Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Miami Hurricanes, SMU Mustangs on Collision Course for ACC Championship?

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

Welcome back to ACC Squad, your premier roundtable podcast for all things Atlantic Coast Conference! In this Week 11 preview episode, hosted by Alex Donno from Locked On ACC, we’re diving into the critical matchups that could determine the fate of teams as the season heads into its final stretch. Join us as we analyze the pivotal games on the schedule, provide insights on team performances, and make predictions that could impact the ACC standings. Whether you’re rooting for 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, or Wake Forest Demon Deacons, this episode has all the information you need! In This Episode: Comprehensive previews of Week 11’s most exciting matchupsIn-depth analysis of team strengths and key playersPredictions from Locked On podcast hosts on game outcomesSpotlight on players to watch and their potential impactMake sure to subscribe to ACC Squad and click the notification bell for the latest updates and in-depth coverage of ACC football. We want to hear from you—share your thoughts in the comments below and tell us which matchups you’re most eager to see this week! #ACCSquad #ACCFootball #LockedOnACC #Week11Preview #ACC2024 #FootballPredictions #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.

Louisville Cardinals pulled off the upset of the weekend, and it set the ACC standings on fire. Let's bring in the squad. 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 be fun. Squad up, you're part of the ACC Squad. Shout out to the everydayers. There are just

two teams left in the ACC unbeaten in conference, just one unbeaten left. Right now Miami and SMU on a collision course for the ACC championship game. This episode of the ACC squad is brought to you by Fanduel. You can start the season with a big return. New customers on Fanduel can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win that first $5 bet, visit Fanduel.com get started. We'll talk about the standings. We'll talk about the ACC football championship picture. We'll talk about the games last weekend, this coming weekend, week 11. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Keynes. We got Jackson Holzer from Lockdown Syracuse. We got Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Lockdown Wolfpack. We got J.J. Jackson from Lockdown, Louisville. And Louisville, they put

the nightcap on in the ACC. I usually at this point, I ask who's buying the first round, but Dalton Pence is buying the first round. If he unmutes himself, he's buying the first round. First it's the wide-bye. Now it's the light. He said many rounds. It's been a, it's been a roller coaster recording. It's like it's been a roller coaster year for Louisville, guys. It's a, I, truthfully, I never thought I'd be buying the shots after sort of the first couple of weeks, but this was the performance that fans were looking for all season long and it was one that Woolwell was pretty much dominant from

beginning to end, beating Clemson for the first time in program history and handing the Tigers their first night game loss at Memorial Stadium since 2013 when Famous James came to Death Valley. So vibes are great,

man. Unfortunately, it took a little while to see who most of the fans thought this team was. You are who your record says you are, but the vibes are good heading into of the buy week. All right. If we really want to get into this thing, right,

I think that we need to give more credit to Louisville because Dalton is going to talk his talk today and he deserves it because everybody keeps talking about Clemson and wetting the bed and pisses down their leg. But I'm going to tell you something. Did y'all not see a Louisville team that pushed Clemson around up front? Did y'all not see a Louisville team that said,

oh, you know, your defense, they're tough, they're all at. Hey, we got this true freshman running back. He's pretty good. Hey, you want to meet him? and meet them again. It made them one more time after that. And they kept continuously doing that. And then we talk about the special teams,

which has been in the Killeys Hill for Louisville at times this year, right? Getting kicks of their own block, making terrible errors on special teams that you just can't have. They come up big time in this game. I'll tell you what. Everybody's talking about Clemsons letdown, but we all need to take a second and give Dalton his love because his birds perform.

And they showed out. And that's why, you know, at the end of the day, Clemson looked dish doubled, dismayed, not because they were, because Louisville made them look like that through most of the game. It's a fragile fan base right now, it feels like because, you know, I mean, Josh Pate said it best. I don't know if you all heard what he said about when the Wolverville beat Clemson. It was almost like that was sort of the nail in the coffin for this,

this whole trend that Davos Sweeney just won't utilize the portal. And now you get that home loss. And I mean, Clemson fans, I mean, I've had a couple texts me saying, well, it was the, it was the blocks from the offensive line diving at our players' knees. Davo says in the postgame press conference, no, that wasn't it. And cut blocks are illegal the last time that I checked. So, yeah, I mean, I'm used to it. I would expect that when a favorite at home in a night game, a place they haven't lost since 2013 at night, they're going to say it's copium. they're high on copium.

That's all it is. Yeah, we beat ourselves, guys. Lord forbid we had one lead in the game and then we had no offensive rhythm throughout. But it is what it is, man. The only thing that matters, what's in the W&L column. Coming into the season, I had several concerns about if Clemson could sustain a high enough offense to carry them through the season. Last couple weeks, they looked like they're going to answer me wrong. but this week I found it fascinating.

Clemson had no turnovers. They held the ball for 15 more minutes than Louisville did and had just about 90 more yards, still lost by 12. That's a domination by Louisville. They should take that in the running forever. Yeah. I mean, Kenton and I talked about this earlier this week on Locked on ACC.

It felt to me, and this is not taking anything away from Louisville, because two things can be true at once. Louisville played their best game of the season. and they played up to their talent level. But you also see the flaws in Clemson. And it just never looked to me when Clemson was down by double digits. Like that was a team that was built to play from behind.

Like it never looked that way. And if you want to be a championship caliber team, whether you're talking ACC championship, they might miss out on that title game now, or you're talking national championship. I think you have to be able to, in this day and age in college football, you have to be able to pull off a comeback. And at no point did I feel like there were any threat to do that

once they fell down double digits. But there's been two games this season when Trump's fallen behind. And they've lost both of them. Donno, it didn't even make it right. They were trying to come back the way. Ooh. Yeah. That goes to Wi-Fi.

The under hit. That's enough. Snip. I told you. So I will say this, though. I will say this in defense of my boy, Dalton, you know, you're absolutely right in that they did not look like they were a team playing from behind. But we also need to acknowledge that that team, regardless of what you think about them,

regardless of what you think in terms of Louisville's ability to cover and defend, I don't think that they could push the ball at a high level down the field at all. By the way, Dawton just lost me some money on Fanduel. I took the over. I took the over on whether or not. Thank you very much for participating in my very own sports book, where we bet on whether or not Dalton's Wi-Fi is going to go out. Chad, you know what?

It doesn't matter if Don't's Wi-Fi goes out. His defensive backs don't. You see, 375 odds. And yes, you'll look it. Here's the reality, Chad. I don't care what questions you asked today. You might ask some really good questions. We got a good show playing for the rest of the afternoon.

But the only question that truly matters, and I need you all to drop the comments down in the chat below, the over-under is now at three. and a half times how many times my Wi-Fi is going to go out in this show. We're barely even seven. I love being the house. I'm just printing money right now. Hey, listen.

I believe in Dawton like I believe in his cards. I'm going to take the under. All right. I believe in you. You got two four. All right. All right. We're talking about Clemson.

I want to talk about Pitt as well. It's okay. So Clemson, that was one team unbeaten in conference. who fell thanks to Louisville, but there was another one. Now, somebody's O had to go when Pitt, who was unbeaten overall at 7 and O, took on SMU with just one overall loss, zero conference losses. So both teams were unbeaten in ACCC play. And SMU didn't just win.

SMU absolutely obliterated the Pitt Panthers at home. And Kenton, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that Pat Narduzi and your guys up there in Pittsburgh, PA, couldn't keep up the pace this year, but, you know, it was a tough loss for you, KG. You know, I want to make one thing clear, okay, that was not a loss for me so much than what, there we go with Dalton again. That was not a loss for me. That's two.

We got two. That was not a loss for me. If you hear that sound in the distance, that's me printing money against Kenton right now with how many times Dalton's life went out. Don't worry about it. The universe did not want to hear me talk about the Pittsburgh Panthers like I have been doing. Donnellis about the Pittsburgh and the universe said, no, you can't. You can't take a victory left here?

Can I say something real quick, though? Because everybody's going to go on victory left on pit and on my take on pit for a second. But can I talk about an interesting parallel? There are two power four teams in the state of Pennsylvania. Both power four teams in the state of Pennsylvania took on a one loss team whose only lost came to an undefeated team. in their games this week. Both of those teams walked out as losers, and yet one of them is being ragged on as a fraud,

as the other is being held as old. They're still one of the best 10 teams in the nation. I find that interesting. I find that very interesting. Am I the only one? Am I the only one here? Penn State needs to be given some flack as well, because this-

Wait a minute, you're comparing Pitt and Penn State? Yes. Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Absolutely. Stop it. Stop it. Stop. Stop it.

Stop. Stop. Listen, listen, Pitt is a good team. They're obviously spank my Syracuse Orange. They're not ready just yet. They are not on a level of Penn State.

That's not. Every time they play a big game, they get so to not beat that. They're still not better than Penn State. Listen, at the end, but see, but see, this is what I thought of. against Ohio State is the same?

My brother at Christ, my brother at Christ, when will Penn State ever win a big game? I'm not trying to say. Pink is not for beating nobody's and then losing it in this game against SMU. And on the other side, you're sitting there telling me I'm insane for saying, hey, Penn State's not a good team. This is what I'm talking about.

Pitt got whoop. Pitt absolutely had it laid on them thick. I will not deny that. I will not say, oh, Pitt looked as good as Pitt State on Saturday. But last time I checked, one loss is one loss is one loss. And last time I checked, we're still sitting up here talking about, well, is Clemson, you know, their eliteness nationally may be over, but they can still win some conference championships.

And while we're disrespecting the discounting fit, SMU, give them their credit. Jennings played his ass off. He did. He did. No turnover since game. They turned the ball over. Clemson's 19th in the country. They're way below here.

And pits 23. There's a four team gap in there. That's what I'm saying. but that's what I'm saying. Look at the gap between, I'm not just talking about Clemson and Pitt. I'm talking about Pitt and Penn State. There is a, what, 17 spot gap between those two?

And that's what you're telling me. There's a bunch of teams that are like jumbled together in this top 25. Because he is disagreeing with you that there is a completely different double standard for the Big Ten and the SEC teams. Jackson is. Jackson is. At home against Ohio State is a little bit different than a blowout loss to as a There are so many two lost teams that are ahead of one lost pit in the ranking.

Hello. Hello. A three lost bandy is closer to them than they are to Penn State. Come on, doll. I think you both are. But you know who is also right? Since I'm taking Victory Labs today, I'll take another one because bear with me, I don't get to take many. So let me take a second lap around the track.

I said before this game, and I gave Pittsburgh the credit, and, you know, for starting out the season, the way they did. But I said if there was a healthy Kevin Jennings, Pittsburgh's defense was going to be put on blast, and they were giving up 50 points. Dono, I'll let you take us into the next segment. And also, I need to take my victory lap as well. And sorry, JJ, but even though things were pretty dicey in the third quarter, Miami scores another 50s. burger. Miami didn't have the only 50. I give credit also to Kenton and Grayson because NC State put up a 50 burger as well. 50 burgers all around. We also had a

big comeback. That was a big comeback. So we're going to have a lot more to talk about. We got the squad here. We'll talk about games coming up this weekend as well because yeah, the ACC championship. It's getting closer and closer. You want to keep it locked right here on the ACC squad. My friends, with Robin Hood Gold, you don't need a silver spoon to eat up the financial. favors of the 1%. Robin Hood Gold allows others to get the rates and perks usually reserved for high society. Now, the resourceful individual with Robin Hood Gold can earn the very liberal rate of 4.5% APY on

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You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's Fandul.com. never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Van Duel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. We got the squad here on Locked on ACC, and fellas, I was down at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, and we've seen it a lot with Miami, where they start out very hot. They seem to take their foot off the gas. The defense gives up some ridiculously easy scoring drives. Duke had a four-play 83-yard drive, and then.

the second quarter. Miami had some, by the way, is that a third drop out for Dalton? Miami was down 28 to 17 in the third quarter and then Cam Ward happened and Miami ends up winning the game 53 to 31. Duke at one point had a 28 to 3 scoring run. Miami closes out the game with a 36 to 3 scoring run. So, you know, Miami kind of the opposite of Clemson where Clemson, you question their offense. Don't worry too much. much about their defense. With Miami, it's the opposite. I don't know if anyone can stop their offense, but you know, the defense, it's been a liability at times this year. So what did you guys make of the Duke game? And can Miami get away with having the number one offense in the

country, but a defense that is suspect, but opportunistic? Well, look, it's no secret that basketball season is here, and I'm elated for that, right? And basketball season is known as the game of runs. We saw a game of runs. We saw a game of runs. as you're laying out there, Donno, with this one this past week. And I mean, back and forth, this one went. But at the end of the day, for Miami's offense to turn it on the way that they did was truly impressive. I mean, and Cam Ward continuing to make his husband case in this. I thought at first, Dono, and you and I talked on a crossover this past week that, hey, 20 and a half, that spreads kind of up there.

I really don't know how to feel about that. And at the end of it, Miami's still able to cover. I mean, that just speaks to the offensive firepower, I think, that we've seen from Miami all season. But, yeah, I'm fully aboard the basketball train now, though, that we're letting the record be straight. That's exactly what I want to hear right before NC State plays Duke this week. To answer your question, Dono, I think Miami can get away with a lacklesser defense.

I think their offense is actually that good, where they can just ramp it up and then drop a 50 burger at the drop of a hat. It seemingly works so far this year. I don't know who they're going to face the rest of the year that could change that. Yeah, I mean, I buy that. It all comes down to, you know, the ceiling and the playoff. When you have a team that can put up 50 points a game on offense, more often than not the way they're doing it,

that's really impressive no matter who we're talking about, and especially with it being in a powerful conference. Now, when you get to the college football playoff, then you have a little bit of a different discussion because, you know, you're going to go up against some better defenses. So you're going to have to get to the college football playoff. So you're going to have to get some defensive stops. But unlike some, I believe that Miami's defense isn't playing up to the full potential.

I mean, there's a really good defensive line down in Coral Gables. And I think that when they continually build up some more chemistry, you know, Ruben Bain missed some time early on in this season, I think the more and more opportunities for those guys to get to play together, it really all comes down to the secondary. And if they can at least be serviceable and let's say cut the big plays that they're giving up and half, I mean, they're going to be a really tough out when we get to December and January. I'm sorry to tell you, but you are who you are at this point in the season, right?

Like, we would like to believe, and trust me, nobody would like to believe more than Grace and I. Hey, teams can become an entirely different team. They can do it. It's possible. You are who you are to some extent. And this Miami team, they have a defense. There's no D involved in that whatsoever. However, their offense, and I mean this very, very.

genuinely, can any of you name any backfield duo better than Fletcher and Martinez right now? Even if you could, could you name three better Fletcher and Martinez? Just one. The last time I saw backfield that good was about 23 years ago when Miami had Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Willis McGahey, Najee Tavonport on the same roster. Okay. I don't know Ohio State, but that's maybe one. Okay.

And that's debatable. Okay. Why receiver corps? I mean, they got guys everywhere you look up. It's not Judge Xavier Restrepo, even though he's the lead receiver in the ACC. They've got guys all over the place in terms of pass catchers. If you're thinking about that group, can you name three or four pass catcher groups better than them in America? You can't.

Probably not. And they have a walking living. If you're a comic book nerd, you're going to get this. They have the living tribunal at quarterback in Cam Ward. He is walking plot armor. He is Walker, Texas Ranger out there. He doesn't do push-ups. He pushes the earth down the way he's playing right now.

So honestly and truly, Miami's defense, as I've said, many times on Locked on ACC, and as I'll continue to say, they just need to be opportunistic. They just need to get a timely stop here and there. Nobody's expecting this defense to turn into the 2000 Miami defense where it's like, hey, good luck score. Good luck, say you. They're not expecting that. Ray Lewis ain't walking through that door.

Nobody's thinking about that, right? But what this team needs to do is you need to at least be serviceable defensively, which at times against Duke, they just didn't look down. And that's been a problem at multiple points this season, like we've talked about with Cal putting up their season high on this team. So for Miami, it's all about, all right, we get it. Offensive is spectacular. You can do it all these different ways offensively.

You've got to account for every blade of great. ass offensively, but you need a stop at some point in time if you're talking about the play. Can you get through the ACC without that? Yes, that's very possible. Can you get through the playoffs without that? No. But I will also say this, and I'm going to pass it off here. What an exciting time

for Miami, because who coming into this season would have thought, we're not going to talk about them winning the ACC by by week nine or 10. We're not even going to be talking. That's going to be a foregone conclusion that is Miami's. Then we'll be talking about playoffs. So credit to Miami, credit to Chris Ball, credit to Cam,

Granted, all these additions in the portal, they have been fantastic. Before the season, we thought we'd be talking about Florida State being in that spot. And, like, I haven't even seen Brian Smith. Brian Smith is dunking the smoke. Come on, Brian. Come on, bring that ball shiny head on here. Come on. We need to.

He's trying to raise the money from Norbell's buyout is what he's doing right now. He's too much analyzing the decommitments. Yeah. Well, okay, so coming into this weekend, guys, you know, since we have, we have so many representatives with us for one of the games coming up this week. We've got Duke trying to bounce back from that Miami game, taking on NC State, a Wolfpack team. You got some pepping your step this week, guys. C.J. Bailey, freshman quarterback has been lighten it up.

Any of the three of you can take the floor here. What do you think is going to happen when the Wolfpack take on the Blue Devils? I'll take it first. Yeah, go ahead, JJ. I was just because I'm two-game losing streak for Duke. It's been tough to watch these last couple of weeks with the SMU game that is so infamous now. I was going to add earlier when we were talking about that SMU and Pitt, it's crazy what the offense for SMU can do when they don't turn the football over,

like they did six times against the Blue Devils, and Duke still lost. And then four turnovers offensively for Duke in that Miami game still was able to make some big plays here and there. but this offense has just been a little bit too inconsistent over the last few weeks. That's what concerns me going down the stretch here. It feels like there are highs and lows of Malik Murphy so far this season. That's kind of what concerns me going into this game. And from my perspective, it really seems like NC State is gaining a little bit momentum at the right time of the year, which makes this really difficult for Duke going into the game on Saturday.

Real quick, let me add NC State now. They're favored by three points. in this game. If you told me that three weeks ago that NC State would be favored against, I would not have believed you, but that's just the trends that the teams are going on now. Believe it. Book it. Support it. Let me tell you something. That freshman's growing up right before our eyes, isn't he? Oh, boy, 90% completion percentage. That man, was, what they do a 707? They stand for pinch them, 59 points? Oh, my Lord. What? Let me tell you something. Duke is one in three in their last four, I believe.

And even if you go to the game before that, right, they're two and three in their last five with a one-point win against the Dirty Foot Club, which was a massive comeback. And a seven-point win against a Florida State team that has beaten nobody this season except Cal. That's all. That's it. With that being said, NC State is trending in the right direction. Duke is trending in the wrong direction.

but Duke knows how to disguise coverage is better than anybody, and there's a true freshman quarterback. So I'm worried. I'm worried. I'm not going to lie to you and say this thing is a foregone conclusion. I'm a little bit worried because Manny Diaz can, he can force the turnover better than anybody. And NC State's defense this year,

they've been known to let up a runner to running backs that are getting ready to learn some enterprise rental car at the end of their careers. So I'm not as confident as certain members of Wolfpack Nation, but this is very much-a-win-a-win-game. for state. JJ, you highlighted the turnovers for Duke. That's been a big story for NC State as well. I'd be shocked if that wasn't the end result of this one. Whoever turns the ball over less is probably going to win this football game. For NC State, you know,

they were coming out of a buy two weeks ago after they had gone all the way out to Cal and picked up a random win on the road that no one thought they could do. This team has reestablished a new goal and that goal is to finish four and no after that buy. Coming out, they put it on Stanford. NC State fans are begging and pleading. to figure out how NC State can start with a week one buy next year. For whatever reason, coming out of a buy, this team is always just completely brand new. I think I saw a stat the other day. Dave Doran's teams coming after the buy are like 17 and 5 over his tenure.

If we can figure out how to channel that energy, I might take the pack to win on Saturday. The week one buy will pass that along to the commissioner. When we come back, because as of and as we've seen around college football, You expect the unexpected, but as of right now, it would be Miami versus SMU in the ACC championship. Who wins that matchup? We'll talk about it right here. I'm Alex Dono from Locked on Cains. We got Kent and Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Locked on Wolfpack, Dalton Pence from Locked on Louisville, J.J. Jackson from Locked on Blue Devils.

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All right. So, guys, what do you think the spread would be if Miami does take on SMU and Charlotte, which is what we're on track for on December 7th? I think it would be something like probably Miami minus six and a half, minus seven. I think they'd probably set it around a touchdown. KG, you're giving me some eyebrows, Kenton. What do you think? I disagree.

I think this is at least Miami nine and a half, at least, at minimum. I think it could be bigger than that. I mean, don't get me wrong, SMU has played a fantastic season. They have been above and beyond. They've been the little engine that could all season long. However, one team has Cam Ward, the other team does not. Don't get me wrong. I think they'll be able to put up plenty of points on that Miami defense.

But the reality is at some point in time, you've got to stop that Cam Ward guy. You've got to stop him. And I'll tell you this, everybody talks about Cam Ward's late season collapses. He hasn't done it so far. He hasn't done it. We've heard about this mythical like, hey, there's going to be a point where Cam Ward does the thing that that's the reason he's not already in the NFL. He hadn't done it yet.

So I think if he stays on pace for who he is right now, even with their defense player, how they're playing. I think they're at least nine and a half, 10-point favorites. That's exactly where my mind went as well. And I think Miami's offense is just so overpowering. I wouldn't be surprised to see double digits in their favor. And not to say that SMU can't score the ball as well, but I wouldn't exactly say SMU's faced any offensive juggernauts

they've had to go toe to toe with outside of probably Louisville, to be honest. but I think somewhere between nine and ten is probably the range you'd be looking at. I'd gone seven to ten as well. I think we're all kind of an agreement here. The offense of Miami, like, man, I don't know how you stop that. And can SMU keep up as much? We've seen their turnovers.

I certainly have over the last few weeks, and you've got to take care of the football and games like that. So it'd be a fun game, but I just think Miami would be too much. Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much. I want to say probably closer to five than 10, but I agree with the panel here. I think that when you have a quarterback that is playing as good as Cam Ward is right now, it's really hard to, I mean, you're essentially saying that SMU is going to score about 40 points if you're kind of basing off the spread there because you know Miami's going to get theirs.

So I'd probably be closer to like eight and a half, nine, but again, you're kind of splitting hairs. I think it's over a touchdown for certain. Who do you guys think would be, you know, the biggest threat to steal the spot from one of those teams? Because, again, Miami and SMU, they're both going to be favored in their three remaining games. But, again, I mean, somebody could slip up. Now, Clemson, obviously, they're close in the standings.

Clemson would much prefer Miami to lose because even if SMU loses a game, they hold a tiebreaker over Clemson, which is the common opponent of Louisville who SMU beat and Clemson didn't. So really, Clemson fans will be rooting for Miami to lose more so than SMU. Pittsburgh is still in the race with one loss. No one else is really in that race because everyone else has two or more conference losses. So do you think it's possible? We see a different matchup come December 7th.

I mean, possible, sure, probable, probably not. I mean, these two teams do play each other. Clemson and Pittsburgh will square off. I believe it's next week. So by default, you would say that whoever wins that matchup has the better shot. Pittsburgh does still have to play Louisville. Clemson has, I guess, an easier last couple of games, so to speak, especially since they have South Carolina at the end of the year.

Well, I guess Pittsburgh does have the Citadel of it. But nonetheless, the point is this. It would take some pandemonium to follow for both Miami and SMU to kind of struggle. because, I mean, the end of the schedule was really favorable for both. Yeah, I agree. While I do want to say, hey, we're sleeping on Pid and all that. Their role back to the ACC Championship game at this point is going to be harder than a 20-year-old off a handful of hams. So I really and truly see this as a situation where what we got now is probably what we're going to see in the ACC championship.

But if I had to pick somebody, if I was absolutely obligated to do it, Give me pit. Give me fit because, again, outside of one game, they have looked great all year. All year. They have done what they need to do, handle business all year. Do they have flaws? Yes. Are they a perfect team?

No. Have defenses seem to figure out Holstein a little bit? Sort of is looking that way, but I think that nobody circles the wagon like Narduzzi and company. So we'll see. And if you're pit, you get Clemson at home. I mean, that's certainly an advantage. you'd rather be there than playing in Death Valley. We saw Louisville go in there and win on the road at Clemson this past weekend.

But to Dalton's point earlier, like that hadn't happened in over a decade. That doesn't happen too often that you're able to do that. So for Pitt to have that game at home, like this would be their opportunity to get into that conversation. And before they even get there, Clemson's got to go defeat the Sandman. They got to go to Blacksburg and take care of Virginia Tech. I wouldn't rule Virginia Tech out of that game. It's going to be a rocket environment you can only imagine. I think Pitt would have a better chance of making it in over Clemson.

Oh, I like that. All this kind of adds together, though, we're talking about, well, it's not a sure thing that either Clemson or Pitt run the table. Well, you would need to do that by default just to have a chance to overtake Miami and S&U. And that is assuming, like, there's a lot of ifs. And Kenton, go ahead and sound off on your ifs statement or whatever you say. If ifs was Pip, we'd all be drunk. We sit here sober. I'll tell you what.

I'll tell you what. Yes, it would take a lot. Like I said, I don't expect either one of these teams to make it. But in all fairness, we do have to take our hats off to some of these teams that were not expected to be here. SMU and Pitt, who could have saw us talking about them playing relevant football, not playing spoiler, playing, hey, you can play your way in at this point in the season. Yeah. And I don't know who's the better story, honestly, because. Because my initial reaction would be to say SMU because they're the first ever team to make the jump from group of five to a power conference and win their first five conference games.

That's never happened before. But then at the same time, SMU last year was a lot better than Pitt was, guys. They have three wins last year. Like, I thought it would take Pitt, you know, two, three years to kind of build to the point that they've been at this year. So honestly, I don't know. I guess the better national story is SMU. but if you really dig deep, Pitt is just as good of a story, if not better. Right.

Oh, absolutely. They're both wonderful stories, but I mean, SMU also went through a quarterback change. You know, who would imagine a world where somebody came in telling you, hey, one of these two things is going to happen. Pitt is going to be better than we expect, and they're going to be a team that's ranked toward the end of the season with one loss. Or SMU is going to replace Preston Stone and they're going to be a team that is in contention for an ACC championship in their four.

first year in the league. You know, I really, you couldn't write that in Hollywood. They throw it out and say it's not real. Yeah. No doubt about it. Well, I appreciate getting together with all of you gentlemen and talking to ACC football. We'll start mixing in basketball pretty soon because the season is underway.

Football spicier right now, but I know JJ's excited. Jackson left already because he wanted to talk basketball today. So a huge shout out and thank you to Kenton Gibbs and Grace and Boone from Lockdown Wolfpack, Dalton Pence, huge dub for the Louisville Cardinals. He's from Lockdown Louisville and JJ Jackson from Lockdown Blue Devils. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Cain's. We will talk to you next time on another edition of the squad right here on the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day.