have just said, yeah, get out of here. You don't want to be here anyway. I think in the end, it's a little bit of that. But they figure they might as well get compensated. The way that I was told the contract was done, he couldn't have his NIL anywhere else other than the Duke Blue Devils. That's where the buyout comes in. Miami's loaded with NIL. Their backers are the biggest construction company in the greater South Florida area.

So that's not a problem. The bankroll that, they want to get a rent. So they bought it out. If you think about it, like, if you would have went back, how's that locker room going to be? And that's why I wonder about old the Monde Williams thing at Washington. How is that? I mean, Washington was ho. You can't replace DeMond Williams either, but how well is that going to go?

Like, I'm very curious about that. So in some ways, this might be for the best, but I'm sure they wanted to fight to a we set a precedent to a certain degree. But when he really wanted to leave, I'm like you go because it's probably not. Well, yeah. So it's announced on Tuesday that that. We've reached all the, you know, a settlement between Duke and Dary and Mensa and how that's all going to play out. And that's the thing.

It's like, that's great that we have these contracts in place because this is how you do it. And this is what happens in professional sports. And it's like, if it's going to be that, Brian, I think it's better that we just follow through on that. It's like, sure, let's let money exchange hands because that's the name of the price of doing business now in college sports. And we move on. You are the portal expert and you probably know more well than just about anybody else that that, that that is the reality of this thing. And so ACC champion, Darien Mensa down in Miami on Tuesday.

We saw pictures of him on a visit there on a visit. I don't know if I would ever leave and go back to Frid, North Carolina. But anything else you want to say on that before we move to Ferelli and Clemson and Ole Mess and that whole debacle? No, I just think that it's, this is, you said it right, this is what it's about. You can like it or dislike it. It's just the money factor. it's just reality.

And I think the Luke Forelli story kind of follows that, but even more, because quarterback's one thing, the money that Ole Miss is throwing out a linebacker, like they allegedly doubled the offer like for a linebacker. So this, this is getting crazy. Everybody wants to win right now. If you take nothing else from this podcast, note that there are a lot of greedy boosters across college football, and they're ready to spend. Dabo was alleging tampering with, with,

miss. Like, is that even a thing now? You know, like in the NBA, we'll hear that sometimes. And it's like, you can get busted for that. Like, it's just like it feels like because of the lack of regulation that the NCAA put in place because they were drug kicking and screaming into this whole environment that we're in. Like, is anything tampering? Because nothing's on the books. That's the thing. Like, well, they're supposed to be. Remember the NIL clearinghouse that was supposed to come out August 1st? How much have you heard about that? Isaac. Thank you. Thank you. Nobody. Nobody enforces anything at all. And unfortunately, everybody's just worried about one word and that's a lawyer. They're afraid of being sued.

And like you heard about Congress trying to get involved. They're worried about one one word and that's vote. Anybody that slaps a school, well, if you're a guy in that state, you're not getting voted back in. So it's everything is about me. And it's not supposed to be that way. But of course, society is pretty much turned that way everywhere else. Why wouldn't college football? Yeah. Now, obviously, I'm joking a little bit. Tampering is not allowed. If it can be proven, that's a big if it can result in punishments up to like a level one violation, which is the highest from the NCAA. But what's going to hold up in court? I don't know. We'll see lots of interesting stuff there, Brian. And we got to be honest. This is going to be a thing every off season and maybe

sometimes even in season. So I think beyond Forelli, beyond MENSA, Is there a fix to this long term or is it just what we're going to have to process now year in and year out? I think at some point, I know a lot of people can get really angry with what I'm about to say, but there come, this is something the NCAA doesn't want any part of, schools don't want. It's employees. And to get there, they're probably going to have to boycott a game. Players. That's going to come.

I'm not saying it's going to be really soon, but it's going to be sooner than you think. I bet in the next three years we have a game that guys walk out under the field and then guys walk off. That's that's coming. I guess the money money is going to be like five times more eight times more. I've heard some numbers like that. And while they're making money now like comparatively compared to what they could as employees with collective bargaining, that's the only within and then there's all kinds of stipulation. Then you can do more stipulations where they're making so much nobody's going to care.

Yeah. man i just need i need a clemson o'emiss game on the books can we get them in a old game or something you know can we make that happen please right that i just want to see the pregame conversation between the head coaches how's that yes oh my gosh speaking of which i just thought about this do do do duke and miami play this year they do holy goodness november 14th or week of november 14th uh wow i don't know why i didn't think about that till just November 14th, Miami, Duke coming down to Miami. Boy, I wish it was the, I wish Miami was going to Duke.

Dang it. That would be incredible. All right. Great stuff, Brian. Really interesting to think about. Now, speaking of those Miami hurricanes, can they make their way back to the CFP? You know what, Brian? If this was next year, Miami would have been out and Duke would have be in.

What do I mean by that? Oh, we'll explain all the new wrinkles of it coming up in just a second. Hi, everyone. I'm Kalia Butler, host of Locked on Women's Basketball. and this is Mazda's women's basketball snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. The WMBA has released its 2026 schedule, featuring a 44 game regular season beginning on Friday, May 8th.

The league's historic 30th season includes expansion teams, Portland Fire, and the Toronto Tempo. With opening weekend highlights such as Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, hosting Paige Beckers and the Dallas Wings, and a rematch of the 20th century. 2025 finals between the Aces and the Mercury. In unrivaled, Miami felt the breeze as Paige Becker's powered the breeze to a 75 to 68 win over the Lunar Owls, finishing with 28 points and 7 assists.

She was joined by 20-year-old Dominique Malunga, who added 21 points, 8 rebounds, and became just the second player to ever dunk in an unrivaled game. In College Hoops, South Carolina, Hannah Vanderbilt, its first loss of the season. with a dominant 103 to 74 win. These moments are earned off the clock. Those long before the lights ever come on. The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time.

Mazda puts the same drive into every detail. Wins define the moment. Putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Thanks so much here for being with us on Locked on ACC Squad Show. Thanks for making us your first listener watch of the day. Thanks for making the Lockdown Network now, the number one sports podcast network out there.

If you haven't checked out our brand new everydayers clubs, man, you need to go do that right now. We got them for all our great ACC shows, including Brian's Seminole show and Mytar Hill show as well. Go check it out. The links are in all of our show notes. Brian, we got to talk CFP. It's funny that we were just talking Miami and Duke.

Because with the new CFP structures, had this been next year, Miami would have been out in the cold and Duke would have been in. Brian, there's a couple of things to it, but let's start here. One of the things, obviously, that has been the course is that the top five ranked conference champions are in. Regardless of group of five or a high, whatever it is, the five highest ranked are in. No longer the case. Obviously, Duke was left out in the cold because of that, but starting next year, Brian, All four power conference champions are going to be in regardless of ranking or anything else.

Do you like that change? Do you not? I'm not a big fan of it, but I know they're just trying to make money for their conferences. They're not interested in the best 12 teams. No. They look at the group of six teams as a way not to get sued. And they just want guarantees for their conferences. And they're hoping like the Duke situation is a weird one.

that's a once-a-20-year kind of thing. That's not going to happen. Right, exactly. And they're thinking that more often than not, Miami would be ranked higher and that wouldn't happen. Again, the second one might be the weirdest one we ever had, the way the final few moments win. So do I like it? No, but it's probably not going to matter that much because they're looking at it. Like, if Miami would have played Duke, let's say, in the championship game,

and Duke upsets them, Miami's still going to get in, is how they're going to look. at it most years, like, you know, something like that. And if they finished like 11 and 2 or something. But at the same time, if Miami got beat in that game and Duke was the automatic in, that would be, that's the one time. And if, like Miami would have had their third loss if they'd have been in the ACC title game and got bumped, that makes it awkward. So there's still a little bit of awkwardness to it possibly.

But, you know, this did beat Miami probably not more than once in 20 drives. Another wrinkle to, oh, and so that would have meant for this. year, by the way, that James Madison as that fifth highest rated conference champion would have been bumped out because the ACC champ would have still been in. Now, the other wrinkle, Brian, and this is the one that would have kept Miami out, is the fact that now Notre Dame and Notre Dame alone has negotiated to where if Notre Dame finishes top 12 in the CFP rankings, regardless of anything else, a top 12 triggers an auto, inclusion for the Notre Dame fight and iris so all Notre Dame has to do is finished top 12 uh do you

like that one is that weird is it odd is it part of like hey the Notre Dame independent and so that that's how we kind of account for all of that stuff what do you think about that part of the new CFP rules no name is the most difficult to deal with because they're the only independent no offense to Connecticut i think they're the other independent they are just the two of them Yeah, they don't have much. I know that Notre Dame has kind of hitched. This is so weird because they've been rivals forever. Notre Dame and the SEC, the commissioner, the SEC, Notre Dame's AD.

They've been kind of tied on how things work on. I think the SEC helped them get that, which is so odd. Yeah. But do I really like the way that is? No, but at the same time after they got, I mean, they probably should have been in the playoff. No offense to the two group of six teams. There's no comparison.

So, I mean, they're just protecting their brand the same way the SEC protects it, et cetera. I don't know what else they would do because they don't have anybody to tie themselves to. So I don't really like it. Other than a conference, other than a conference, which it's, that's a whole other another rabbit hole. But right, right. I don't think they're going into a conference anytime soon. Right. But they would have like my thought with it, I don't know how feasible this would have been.

but if you're the seat the rest of the committee is basically like look you just got to deal with it and if you don't like it join a conference right like there there is a world where you could say that i think that that's true but i also think the votes for Notre Dame has a vote at the table those conferences cut a deal i don't know what Notre Dame voted for that the conferences wanted that this was a slap my back and you slap you that's all this is very yes it's such a political back back room kind of, you rub my back, I'll rub yours and let's make sure your belly's full and all of that. Yeah, I'd love to know what they helped Greg Sanky with in order to get his vote for this or something, you know? Me too, but then again, I may not. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I don't,

I don't want to know how the sausage is always made. Brian, another interesting thing here, and I literally just found, I didn't catch this in real time when the news came out over weekend or whenever that was. I just learned this on Tuesday. And I think a lot of people glossed over it. But I think, because I want to give credit, I think I saw it from Chris Finini of the athletic wrote about it on Tuesday is the fact that now for the group, the group of six schools, it does not have to be the highest group of six champion that gets in. It's just the highest group of six ranked period. So let's say Tulane loses the American. championship, but they're still the highest ranked group of 16, they would get in despite

not being a conference champion. That one's intriguing to me, because as you said to me earlier, that feels backwards from what they've done with the power of four conferences. What's the reason for that? Here's my only thought with it. My only thought with it is that they want, because thus far, the group of five, previously, now the group of six teams that have made it in in the first two years of the 12 team format have not been competitive at all. And I wonder. Exactly.

Right. Like it doesn't matter. But I wonder if this is a way to say, hey, we just want to make sure that whoever it is that the very best group of six team is going to be the team that's in, which now is going to include the pack 12 again. Maybe there's some better teams there. But I mean, not really. Look, if you would have played any of the group of six teams against, think about it,

the 10th seed was Miami. That's the closest team to them. They ended up in the, like Miami's going to win any of those games. Not crush anybody. Yes. Yes. So the only reason they're in is lawsuit. There is no other reason.

It's not friendly to talk about, but it's true. They can't compete with Miami, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, those schools in the trenches. Yeah. That's just a lawsuit thing. Okay. I know we're already subdivided into FBS and FCS, which should be renamed because that doesn't even matter anymore. But do we need to subdivide? Like, at what point do we just have the power for in Notre Dame?

Like, is it not time for that? Well, I mean, they still play G6 schools during the regular seasons. Sure, but then let them compete for different crowns. Have a group of six, whatever you want to call that national championship and a power for national championship. What's the answer to all questions in society, Isaac? One word. Money, money, money. That's right.

as Cam Newton likes to say on his podcast, it's always about the money. And if they're not invited at the big party, they would still sue. So that's this. And I still think there should be a G6. I would watch it. I think because if we've got Tuesday and Wednesday football during the season and we do, somebody would watch it. And I guarantee you that people in Vegas would put lines on them.

I'm going to go out on a limb on that one. And if there's lines on it, Isaac, what happens? People watch. And here's the different, like, because a lot of people, People will say, but what about March Madness when we see some of these Cinderella's win? It's a different thing, man, because just the way that football goes, exactly, the way the trenches work versus the way basketball works, we will literally never see it. I mean, maybe once every three decades, we'll see Boise State beat Oklahoma with a statue

of liberty. Fine, whatever, almost without exception, it will not happen, Brian. There's no three-point line in football. They're perfect. That is so perfectly set. Yes, 100%. And the inside zone for Alabama works better than the inside zone for Boise State. It's true.

All right. You guys, the ACCC schedules were released on Monday. And boy, we got some doozies, you guys. We need to unpack it. We got some schools playing eight conference games, some playing nine. We got Cal not knowing whether they're. going to North Carolina on the Friday or Saturday. It's a whole mess.

We'll look at it to wrap the show coming up here in just a second. Right after I'd tell you about our friends at Rocket Money, let's be real, managing your finances can feel overwhelming. Between subscriptions you forgot about, bills that keep going up and trying to figure out where all your money actually goes each month, it's easy to feel like you're losing control. And honestly, who has time to track every transaction or hunt down hidden fees? That's where Rocket Money comes in,

the personal finance app that helps you take control. It finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bill so that you can grow your savings. I love how it tracks all my subscriptions, lets me cancel them right in the app with just a few taps. No more hunting down customer service numbers. It even consolidates your checking, your savings, your loans, and investments into a single dashboard so you can get a clear view of your entire financial picture. So let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join RocketMoney.com slash locked on. Again, that's rocketmoney.com slash locked on.

One more time, rocketmoney.com slash locked on. Brian, on Monday of this week, we had the ACC schedule releases. And my man, there are some humdingers out there. Obviously, because of the weird math of it all, we got some schools playing eight conference games plus two other power four games. We got some schools playing nine conference games plus one other power four game. We know about all that. And we can unpack it another time. But Brian, there's a bunch of Saturday games, but then there's some Thursdays and Fridays.

And my man, I don't think the schedule makers have done the reigning national runners up any favors. What do you see with the Miami hurricane schedule here? Good, bad, or ugly? Well, if I'm Mario Cristobal, and I know that he is a rabid recruiting guy, he's probably angry because they didn't get one. They didn't get two. They got three Friday games. and they also got a Thursday game. I'm just going to throw this out there,

and I'm sure a lot of people that follow UNC or Florida State, Miami, whatever, probably going to agree with this. Has the ACC just lost its power? Because I know the networks dictate when the game's starting all that. Sure. Are they just completely, like, is the ACC now the Sunbelt? Like, it's just, it's every Friday. It's multiple.

Like, I want to see what the Big Ten and everything. SEC Friday night schedule is. Yeah. Well, I think that's the thing, Brian, is they haven't made that move yet. They haven't made that shift. And so I think that's why the ACC has moved off of as many Thursday games to lean in into Friday. Because I think Friday has been like sacrosink. People have stayed away from it because of high school football, as you're alluding to. But I think the ACC has realized, oh, we could own Friday night because now the NFL is starting to own Thursday. I think that's where it's coming from. But it's still it's so I. Yeah. That's a great question. But I don't, to my knowledge, the Big Ten and SEC haven't leaned into it yet.

They don't have to. That's, that's the point. That's, look, big noon kickoff. It's going to be a Big Ten game and it's probably going to be one of the following teams involved. Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Southern Cal, or guess what, Oregon. It's probably going to be one of those. Or maybe it's, you know, like Iowa, Wisconsin or something. And then if they do have a big 12 game, it's somebody that's, you know, Texas Tech will be involved.

If it's SEC, it's going to be BAM or somebody like that, killing somebody because they're fans of watch. ACC right now, there's no nice way to say. You got Miami, then there's everybody else. There's nobody even close to them. And it's, they don't have the measuring stick. So I think they're kind of in a low bargaining spot. And it's unfortunate. Like I cover Florida State.

And I talked to Alex Stano earlier this week and like, but man, Florida State got three Friday games. And he goes, well, hell, Miami got three Friday games in a Thursday game. And I said, what? And it's three, their first three games or three of those, right? I think it's like Friday, Thursday, Friday or something like that. Yeah, it's ridiculous. And it's like, if you're Miami, like you want to go to like, again, you have to recruit. Your guys got to be on the road.

You're playing those kids, they're playing. They can't come to your games. That stuff matters. That matters. If I am, if I'm, oh, man, like it's, it's bad. They got, um, Friday game against Florida. and him like what you know and it's just like why that's right out of the gate yeah so after they've got they've got Stanford on a Friday to start this season at Stanford then then it's Thursday then

oh yeah that's not good and it's wake forest yeah like I don't understand I don't know if there's ever been a schedule like that for anybody what alone the team that was just in the national title. Yeah, good grief. Well, it is standalone. There's something to that. And, you know, you're not, that is the game. People are going to watch. And so people are going to want to watch it. And I guess that's part of the price of doing business similar to in basketball now. We're getting into big Monday season where two ACC teams each week will play Saturday and turn right back around and play on Monday 48 hours later. And so, Brian, we're starting to see, as you said, it's the networks that dictate it.

One of the interesting wrinkles here in our new age ACC is that with Cal with Stanford, man, the schedules are always a little bit wacky, a little bit wonky. Brian, you are noting with Cal's schedule that coming up at the end of October, they have back-to-back road trips to Dallas for SMU and then to Raleigh for NC State. Brian, both of those right now are listed with not a firm date. It's a Friday or a Saturday. how at what level is that hurting the fan base, the players, the recruits, all of it. Unpack what you see when you look at that slash on the schedule.

Number one, that is confirming what we mentioned earlier. The ACC has no power and the networks have all of it because they, you know, with Cal, we, they got the quarterback, Jake Ash, like, that guy's, he's dude. And they've got a new regime there. if they pick it up and they start playing better, maybe that's a Saturday game. But if you're in the gutter, we're just going to make it the Friday game, make it to standalone, whatever. That's how I look at it.

And then on top of it, like Cal's a real school. Like, it is an elite academic school. Those kids going across the country two weeks in a row. I know what of kids do on like, I doubt they do as much online there. And like SMU's in Dallas. That's the shorter trip. Yeah. I wonder legitimately, I wonder if they.

stay out like do you fly to Dallas fly back to Berkeley and then fly to Raleigh I mean you're already halfway there I wonder if they just do class online that week if it's a Saturday game and then a Friday game that's what I would yeah that yeah that makes it man I'd be six days I don't know NFL team doing that weekend and week out but still man it's it's wild yeah but that's the only thing they're doing and they're adults that that's exactly got 18 year olds trying to handle there's class schedule as freshmen and stuff like there's just no way in hell and yeah it's that's that's got to be really rough and i'm sure they start talking about this stuff now you're like you have people they go scout out the hotels and like they literally go out how do we approach

this what's the because there's no way they like this i guarantee you when cal got their schedule they were like are you serious are you serious thankfully thankfully their open week is the week after the second of those that that's the one helpful thing, but it's still like if I'm Cal, I'm pleading. Like can we flip that and have the open week between these two road trips or something, man? Like that's crazy. Speaking of open weeks, Brian, here's another place I want to go. This year, most schools only have one open week instead of two like we're typically used to seeing.

Part of that is that means some schools are going to have it really early and some like Cal are going to have it really late. So Cal for example, goes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine straight weeks without a week off. And I think we have two schools that do the opposite of that. I think it's Syracuse and North Carolina have open weeks in week five. And then nine straight weeks after that, Brian, like, how insane is that to try to manage and have for these teams? Well, I remember last year speaking, we talked about Miami a little bit ago.

They played Florida State after a buy. Then after they played Florida State, they got another buy. So they're like the networks, they need to be more realistic. It's not, it's not fair to the kids. It's not fair to the coaches, the fans, anybody else. It's not normal. There's an old stat that betters on this. If you play six games in a row, that six game, you're, you're dragging.

What the hell do you think is going to happen with game seven, eight and nine? And the last two for Cal are road games. They go to Dallas, play a very good SOU program. They turn around and go to NC State with C.J. Bailey. of those guys. I don't know what the line is for the Cal at NC State game, but I'll give the points and take the Wolfpack. Yeah.

You know, I don't gamble, but like, I'm just playing the math. Nine games in a row, NFL teams struggle with that. And this is all they do. So, like, your schedule, and it's that wacky, your chances of being a top-tier team can really go in the tank. Because if you hit a little run of injuries and that you don't have, that by week you already know, then you're going on the road for a couple of games. It's going to be really hard.

So, yeah, I think it's a major impact. And it changes who wins games and who goes to bowl games. Yeah. All right, Brian, great stuff, man. Really interested to see how the scheduling plays out this year, how the how teams manage the travel and all of it. Really interested to see how all the CFP stuff that we talked about plays out as well. You all, if you have not yet checked out, locked on Seminoles, that Brian does a great job of host to make sure you hop on. that locked on tar heels that I host. Also, if you're not aware, Brian hosts our portal show.

Go check that out. I co-host locked on college basketball. So if you want more of the portal stuff, if you want more college basketball, come check those shows out as well as all the rest of the great ACC shows going on. We'll be back, hopefully with our strong full force next week. But Brian and I had a great little mini squad here this week to come at you, man, lots of fun. All right, you all. Thanks so much for being here with us on the ACC squad. It's your team every day. We will be right back with you next week. Don't forget to go check out all the everyday clubs.

But for now, peace.