Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - HOT TAKES: SMU Mustangs, Clemson Tigers UPSETS Incoming?

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

Get ready for another exciting episode of ACC Squad, the must-watch roundtable podcast for all things ACC football! Hosted by Alex Donno of Locked On ACC, this week’s discussion brings together Locked On hosts to break down the latest news, game recaps, and upcoming matchups for the Atlantic Coast Conference.We’ll dive into the performances of your favorite teams, including the Boston College Eagles, Clemson Tigers, Duke Blue Devils, Florida State Seminoles, Louisville Cardinals, Miami Hurricanes, NC State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels, Syracuse Orange, California Golden Bears, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Pittsburgh Panthers, SMU Mustangs, Stanford Cardinal, Virginia Cavaliers, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.In This Episode:Latest ACC football headlines and breaking newsRecaps of recent games and key takeawaysPreviews and predictions for upcoming matchupsPlayer performances, standout moments, and analysis of team strategiesDon’t miss out on the insights and opinions from the Locked On hosts who cover the ACC schools every day! Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know which teams or players you’re watching closely this week.#ACCSquad #ACCFootball #LockedOnACC #CollegeFootball #ACCNews #FootballAnalysis #BostonCollegeEagles #ClemsonTigers #DukeBlueDevils #FloridaStateSeminoles #LouisvilleCardinals #MiamiHurricanes #NCStateWolfpack #NorthCarolinaTarHeels #SyracuseOrange #CaliforniaGoldenBears #GeorgiaTechYellowJackets #PittsburghPanthers #SMUMustangs #StanfordCardinal #VirginiaCavaliers #VirginiaTechHokies #WakeForestDemonDeacons Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's finally here. College football playoff week is upon us and both ACC teams are on the road. Are we about to get swept out? Let's bring in the squad to figure it out. 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 ACCC. 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. What's up? Welcome into the All-Coast Conference Squad show. It's good to be together on college football playoff week. Ah man, we got a quartet coming at you today. Jackson

Holzer of Locktown Syracuse, both our Wolfpack Brethren, Grayson Boone and Kenton Gibbs, bringing the fire. Once again, our intrepid host. Alex Dono, host of Lockdown Miami, is out today. So unfortunately, I am captaining and piloting the way Isaac Shade, host of Locked on Heels and co-host, a Locktown College basketball. It's great to be together. Welcome in all you every dayers. Man, let's cozy up.

Let's figure out what's going on. This episode is brought to you by the college football playoff on TNT. It's here, and you don't want to miss a moment of the action. It's presented by Allstate, and it begins with four first round games this weekend on ESPN, ABC, TNT, and of course, Max. fellas, we got two ACC games into very different climates this weekend. We'll get to both of them, but we're going to start in Austin, Texas. Clemson at Texas.

Longhorn's favored by 11.5. This game is at 4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, 3 p.m. Local time. It's on TNT and Max there at DKR, Texas Memorial Stadium. Weather, a high of 62 and a low of 40. That is balmy compared to what's going to happen earlier in the day in Penn state boys who's buying the first round let's get after it i'll gladly buy first round here and say that what the hell are they doing favor in texas by this much but you know what i'm excited about

it i'm excited about it because we have talked about this all year and now we can finally put hypothetical town to rents now we can finally stop talking about oh who's who's the cc how much better than everybody else or how much worse the aces and everybody else we are finally going to get to figure it out. My best against your best. Put your baddest on the floor. We'll put our baddest on the floor. And we'll see who is still standing in the middle of the dance floor at the end of it. Fun fact about this Texas team, because

a lot of people won't believe in when I say this. Do you know how many right teams they beat by double digits this year? Zero? I get zero. Correct. Correct. Correct. So we're sitting here. many we have. So we're sitting here saying that this team is favored by 11 and a half in a game that again, they haven't, this is just not what they've done at any point in time. And even if you

say, well, Texas A&M was ranked. They beat them by 10. So again, and that's a team that could not complete a forward pass. Congratulations. If any, if you're listening to this show, you had as good of a chance of completing a forward pass as Texas A&M does against A&M doing 707. So, with With that in mind, I need everybody to understand. This Clemson team has more than a puncher's chance at winning this football. So, Kenton, your thing with the line being in 11.5th, we got to keep in mind that the game is at Texas. And so by default, just the way the odds makers do it, if you're at home, you get three points. So if these were on a neutral site, I think you would feel a little bit better about being eight and a half.

Correct me if I'm wrong, right? but it's at Texas. So it's 11.5. And honestly, I think it works to Clemson's disadvantage, the fact that the weather is going to be pretty good. Because Texas has a really good defense. Clemson, they can be a little bit suspect. Texas is a more well-rounded team.

The fact that weather should not be that much of a factor, I think that does not vote well for a team like Clemson. Was that a fat joke? They're well-rounded? That's Jackson. That's just mean, bro. You know what they say about Alex Dono, though? I mean, you're captaining the ship right now.

I mean, I heard that Alex Dono is in the transfer portal. The SEC squad, I heard that they're offering him a massive NIL package to take them. So, you know, we're going to have to step up here. I guess when you don't make an ASECC chippy chip, you got to look elsewhere. But no, I love this matchup between Clemson and Texas coming up. I think if you're into rock fights, if you're into big time defensive battles, this is more than likely going to be the matchup for you. And to Kenton's point, I agree that.

I think Texas is a little bit suspect this year. Their defense is very real, but I don't know. I think they match up kind of equally with Clemson on the offensive side of the ball. I think it will be low scoring. And I see this is more of a coin flip than a double digit one side of the other. Okay, so we've looked at it in terms of like the line. Can they cover that? Let's just talk straight up.

Does Dabo have an upset in him in this game? Like put the line aside, win or lose. Can Clemson do it? Can they do it? Absolutely. Absolutely. Can Clemson win this game straight up and down? Absolutely. Let me tell you why. I know that I've taught ad nauseum about how shaky how shaky K. Clubnick's decision-making is. I own that. I accept that. I don't run away from that. I still stand by. His decision is his decision-making ain't the best in the world. But you know what I've seen out of Texas in every big game this year? Letdown after let down after let down. Texas A&M was the only game that meant to.

anything that they showed up for and were a really good team in, you know, and I'm sorry to tell everybody. I got to push back on you on that. I got to defend Texas. Texas is a great fight against Georgia in the SEC title game. So putting up a good fight. So putting up a good fight is enough now. But you're saying that they didn't show up entirely. I'm telling you they did show. No, no. Okay. Let me, let me rephrase that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jackson. I know I was a little bit too hyperbolic. And I know that the language in the, and all that in Syracuse. I know y'all at Com school, y'all very much so.

Don't play around about that. I'm sorry. Texas was underwhelming in terms of their ability to win big football games, despite having the highest rated quarterback ever, and their backup is a manning. And everybody said that their NIL collective couldn't be beat. So when I see that, Jackson, that if so facto leads me to a conclusion that they should,

a damn big game. Stowing up and losing close ain't enough. I'm sorry. Maybe it's enough for you, but when I hear those factors, it's not enough for me. And honestly and truly, who do y'all think is the better coach, Sarker Davo, in these types of situations? I think if the coaching is the difference in this game because the rosters are close enough, I think Clemson gets it done.

That was me up-boding me. Certainly as a head coach, Davo's been in far more of these situations than Sarcas, but I don't know. I truly just see this as a pretty equal matchup. And when that comes into play, I would tend to favor Clemson. I mean, they have the experience.

They're kind of built for these moments like these. When you're looking at either Clubnik or Ewers, I might get some hate for this. I kind of see that as a wash. I think they're virtually like the same quarterback. I think they're the same quarterback. And so then you move down a level and look at the skill players. I might give a slight edge to Texas there,

but I don't think Thompson's far behind. Defense, I think Texas is probably a little bit, It's stiffer of a defense, but again, I don't think Clemson is very far behind. I love this matchup. I'm very excited for this one. I think it'll be a good, low-scoring defensive battle. That's what it'll be. And of course, I'm going to give Clemson a puncher's chance.

And I do think they could pull off an upset, but objectively speaking, if you're asking me to make a pick, I'm picking Texas to win. And I think I would go with the store of 20 to 14. I think it'll be close back and forth to the end. You know, Kenton, did you say. Texas hadn't won a game against a ranked team by double digits? I believe so. Yeah, have they beat a ranked team all year by double digits?

Have I incorrect? There's one. They beat Michigan was 10th, and they beat them by 19. Stop, stop, stop. You're not talking, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're not doing this. Hey, Michigan is in Ohio State. So, so technically speaking, Boston College has a win over a ranked team,

a top 10 ranked team. Georgia Tech has a win over a ranked team. Come on, man. Stop that. Stop that. I'm just saying at the time of the end, Oklahoma was ranked when they beat them, and that was like a 31 point rubbing. I think, stop. I'm just, I'm just telling me about the Brent Venables land, Oklahoma Sooners, and in the year, I'm focused on John Matteer right now.

Kenton, I'm not coming back at you. I'm coming at the people that are going to say, well, Kenton said double digits against ranked team. I'm trying to protect the sanctity of the stats. And I'm protecting the sanctity of what we know right now. If we're looking at these teams based on what we know right now, it was a big deal for Texas to plant their flag in the big house. It was a big deal for Oregon to plant their flag in the big house.

Until we figured out, oh, my God, this origin kid can't throw. Oh, my God, they got a walk-on starting. And then they had bracing that quarterback for a couple games. I know I saw them out there. We couldn't even do postgame loss. It's funny because they still beat Ohio State. Yeah. Hey, that's unfortunate for Ryan Day.

I mean, it sucks to suck. You know, you know what is weird, though? Did you guys watch the Georgia, the SEC championship game? Yeah. Who trotted out on the field for Texas in overtime? What do you mean? Under center. It was not Quinn yours.

It was Arch. Yeah. So like what I'm just curious to see what like does Sart trust his dude in key moments or will he go to Arch in some of those like do we got we got to get those legs going like just. What effect and what factor does that have on Texas's offense in this game? I think that really matter at the end of the day though that he might have a shorter leash than usual. I mean, we've seen national championship games where Nick Saban would pull his quarterback, right? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Putting into a. So, like, to me, if they're struggling, I think it actually factors, if you're talking about that hypothetical scenario, the backup being Arch Manning is a good thing for Texas. Because if they're struggling with Quinn Ewers, then they just got this Arch Manning kid who can play. I think you're more likely to see Arch and Red Zone situations. Based on what I've seen from Texas this year, throughout the year, that's right. goes on the short end of the field where Arch, I can't believe I'm going to say this about a Manning, but he's a dual threat quarterback. And so I think you are likely to see Arch probably in this game a good deal if they get, you know, the wheels stuck in the mud in the red zone.

Future Tar Hill quarterback, Queen Ewers does have an extremely short. Oh, no, no, no, no. He does have an extremely short leash. Oh, listen, listen, I'm excited about Queen going to UNC, the same way I'm excited about Belichick going to UNC. It's great in name. It's great in theory. If I were playing Madden If I're playing NCAA, I'd be terrified. Unfortunately, there's a real life aspect of this thing. But if you have two quarterbacks, you have how many quarterbacks? Zero.

Okay, but I'm sorry. That is 18. Are they? And I'm saying it from the simple. I had two quarterbacks with Jalen Hertz and Tua Tagavaloa in the national championship games. Different situation. Okay.

And I was just about to say, that situation, a lot like the Ohio State situation, where people were like, oh, anybody could bring in their third straight quarterback and Well, of course, if Ezekiel Elliott is going to rest for 200-some-odd yards, yeah, I'm pretty sure Jarvis could do a, here you go, buddy, take that ball off my hand. I'm pretty sure Donald could do it. Oh, there's a back out there. Let's swing it to him. Let's go a slant to Mike William. That's not a hard thing.

That's not something hard to do. Or Michael Thomas, rather. That's not hard to do. But when you are asked, hey, you got to win this football game. It's a tough game. It's a close game. You have to go win it. do you trust either one of those guys at a high level to say,

hey, he's absolutely going to go out there and win me this football game. I don't. I don't. And here's the thing. Even if you say, Ken, do you trust Kay Clubbic all that much? I would also say, I'm not 100% sold and saying I trust him. But that's why I say that this is more than a puncher's chance. When you talk about Alabama bringing in backups, they were head and shoulders above everybody else in those years

where you bring in the backup and they still win the game. It's not like, oh, we're neck and neck. We don't know who the better team. Manning could be a starter on 99% of college football teams. This is not a normal backup. He's just taking the sacrifice that he had to wait for two years. He could have transferred last season, been a starter at any major program you want in the country.

This is not a normal backup. So it kind of is like an Alabama. Oh, boy, we're going with hypotheticals again. The SEC has never lost a hypothetical game. Not her backup quarterback is a hypothetical high. He hasn't played football games. He has played. I'm not saying he hasn't.

I'm saying have we seen him against the defense as good at Clements? Have you seen him? Okay. And yet we're assuming. Oh, yeah, he's going to come in and feel right at home. He's going to come in and be super company. I mean, I don't know it for sure. We might not find out.

But I'm just saying if he was, if he came into the game and you asked me, can he at least do a serviceable job? I would say he probably could. Absolutely. But it's serviceable what you think about in terms of is it going to be good enough to win the playoff game? It's serviceable good enough to when they play off game. In a defense battle, what this might be. this could be a defensive battle, so serviceable might be all you need. It could be, it could simply come down to just don't turn the ball over and you'll win the game.

And that sounds good in theory. That sounds good in theory. But in practice, it could also be, hey, we need you to hit three or four passes. We need you to make just a couple of big time throws and we'll be all right. Against Texas A&M, all it meant was let's just give Wisner the ball a couple more times and let that man cook. So we'll see if Texas can get that ground game going, unlike what they were not able to do against Georgia. in the SEC championship game. All right, boys, we need to lead the basic tropical climate of Austin,

go up to the frozen tundra in Pennsylvania and see of SMU, with a smaller line that they got to deal with, get a knockout blow up against Penn State. Can the ACC get a win? We'll figure that out in just a second. Stick with us. It's the ACC squad. We'll get to that right after I'd tell you about our good friends at Fandle.

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Clemson at Texas, we just talked about it. Horns by 11.5 and a half up at Penn State, Nittney Lions by 8.5 in that one. It's got to be all the white shirts. You know it. You can go check all that out and more at fanduel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandul, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. We rewind a couple of hours to earlier in the day when SMU, I hear they're called Southern Methodist University, visits Penn State. Nittany lines favored by eight and a half in this one kicking off at noon on TNT and Max.

Up there at Beaver Stadium, least shocking development ever, boys, check this out. Penn State, they're going to have a white out for this one. We talked about how warm it's going to be down in Austin. This game has a high of 20 or the temperature all day long up there at University Park, high of 26, low of 11. No snow in the forecast, but I'm out on that one, y'all. SMU, can they go from Dallas up to University Park and do work in the cold? If the weather was going to be what it is for the Texas Clemson game,

I'd have a lot more faith because we call SMU Miami West because of how many guys that they got transferring in from Miami. We know Miami recruits the state of Miami better than anybody else. Them young men have never. And when I say never, I mean never step their tails into some 11 degree weather to play ball before this moment. Penn State, however, I mean, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, that's that's the main swath of where their players are front. It's a different, that cold, you know, Southern cold is respectful. It taps on your shoulder say put on the jacket today that northeast and midwestern coat is like the trail's free well it just get up on you and choke you real good so i with that in mind i really want to believe

that sm you can do it i really do i'm really struggling to see a path forward form when you're looking at you know that team being physical and jennings being special is what makes them great and Penn State is like hey we're pretty physical too and we've got some amazing pass rush you Well, I actually don't think this is that bad for SMU. First of all, we're talking about Penn State here. Penn State. You know, you know, whenever we talk about Penn State every year, we always talk about how, you know,

they really do an exceptional job in those big games. You know, they really always live up to their potential against the big time opponent. All the time, right? Isn't that kind of the M.O. of James Franklin? They're really good against good teams. They always win. And you know what? They win the national championship like every year.

Oh, wait, it's basically the opposite of what I just said. They always lose big games all the time. They never show up. And SMU can run the football at a really high clip. So if you're going to look, the cold sucks. I get it. I don't know how they're going to be able to adjust from Dallas. My suggestion, honestly, is to practice out in the cold.

That's the only way they're going to be able to really adjust to it before the game, practice in it. But they can run the football. And if you can run the football, you can be fine no matter what the elements are. Yeah, Jackson nailed it. The obvious headline is James Franklin versus the big one. And I think to Penn State's benefit, they're just about in the best situation they could find themselves in. It's a home playoff game. It's going to be cold.

It's a wide out. I'm sure they're going to have Zombie Nation going. They got Mo Bomb on third down. What more could you possibly want for a playoff environment? SMU, although, I mean, they have been one of the better offenses in all of college football this season. and they have not seen a defense like Penn State. And to pile on top of that, Penn State's going to be fired up. If Penn State can't win this game, it is a situation where it's like,

if not now, then win. If James Franklin can't win this one, he is never going to get it done up in College Station. College Station, what is it? Happy Valley. Happy Valley. I thought it's never mind. Forget it.

I'm going to look it up, but I had something else in mind. Yeah, I got Penn State in this one. I think it's going to be a lot for SMU to overcome. Give me Penn State by probably like eight points. Now, don't get me wrong, because I believe that my original state. State college, sorry, state college. There you go. I believe that my original statement will lead people to believe.

I don't think S.M. you has a shot, which is not the case at all. Trust me, I know James Franklin. I know him. I've seen him. We have seen that I perpetually, I'd say that this team is perpetually the 300 C of college football because they look like a playoff team, fill an actual playoff team shows up. The only problem I have is the weather. That's the only thing.

And again, if the weather was better, I would have SMU beating them by 1,000. But with that being said, I got this game as more of a push type of situation because I think they gave everything they had against Ford. I really do. I think they left every single drop of it on the field and still came up short in a game where, I mean, yes, the turnovers were a little bit uncharacteristic from them early. And yes, SMU started off last game very uncharacteristically. With penalties, that's part of who SMU is.

They watched their games all year. You know that's who they are. However, some of the turnovers were just head scratchers. Some of those turnovers, you just are like, what is this? Who is this team that I'm watching? So with that in mind, I look at this game and I say, SMU has better than a puncher's chance here. To me, this is a push.

If I'm a better, I'm staying away from it in terms of money line. But plus a now, I'll take, give me that SMU. Give me that SMU. I need some of that. Yeah. And one of the big storylines, obviously, around that Sunday of the selection show was SMU versus Alabama. Obviously, SMU is the team that gets in.

And so my question is, in order for our conference, for the ACC to have respectability, does SMU, regardless of what happens in Austin, Texas, does SMU need to put forth a good showing here for our conference? Yes. Yeah. I think it would help. They can't get annihilated because if they get annihilated, then next season, if we're in a similar position, you know what's going to happen. It doesn't matter what team it is. They're going to

take the SEC team because they'll be like, hey, look what happened last year. You know, we took SMU as the 11 instead of Alabama and they went into, you know, they went into Penn State and they laid an egg. They lost 34 to nothing. If we put in Alabama hypothetically, I mean, pause for laughter for hypotheticals, Alabama could have beaten Penn State. They at least would have not lost 34 to nothing, which by the way, I don't think is going to happen. So, yeah, SMU needs to put on a good performance. And I actually would say the same about Clemson, because I don't think they can just go into Texas and get annihilated too.

It would be nice if they can pull out a win. Don't think it will happen. But with SMU, I actually think they can really win this game. In fact, if I'm picking an upset right now, I would pick SMU to beat Penn State. If you're looking at all the playoff games, it's that one. SMU to beat Penn State. I will say this. Go ahead.

Oh, go ahead. Oh, I'll say this. The greatest privilege there is is the privilege of individuality, which the ACC does not have. We do not have the benefit of anything negative that happens to one of our teams is just one of our teams. We don't have that benefit of, hey, this team put out a poor showing because that team put out of porcelain, not reflective of your conference. We don't have that right now because we have seen time after time after time, some of these other teams, some of these other conferences lay complete and other stinkers.

When is the last time a big 12 team won a damn playoff? game. And yet nobody discusses them in the same vein as us in terms of like, hey, what's going on there? Are they okay? Are they cool? So I think that you are absolutely looking at a situation where reality says that all of the ACC teams have to show up and play well, even if it should not be that way. It just is that way. And life ain't fair. If fair is a place where you go to get on crappy rise that might kill you or eat crappy food, it might kill you. And that's just what fair is in the real world. Yeah, along the same lines there, I think the unfortunate part of this for the ACC is even if they do go to a no here, if Clemson beats Texas and SMU beats Penn State, they're going to find a way to downplay. They're going to say, oh, well, of course Penn State can't get it done.

James Franklin's a fraud. Or, oh, of course, Clemson gets it done. Dabo's coaching close to Christmas. Yeah, give me some Clemson. I mean, they're going to find a way to downplay the ACC, even if they go to a no. That's the unfortunate part, but the best thing the ACD, the best thing the ACD is, the best thing the ACD, the best thing the ACA, CCC can do, obviously, is just go out there and win the game. Just go out there, put your best foot forward, and just win the football game. That's all you got to worry about. They can't

downgrade. They cannot find a way to spin. They will try to. They can't spin Clemson. They cannot spin that one. They can't. They will spin the SMU one because they'll just be like it's Penn State and James Franklin. What else did you expect? I mean, I'm literally taunting them right now, which might backfire. But you know, you never know. But Clemson, First of all, Clemson's been the most successful ACC team in the past decade and a half. They're the best. They've also won national championships. Everyone knows who Davosweeney is because every single year when there's a big time program that becomes available,

i.e. like Alabama last season, Davosweeney is the number one candidate for the job. They cannot minimize Clemson for beating Texas, who has been one of the premier teams in college football the entire year. So I'm with you on SMU that they'll find a way to minimize that one. I think it'll be more of a Texas than a Clemson won. No. Let me tell you the things that I've seen

minimized for the sake of the SEC. I saw an Auburn team that got their bridges blown off by New Mexico State play Alabama through their hairs in their chin-in-chin-chin. Somehow that was a gritty, tough win. I saw an Oklahoma team that had Jackson, hosier out there playing wide receiver, hold Alabama to three points.

And somehow- I got a lot of my own money, didn't. And somehow, somehow that team was, oh, yeah, you know, any given Saturday in the SEC, it's just what it is. I have seen with my own two eyes, people tell me Missouri's a good team this year. I've seen it in the name of pumping up that you. So I would like to believe you're right, Texas. I would like to believe that Clemson beating Texas is irrevocable. I'm just not sure.

All right, boys. Well, we need to talk about this reality of what happens if both these teams lose. What is that going to mean for the conference? And also, should these quarterfinal games in round two be at campus sites as well? Or do we like them at neutrals? We're going to have those conversations and more coming up in just a second on the ACCC squad. Stick with us. We'll talk about that right after I tell you about the college football playoffs on TNT.

It's that time of year. The college football playoff is back and it's bigger and better than ever with the new 12 team expanded format. It's bringing you all the hard hitting, high flying excitement that you love. TNT sports coverage. of the college football playoff begins on December 21st, starting with the college football kickoff playoff show presented by AT&T at 11 a.m. Eastern, leading into that first matchup, the Southern Methodist University Mustangs, that's SMU if you're wondering, battling the Penn State Nittany Lions at noon. Then the Clemson Tigers looks to upset Texas Longhorns in a showdown at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Don't miss a moment of the action. Watch the college football playoff presented by Allstate live on TNT, True TV, TBS, and Max. All right, you're with us here on the ACC squad. It is college football playoff week. We got Kent Gibbs from Locked on Wolfpack, Grayson Boone from Locked on Wolfpack, Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse. I'm Isaac Shade, Locked on Tar Heels,

and of course our man behind the scenes, Jarvis Davis keeping us all straight. Even me, you don't even know how wonky this show got behind the scenes, but it's all the beautiful post-production that keeps it rolling. Well, let's hope they don't find out. Thank you, Garvis, for all your great work. All right, boys, here's the question I got for you. What is the likelihood, and I'll let you put whatever number kind of situation you want on it,

what's the likelihood that the ACC is done after this weekend? I'd say there's about, I'd say it's 50-50. I'd honestly say it's 50-50 at the ACC's done because, don't get me wrong. While both teams are underdogs, they're underdogs against two teams that have flatly I mean, again, who have either of these teams beaten that they're up against? Who have either of these teams showing up to be the mighty fighting Aligni? Is that what we're terrified of? An Aggie team, and shout out to Coach Elko and Company.

I think they're building something really good down there. But again, if you talk about a quarterback, two quarterback, you got no quarterback situation. Watch an Aggie football game. You want to see a throwback to that 1940. style of football where you know that thing ain't going nowhere downfield unless it's 1318 congratulations you'll see just that coming out of college station so i i look at this and i say to myself you know it's a toss-up to me because while these teams are underdogs we all know that the hypotheticals of these teams that they're playing against a lot better than the reality not top of the team

the texas team that everybody said oh yeah they're their world be because they're stomping and they're well we saw what happened every time they went up again against some formidable competition. The Penn State team that ran through the Big Ten like Tomb Raiders until they played an actual team that's supposed to be ranked in the top ten, and then we saw what happened there. So, you know, I see this as a 50-50 game because SMU has shown to be a complete team all year.

Clemson has been up and down, but when it comes to these big games, I need me some Davos Swiny in my life. That's a guy that he, nobody circles the wagons and get his players ready for a big game like Davo. So I think it's 50-50. I think it's a little less that they get shut out entirely. I think it's a little less. I did some math.

It was kind of fun. I did some probability math for you guys. It was great. So I pulled out the whole calculator and I was like, what are my hypothetical? I shouldn't say that word. What are my odds? I would give probably a 20% chance in Clemson winning,

40% chance for SMU. I actually think that SMU is going to win that game outright. But it all works out. If you do the math, the probability would say that there is a 44% chance. that at least one of them wins. It's not bad. It's not bad.

Actually, it's worse than 50-50. So 44% is about what I have it at. I guess I'll meet you in the middle. I'll go 47% chance at the 8% out here. What is glow-waffling about? What is he doing? I think we're looking at two very fun games. One, again, I think Clemson and Texas would be relatively low-scoring.

Penn State SMU could roll into a shootout, and I think what a spectacle. that may or may not be, but I don't know. I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if the ACC goes winless, but I also wouldn't be surprised if one of them wins either. Well, we could, we could, I'll prices right this thing, and I'll call it 51%, so I'm just that one little step above Kenton. I'm at 44, Grayson's at 47, Kenton's at 50, 50, Isaac's at 51. That's right.

We're all hovering around the same. That's right. Okay, here's my other question. I've been thinking a lot about this one. I love that we're getting campus sites for these games. Just college athletics on campus sites is better or at home, you know, football stadiums, whatever you want to say. I really truly feel like, like I love that the top four teams all get a buy this weekend,

but I think it would be better if their first game, the elite eight, the quarterfinals, whatever you want to call it, those were home games as well instead of going on to neutral sites. And then in the semifinals, just like what? we've seen in the past several years with the college football playoff, then you go to neutral site bowl games. Do you guys agree with that or do you like it the way it's setting up this year? I mean, we all know what this is about. It's about the money of the deal and the money of the deal says all New Year 6 bowl have to be playoff games or else somebody's going to get short

change. Somebody paid going to come up a little light. You know, and Uncle Sam can't take a gram out of the NCAA back. That just ain't going to. That can't be how that works out. But if you're talking about what I would like to see money aside the perfect world, I still want to see a neutral sight. I'm sorry. Once we get into these last six, seven games, I want all of them played at somewhere neutral, although I will say this. And we are ACC guys, and so this doesn't necessarily hurt us as much. A lot of these neutral site games just end up being in great weather places, which de facto hurts certain teams, right? If you're a Michigan, if you're an Ohio state, if you're in Iowa, If you're a Nebraska, whatever the case may be, a Colorado, you're always going to be hurt by, quote, unquote, neutral site game because they're always going to find their way to somewhere with really nice weather.

And where has the really nice weather at that time of the year? You're Florida's, you're Arizona's, your Californians. And so then you're stuck in the situation where if you're in the middle of America, you're de facto going on the road to play a team like, oh, we got to play SMU and Dallas. That should be easy. That should be basically a home game. oh, we got to go play Texas. And, you know, that's just with that. So it's never going to happen to Kenton's point where they change the system.

It won't happen because it's all about the almighty dollar. That's all it is. They're only going to add playoff teams too for what it's worth. I mean, it's just an everlasting chase of money, more money, money, money. Having said that, in my ideal system, the only game that would be neutral site is the championship game. that's it. I don't like neutral site. I really don't.

I love the fact that there is a home crowd because it's great when the home crowd is rocking. That's really cool to see, right? When they're rocking, it's also really cool to see when they are just quiet. They're dead because the road team all of a sudden goes in and oh my goodness, 80 yard touchdown for the win. Isn't that so much cool?

It's almost like the NFL that every game is non-neutral site until you get to the Super Bowl. Okay, Super Bowl, fine. Neutral site, even elements for everyone. It's the two best teams, I get it. But the AFC championship is in home field. Same with the NFC championship. And all throughout the playoffs.

Look at all other pro sports. Even the championship games aren't neutral site. You'll get a game seven. They don't say, hey, it gets to game seven. We're putting it in the middle of Atlanta, no matter what. They're like, nope, no, game seven, NBA finals, Stanley Cup, whatever, ruled series, it's going to be a home field. So my ideal system would be home games up until the national title.

They knew that the general ball drinker would be out in Magic City if the NBA finals had at games. No matter, we ain't going there. Go ahead. Grayson, last word, brother, what you got? I do find myself a little bit torn on this because as a college football, I guess purest, if you want to call me that. I love the Rose Bowl and I love the Fiesta Bowl and I love the Sugar Bowl.

but at the same time, I'm really excited for the 12-team C-Fee because we do get those home playoff atmospheres. And again, it can't happen this year. But imagine like Boise State playing a home game and they get sent like Alabama. Would that not be like the coolest college football environment ever? Maybe it like snows or it's 10 degrees. That's the kind of stuff I do want to see. But at the same time, I mean, they're not going to give up the Rose Bowl. They're not going to give up the Fiesta Bowl or insert bowl name here.

I don't know. I think you've got to find a balance and perhaps they already have that balance. but I think there's a lot of points to be made on both sides. You know, guys, I hate that we've just run long here, and our whole Bill Belichick conversation just got knocked out. It's just, it really is a bummer. I hate that. Oh, sucks.

I reckon we'll have to come back around to it next week and just we'll see if we got time for Bill next week. Oh, man, great show, though, sending up these college football playoff matchups. Hopefully next week when we're talking again, we've still got two more college football playoff teams coming out of the ACC. Great conversation today. again for Kenton Gibbs, for Grayson Boone, for Jackson Holzer, for our good friend Alex Dono,

who hopefully will be back with us next week. I'm Isaac Shade. Thanks big time, as always, to our producer behind the scenes, Jarvis Davis. Thanks for joining us here on the squad. We'll see you next week, but until then, peace.