Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - HOT TAKES: Miami Hurricanes SNUBBED from College Football Playoff

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

The stage is set for the biggest game of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference! Welcome to ACC Squad, your go-to roundtable podcast for all things ACC football. Hosted by Alex Donno of Locked On ACC, this special ACC Championship episode features an in-depth breakdown of the title game, analysis of the top contenders, and predictions from your favorite Locked On podcast hosts.We’ll cover how the finalists reached this point, key matchups to watch, and the players who could determine the outcome of this season-defining showdown. Whether you’re rooting for the Clemson Tigers, Florida State Seminoles, Louisville Cardinals, North Carolina Tar Heels, or any other ACC powerhouse, this episode has all the insights you need to get hyped for the championship game!In This Episode:Full breakdown of the ACC Championship matchupAnalysis of team strengths, weaknesses, and game plansPredictions on who will take home the ACC titleSpotlight on key players and their potential impactThis is the ultimate preview for the ACC Championship, so don’t miss out! Share your thoughts in the comments below—who do you think will be crowned ACC champions this year? Let’s hear your predictions!#ACCSquad #ACCFootball #LockedOnACC #ACCChampionship #ACC2024 #TitleGame #ClemsonTigers #FloridaStateSeminoles #LouisvilleCardinals #NorthCarolinaTarHeels #CollegeFootball Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The ACC Football Championship game is set, and boy, did we have a bumpy road getting here. Let's bring in the squad. You're talking ball with the ACC squad, sponsored by game time. 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 be fun.

Squad up, you're part of the ACCC squad. Shout out to the everydayers and thank you so much for making the squad. Your first listen and your first watch today. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Cains. We got, I was hoping Jackson Holzer from Lockdown Syracuse would take today off. But I don't have that kind of luck. We got Kent and Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Lockdown Wolfpack. We got JJ Jackson from Lockdown Blue Devils,

Isaac Shade from Lockdown Tar Heels. And this episode is brought to you by Fandul. You can start the season with a big. return on Fanduel because new customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win that first $5 bet, visit Fandul.com to get started. We had a bunch of brawls over the weekend in college football rivalry weekend got very heated and yeah, friends, we have an ACC championship game set for this Saturday in Charlotte. It's going to be the SMU Mustangs.

We already knew that. Taking on the Clemson Tigers. Now Clemson gets in because my Miami Hurricanes, they couldn't be. do that one thing and that was protect protected 21 point lead against jackson syracuse orange so jackson uh congratulations on the upset sir thank you i did not play but i will certainly take the congratulations what a game that was fun whoever won that game it was a fun donna was that you would use to describe it was it fun oh it was definitely fun it was amazing it was amazing see we got to stick it to Miami. That was the best part. We got to like basically ruin their season.

Maybe. Maybe they still have a shot. Maybe. Maybe. But guess what? We can talk about all the playoffs scenarios in the world. But if, if Clemson wins, it's over for your Miami hurricanes. I was listening to some of the hurricanes podcast. I was listening to Lockdown Sports Miami, the IDGAF bowl. Oh, oh, man. All you have to do is protect a 21-point lead. That's all you had to do to Syracuse. See, nobody knew Syracuse football until Saturday. Nobody.

I mean, we did. ACC squad knowers did. ACC teams knew. But national media, no clue. They see Syracuse on the schedule. It's like they ignore the record. They ignore that Kyle McCord's one of the best past. in the country and they just look at the brand and they say, well, Syracuse football,

they're just not very good. They just can't be good, right? How can they beat Miami? Even myself didn't pick Syracuse to win. I did think they were going to keep it close and competitive, but a lot of people were just like, ah, this is going to be a right off. Miami's going to win. Why play the games? I think we can eliminate the hypothetical now, right? Can we eliminate that? Hypothetically speaking. Instead, let's just play on the field. Let's look at the results. And guess what? I think the better team won on Saturday. Oh, I think that's right.

Better team. Oh, boy. You had a 21 point lead. A 21 point lead. A 21 point lead. And you lost. And then 20 was early in the game. It was early.

You're all cocky because your coach got to shower again finally. He got to shower for three straight games. Styrichus, obviously, he's been chowering a lot. Obviously, Syracuse was better that day or Miami wouldn't have lost that game. Now, unfortunately for me, unfortunately for me, better that day, Miami has an unsurious defense. Like, it, and that's true. Taking nothing away. Kyle McCord did what he did all season long. I mean, 380 passing yards was even above his average. Yeah, that's not even a lot for him, honestly. That's like 280.

But yeah, I'll tell you, Miami's defensive breakdowns unfortunately did not. surprise me. Honestly, the one thing that did surprise me was the fumble taken back the other way, because if you told me Xavier Restrepo would be the guy to cough up the football in what turned out to be really the turning point and game-changing play of that game, that's not what I expected. You're going to give me anybody else in that receiving core who would cough up the football for a return the other. What Restrepo was the last guy I would have imagined. And unfortunately, for Miami, when your defense is that unsurious, the margin for error for your offense is, it's virtually zero.

It's virtually zero. And Cam Ward played great. Like it wasn't his fault. He didn't fumble. He didn't throw any interceptions. He actually had, do you go by the pro football focus ratings, he actually had his, he think his best game of the season against Syracuse. But when your defense lets you down and when you just make too many mistakes, which again,

has been Miami's MO, even in games that they've won this year. Things like that can happen. And it's why I wasn't shocked. Listen, protecting a 21-point lead is one thing. Even when Miami was up 21 points heading into the second quarter, I'm like, stop the count. It's too early in the game. Maybe they could hold a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter,

not in the second quarter. They got up too early. I'm going to do something. Jackson, last time somebody got to preaching like that in New York, someone yelled, get your hand out of my pocket. And Malcolm X funeral proceeded that shortly after. That was the best part getting, I'm not in New York right now. I'm not in New York.

I'm in South Florida. Just, oh, fuck. He's in my, he's in my life right now. Oh, my God, Jackson is in your track right now. Jackson is in. This is like finding out that Kendrick Lamar recorded squabble up in Toronto. What is this? What is this?

You know what? I'm going to say this. And I mean this from the most genuine place possible. I don't believe that every law should. be a requiem of a coach's hire or whether or not his job should be on the line. This should absolutely be a requiem for Miami and Cristobal. I don't care what anyone says. It's not just about what the expectations were coming into the season.

It's the way in which you lost this game. Don't get me wrong. I love the mob. I think higher of Syracuse's defense than most people do. Anybody who knows me knows if Marlow Wax has no fans. this earth i am gone with that in mind you can't run the ball to melt the clock away against the defensive line that is exponentially smaller than you up front you're two facts i talk about it all the time 450 pounds of man me coming downhill stop it isaac stop it you're supposed to be a preacher

don't be like that but to get what i'm saying here like those are two massive running backs coming downhill and for whatever reason you don't think to yourself, hey, Cam's been fine, but we should probably run the ball a little bit to put this thing away. I look at this and I say defensive adjustments. I get it. You're an offensive guy. At what point do you say my office needs a break? At what point do you look at your D coordinator and say, hey, buddy, what you have been doing so far is not working.

They have figured it out. They've hit the lethal shooter. I understand it now. You've got to do something different. It's just a moment for me where I look at Christopold and I say this one falls squarely at your feet. Because to blow a 21 point lead with your first ACC championship appearance in nearly a decade on the line, with their first opportunity to write your own ticket to a playoff in writing your grasp. And this is what you do with it?

I absolutely think there should be a conversation about Miami as much as there is praise to Syracuse. Well, I think those conversations are happening. And I still believe in Christobal as a program builder. But obviously there's probably going to need to be, as he's done every year since he's been at Miami, there's probably going to need to be some more tweaks on the staff because somebody's got to be held accountable for it. And it's his job as the CEO of that football program to make the changes and the fixes necessary. And obviously not every coaching hire he's made is a good one. I think he did a good job with Shannon Dawson, the offensive coordinator.

Obviously, I give Christopal credit for going out there and recruiting Cam Ward the way that he did. But, yeah, I mean, you can't, you can't trot into 2025 with the same kind of defense you played in 2024. How what do you think, first off, Dono, congrats to you. I'm so proud of you for just sitting there and taking all that like a boss. Way to go. I mean, what am I supposed to do? I lost.

There's nothing I can do. As we learned this weekend, some people cannot take a loss and move on before you are. That's what I'm saying. What do you think Clemson fans experienced on Saturday going from just like crapping the bed against South Carolina down the stretch and like, well, it's over. And then this. And it's like, oh, we just backed our way into this thing. All right, let's see what we got. I think if Clemson wins the ACC and then maybe they go on a magical run in the playoff and they win the playoff and everything like that, they're the national champions.

I think that Syracuse should be on the parade with them. That's my opinion. See she's as much for that as Clemson did. Whatever the parade is for Clemson. As much credit that I've just did for talking about. As much credit, I'll just take. Now you want to be the side chick on a parade. We were always two.

What's the reason they were there? No, no, I'm just saying because, you know, Clemson would have no chance at the playoff, if not for Syracuse. Oh, is that it? Is that the point? Okay. Let me let you in on the secret, okay? I look at this situation for Clemson.

limbs and fans, and if you asked me what they experienced, I'll say it's jubilation. Based on what you saw in game one, there was not a snowball chance in hell that you were getting to the playoff unless you ran the table and dominated. Based on what we saw against Louisville, it was over. That was it. That was all there was to it. And now here we are in the situation, like y'all said, they backdoor their way in by not doing anything. They didn't have to play good football to back door their way in down the stress. They didn't have to win a game down the stretch against anybody but the Citadel, which they didn't even have to win that game being my point here. The reality is they did their work early, made their hate early, and they needed Miami to do Miami things, which Miami, Miami this thing up.

Okay. We're going to say about Miami again this year, just like we have every year to pass. So talented. Nobody's got a more talent to Ross. The talent is obvious. And yet and still, everybody on this panel has as many ACC championships as Miami in the 2020s. Like that has as many ACC championships as Miami since win. What, what did ever? Do they have an ACC? I'm going to meet all of you five seconds. I'm just saying that Donald, I love you, but we got to be honest.

We were honest about the Wolfpack with CJ Bailey. Bye. Only reality has shown up. The big Miami lobby is trying to stop me. but I won't let them. Okay? The reality is you've got to have some very serious conversations with yourself. Because again, I don't think that, I don't think that Chris Ball is a bad coach.

I don't think that, hey, he's never the guy to get it done. But I will say if this roster wasn't the one to get it done with, I'm not saying that this roster was without holes. But if this roster wasn't won in this year where if you tell me coming into the season, Florida State's going to win two games. Oh, and Clemson, they're going to get the. floor wiped with them multiple times, three to be exact. There's no way that you're telling me Miami doesn't do it with this roster. And lo and behold, they didn't do it with this roster.

By the way, that Kenton Gibbs mute was brought to you by Life Wallet. I'll tell you, not to zoom this out too much, but I will, something that does frustrate me is somebody who went to Miami loves Miami and covers Miami is. I mean, every single year, players leave early for the NFL draft who don't even get drafted. It's like how, you know what, maybe, maybe if a couple of your defensive backs had stayed around, you know, James Willia, although they're, they're doing well in the NFL camp Kintions is obviously doing very well. But if, if Miami could actually keep guys around a little bit longer, oh man, maybe they could actually close. But I, Miami is, I'm taking my lumps here today.

They're not the biggest disappointment in the ACC this year. Let's not forget about two and ten Florida State. Oh my goodness. You know, I also think this about Miami, at least least they're relevant enough that we actually talk about them. Yeah. At least they're relevant enough that we talk about them. They start to get into the college football playoff in theory. Brian Smith is still a ducking the smoke. He's ducking the smoke.

He said, oh, one. He's a witness protection, Brian Smith. He's got hair now. He's living in Albuquerque. I don't know where this dude has been. When we come back? When we come back? No, no.

He'll have another podcast going tomorrow about how Florida State lost. Another commenced. Another one's gone. Where's he going next? Oh, man. Well, I want to get into the matchup, SMU and Clemson, because I noticed the hypothetical before the matchup was finalized, Clemson would have been favored against SMU,

but SMU is a two and a half point favorite now. We'll get into that and so much more. You guys want to keep it locked right here. We got the squad assembled on locked on ACC. We still have a lot of football left, folks. We got the conference championship games coming up. There's a whole lot of NFL action still to come. College football playoff is still in front of us.

get ready to tackle all the action with Fandual, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The Fandual Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get that hunch, we all get those in the middle of the game. You can check out the latest stats for you live play by play and so much more right on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit Fandual.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win that. first $5 bet. That's Fanduel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fanduel,

an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Thank you for making the locked on ACC squad. Your first listen and your first watch today, make sure you check out all of our shows. I host Locked on Cains, Jackson hosts Locked on Syracuse, Kenton and Grayson on Locked on Lockedon, Wolfpack, JJ Jackson, locked on Blue Devils, Isaac Shade, locked on Tar Heels and Locked on College Basketball as well, which is I wish I could pivot to basketball. but Miami's not good at that at all right now. Football team is a lot. You know what,

Dono, we got that in common. Yes, we do. Donno, Miami is one of the five worst teams in the power conference structure in the net right now in basketball. Carry on. You're cruising for a mute of your own, Isaac Shade. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just stating the fact, Dono.

That's it. So how we feel, fellas, about, you know, Clemson, of course, the traditional ACC power. SMU, one of the best stories in college football that not enough people are talking about. They came in and they crashed the party. They went a perfect 8 and O in conference play. And now they find themselves as two and a half point favorites against Clemson.

SMU's been the more consistent football team all season long. Clemson can absolutely win this game. But I look at SMU and their weapons, the way Kevin Jennings has played, Richard Smith, who was named co-running back first team all ACC this season. I think the Mustangs might just get it done. You're one. Well, they're one of the teams that have proven they can turn the football over six times and still win a football game.

That one still hurts. But I will say to Kenton and Isaac and Grayson, everyone in here, best in state. You guys can say it with me here. Best in state. How about the Duke Blue Devils in their nine and three season? I didn't see that coming. Even despite losing that SMU game.

Oh, don't worry. Don't worry. we will see how long Duke can hold being good at football. You've had her two years in the sun. You've had to, no, but seriously, we've got to give you your love there, and we've got to give love to SMU here because this team has done something

that none of our teams could do. Any one of us on this panel, including Miami, could do. They were just consistent. They found ways in different ways every single time in conference. And anybody who wants to make the argument of, oh, well, you know, their schedule was just so much easier than everybody else is.

In what world is that actually true? In what world are we looking at that team and saying, hey, they didn't have to play anybody along the way because who didn't they play? Who did they avoid in terms of all of the best teams in the conference? Yes, they didn't have a match up with Miami. Yes, they didn't have a match up with Clemson. that is the side effect of these super conferences.

I love me, Symphonia Express. I love to see these guys getting their love. And by the way, this is a bigger point than what we're talking about right now. But how many times have I told people? All of this delineation between conferences that we create is fictional. It's a fugitive. It's a fugitive. It's not real because this SMU team comes in first year and gets it done.

A Texas team that ain't pissed a drop in the Big 12 goes to the SEC. and all of a sudden there the squad. This is going, this should show us, hey, college football is much closer in terms of where these teams are than we imagine. And SMU has shown, through some very good pickups in the portal in the trenches, you can become that consistent team that doesn't instead of teams that pay on the outside and try to worry about the inside last. I'm looking at you, Coach Doran.

You need to address the bigs first. I tell you what, I'm really happy for SWU. And I mentioned them probably like week five when I saw this as a possibility. I don't know how much I believe that they would actually make it this far. But here they are. They've deserved it every step of the way. I sell that to say, I'm kind of surprised they're favorite in this game. If it were me, I think I'd probably flip it with Clemson being a two and a half point favorite.

I think Clemson's defense is going to show up and be very for real. But I would love for this game to roll into a shootout. If SMU wins the conference in year one. Well, by the way, Clemson's not winning a shootout. SMU, Mike. Clemson's not winning a shootout, in my opinion. True. I don't know. We'll see. Clemson's just very random at this point. I don't know what to actually expect of them, but I just want a good game, nonetheless.

And that's why SMU should be favored, because you have no idea what to expect from Clemson. That's the point. The model, or it's the word of the day is consistency. That is SMU's entire season. Because I remember around week five, I was also looking at SMU, and I also was looking at at SMU like, well, at some point they're going to lose. Right. They got to lose at some point.

Like someone's got to lose. And I was like, well, it's probably going to be SMU. I mean, are they really this good? And they just keep, they just have winning. And they just have winning. And they just keep finding different ways to win. They're winning with a different quarterback than what they had at the start of the season. Consist to I believe that SMU does deserve to be favored.

And I do think that SMU is going to win this game. And consistency is great, but the problem is this is not a series. This is a one-off opportunity. So if Clemson has one of those big days, you know, it could be a thing, right? And so that's just the weirdness of a one-off. And like what I'm trying, what I've been trying to process, fellas, is what happens if SMU loses this game? Do they go from a projected buy to being out of the field?

Like, is that a real possible? Like, what is the best thing? I hope not. Yes, there is a possibility. but it's really only I don't think it happens. It's only what happens with Boise State. Nobody's talking about this, but

if Boise State loses and SMU loses, someone is really going to get royally host. It's going to be one of Indiana, Boise State, or SMU. If you just look at the numbers, I did the math last night.

You know how in college basketball during like conference championship week, we start talking about bid thieves, like the teams that are going to get in definitely, but then you get like a random team winning a conference championship and then an at large making it in. This is the first time we've had that scenario in college football. We might have some bid thieves situations in this new playoff system. The bit thieves in this case would be UNLV over Boise State. That would be a huge one, but you know, you would have to give them the auto bid.

And the other one would be obviously in our conference if Clemson beats SMU. If those two things happen, there's three teams for two spots left. And those three teams would be Boise State, SMU, and Indiana. Indiana can get royally host at 11 and 1. It's just to put, that's what happens if those upsets happen. Dono, what are your thoughts about Miami's chances of getting in this thing? Honestly, I look at it as I could make the argument that they're 10 and 2, which combined losses of nine total points against, you know, a Georgia tech team that took Georgia to eight over

times and a good series. You've got to go for two. Why didn't they go for two? Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I think, I think Miami probably has a resume that should get them in, and I will be disappointed if they don't. However, I go back to the crossover conversation that Jackson and I had, what we talked about

last week on the squad. If Miami doesn't make it in, even if I feel like they should be deserving. of getting in because I put their two-loss resume against three loss SEC teams like Alabama who got blown out by Oklahoma. That's bad loss. Vanderbilt's not a good loss. At the same time, Miami had so many opportunities to control their own destiny and they blew out, blew it.

So I could be at peace with whatever the committee decides, but it wouldn't stop me with being disappointed if they don't get in. I see it. Don't leave it up to the committee. But did we not see a situation where this was objectively the worst, the worst possible weekend for the ACC in multiple ways. Not only does Clemson lose, if Clemson wins that game,

it helps the ACC in terms of like, hey, you've got a chance to get in multiple teams. And it hurts South Carolina as well in that scenario. And it hurts South Carolina. It eliminates them. And if SMU loses, you're like, well, you just lost to a team that beat a bubble team out of the SEC. Now it's like,

You're lost to a three-loss team and, you know, this is what you are. Like, how do we possibly reconcile letting you in? And then Miami is behind both of those teams. It's like, well, then's the breaks, I guess. Really, really tough week for, you know, the ACC's three-team bid hopes. But I will say this, again, in a logical and same world, we are not debating about two. To me, there's not a world where we're having a serious. serious conversation about is there at least two teams worthy? Because again, every single

team going into the playoff this year has shown some serious. And when I say serious, I mean serious flaws, including the number one team in America who made the Idaho vandals looked like they were a really good team. Like everybody has had their moments where it's like, are they, are they for real? What's what's happening right now? So there is not a dominant team in college football this year. Yeah. And I was telling you guys the stat before we got some of you barely even believed it. For as much as I have complained about Miami's defense, somehow they have the 24th rated total defense in America.

I think that says a lot about college football right now. There's just no defense, period. Well, we had ACC first team, second team, third teamers announced. I want to talk about the first team when we come back. Are there any snubs? Did they get it right? You guys want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this ACC.

squad. Thanks for making Locked on ACC. Your first listen and your first watch did JJ just disappear? He's gone. He said he had the mouth during the timeout, yeah. Yeah, no, no, you're right. So we got, I'm Alex Dono from Locked on Caines, Jackson Holeser locked on Syracuse, Kent and Gibbs and Grayson Boone, locked on

Wolfpack, Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels. All right, so guys, first team all-ACC announced. Not surprising, Cam Ward takes the first team quarterback honors. He eclipsed 4,000 yards this season, 36 touchdown passes. Very well-deserved, Amari and Hampton. I know Isaac can take his victory lap. What a season. What a running back. He and Breschard Smith from SMU, Amari in Hampton, UNC, Breschard Smith from SMU, running backs, first team all-ACC. Wide receivers are Xavier Restrepo from Miami, Jacori Brooks, from Louisville, Antonio Williams, from Clemson.

Hold, hold, hold, hold. Before you go any further, all those things, Clinton fans who told me I didn't know ball and Brown was the best receiver on that team. Can you tell me which receiver was all-ACC-first team again? Run that back by me one more time. All right. So Clemson representative Antonio Williams. Oh, the guy that kid said was the playmaker. The one against that was the day.

Okay, proceed. I'm sorry. My back. My bad. You're good. I think I hate him and I don't know no ball. Go ahead. You're good.

All purpose, Desmond Reed from Pitt. He had a tremendous year. I know Pitt faded down the stretch. But what a start to the seat? sorry Kenton. Offensive tackles, Blake Miller from Clemson, Ozzie Tripillo from Boston College, guards, Willie Lampkin from UNC, Kaelin Rutledge from Georgia Tech Center, Drew Kendall from Boston College. So that's the offense, guys. Any omissions you saw there, that's pretty much how I expected to come out. The one thing that was weird to me,

Dono, was that I did some mathing and neither, like nobody was a unanimous first team all selection. Both Cam Ward and O'Marian Hampton were the two highest point getters. And even they were a couple vote. There were 71 total voters, three points for a first team vote, which is like 2.13. Neither of them even got to that threshold. I thought that was kind of odd that we had no unanimous selections. Yeah. That is a little bit odd.

I would have thought that the two of those would probably be unanimous. On defense, defense events, Donovan Azaraku from Boston College, APR, Antoine Powell, Riland from Virginia Tech. Aeneas Peebles of Virginia Tech, Simeon Barrow of Miami, the defensive tackles. Also, Jared Harrison Hunt from SMU, linebackers, Kyle Lewis of Pitt,

Barrett Carter from Clemson, Teddy Buchanan from Cal, cornerbacks, Noel Williams from Cal, Chandler Rivers from Duke, safeties, Jonas Sanker, and Isaiah Nwokobia from SMU. That's on the defensive side, fellas.

Your thoughts? you know i don't think that there can be too much argument about most of these guys like even even the guys where you would want to say oh my guy has a case you've got to be very very honest with yourself right as much as i love davin van there's not a world where you could say he out impacted 16 sacks of peace from donovan as a rock group and apio like there is those two were absolute freaks of nature this year off the edge and i'll tell you what But when you look at the situation of guys having multiple four-sac games, you know, you could, you could love to say, oh, Desmond Hurricane Bain, when he was healthy, he was the guy,

you can't make a serious argument against either one of those. He didn't have a great year. He was injured for half the year. Yeah. No, no one of them. Exactly. So you can't make an argument against either one of those bookends. I look at this defensive line at least, and I say they nailed this thing absolutely right.

Because if Ania's peoples didn't play as well as he did, Virginia Tech would have had a much worse season, and I'll leave it at that. Hey, that season would have gone a lot worse with him if he didn't show up in the major. So shout out to Florida State because they have a first team specialist. This guy was probably the most used punter in the country. Alex Mostramano, Florida State punter is named First Team All-ACC. Miami gets their place kicker in, Andy Boregallis. I thought that was interesting.

I mean, Bora Gallis had a fantastic year. Why I think it's interesting is I thought he got snubbed for the Groza. They named three finalists for the Groza. One of those is Fitzgerald, the Florida State kicker, who, you know, to me it's like a kicker doesn't face a single clutch situation the entire year because your team is two and ten. And he only kick 12 field goal, or only 12 extra points, I should say. I thought, I thought Boragallis got snubbed for the Groza. So I was happy to see that he made first team all ACC. and specialists. There was some competition there with some good returners, but it goes to Desmond Reed from Pitt,

who had a phenomenal year. Yeah, again, I think Desmond Reed, fantastic all-round player, fantastic all year in all the roles that he was given. And he's another guy. If he does not play as well as he does, as much as we talked about Pitt being clutching all those situations, how many times did he create a short field for Pitt to score with

based on his phenomenal return? So, I mean, again, I think all of these makes sense. And Mastramano, ice up, son. Get your legs and rest, man. Boy, I'll tell you, we have not seen the guy happening. He was the best player in Florida State this season. Listen, I know. They didn't win two games without him.

Norville got tired of saying, game ball, Mastermano. Another game ball, Monster Mano. Hey, guys, guess who the player the week is this week? It's DJ. You. Ilex, Master Mono. I cannot believe that DJU was the quarterback at one point for Florida State. That's how weird this season has been.

Yeah. Feels like a long time ago. Brock Tober was also a long time ago. Shout out to those guys. Yeah. And Luke, Luke, Cromen, Cromen Vember was after that or Luke Fember. They got a lot of AI generated characters playing quarterback, man. Yeah.

I mean, I will, I will say like to Florida, to Florida State's credit, they're trying to make the necessary moves with their coordinator hires. I mean, I really like their defensive coordinator hire Tony White from Nebraska. Now, their offensive coordinator hire is, I, Gus Malzahn, it kind of feels like when Jimbo Fisher hired Tony Petrino at Texas A&M is kind of like a desperation move, and it didn't really mess. I'm not really sure if I still believe in it, unless he can find a way to get Cam Newton in another year of eligibility at Florida State.

I'm not so sure how much I believe in the Malzan move, but they're definitely, they're trying to fix their offense and their defense in a big way. Well, they don't really have a choice, do they? They kind of do have to fix it. They went two and ten. But I don't know. I don't know.

You know what? I think we're looking at this all group. Okay. Florida State is fighting the same battle that we fought on this, on this channel many a time. where we talked about, hey, the ACC didn't get enough respect. We're not getting enough respect. Florida State took boycotting the playoffs so seriously

that they said, we're going to make it so there's not a chance that anybody thinks we sniff the playoff this year. And that's how dedicated they are to saying the ACC was done wrong. Novell and Company, I commend you. The sacrifices along the way, I commend you. DJ you, who's going forth to learn some enterprise rental car. I commend you for taking all the get your CDL means for the greater good of the ACC. We appreciate you all.

Before we all go, okay, I have a thought for you. You mentioned boycotting and actually got my mind thinking here, okay? Okay. Let's say that there is a conference champion this week, or not a conference champion, let's say. It will be. That's a great. Let's say one of the conference, let's say Boise State or SMU lose. Let's say one of them lose, right?

and they get left out of the college football playoff as a result. That means they get penalized for playing that extra game, right? If that happens, I have a new theory for you all. Boycott the conference championship game. Oh, you ran that by me over the weekend. If you get penalized for playing in your conference championship game, I'm telling you, committee, don't you dare do it. Don't do it.

If you penalize these teams for playing in their conference championship game, then I'm saying you should just boycott them entirely, that there's just no point in playing. Jackson, what's the highest level you stop playing sports, huh? High school. Well, did your high school win anything? City championship, state championship. You want a state championship.

So what the hell are you talking about, Jackson? I'm saying. You can't give up the opportunity to do. I understand what you're saying. telling me that SMU, who should be a lot to the playoff, but in some weird scenario were to be left out, it would be ridiculous, right? We'd all agree it would be ridiculous. Absolutely. Yeah, it would be.

And then what's the point of playing the Congress championship game? But that's, you can't live your life based off the ridiculousness of the committee. We sat here and watched Texas be propped up all year based on what? I'm just saying. If we're talking about what it should be, there's nothing there. We're still watching Penn State get propped up. People believe Penn State Oregon is going to be a close game. Oregon hasn't impressed.

But I am guaranteeing sure if the sun rises on the east and sets on the west, they're about to stop a model in that Penn State team. That is, they're the 300 C of college football team. They look like a phantom until an actual fandom pulls up. That's what's going to happen to that team. But the committee and all of their wisdom do foolishness all the time. If you live your life based on the committee, why would 90% of teams of the ACC even show up? If you're a Boston college and you lose one game, you know you're out.

If you're an SMU, we see how people are treating a one-loss SMU. And if it wasn't for multiple SEC teams pissing down their leg at the moment of truth, they wouldn't be in a conversation in a very serious and meaningful way. You cannot live your life, especially when there's an opportunity to put some hardware in your trophy case for like, Oh, well, the committee might not like us. So we'll just sit it out and make the committee love a, you're a football player. We are big angry men doing big angry things.

I wanted to float that out there if something ridiculous happens, which we all know can happen because the college football playoff committee we're talking about here. But there's so much upside to winning the conference championship game. Yes, there is. And then you get a first round die. You can be left out because you didn't play well in your conference championship game. I think that's kind of ridiculous, right?

Isn't that the whole point? Whereas Notre Dame always sits around. literally every year, Twitter is the biggest winner. Notre Dame is the biggest. Notre Dame and Ohio State are the biggest winners. You know why? They're not wrong there. And maybe Alabama, too.

Oh, Jackson's frozen and it's great. That's hilarious. He did his Dalton impression today. The football guys decided that they'd had enough. They said, cut his mic off. Cut the mic off. Cut the mic. Jackson, I wouldn't do it, but I hear where you're coming from, right?

Like, I couldn't put my money where my mouth is with that, but I'm with you. I'm about to cut. everybody's mic off because we are out of time. Huge thank you and shout out to Jackson Holeser, locked on Syracuse. Nobody will be boycotting the conference championship games this week. Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack, Grayson Boone from Lockedon Wolfpack, Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Cain's, and we'll see what happens with the committee and everything else.

And we'll be back with you guys next week on another episode of the squad. Hey, Tar Heels, teach a man's how to squabble.