Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - What Analysts Say About the ACC Ahead of Week Thirteen

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

Miami Hurricanes ranked behind Notre Dame despite beating them head-to-head. The College Football Playoff committee's logic crumbles under scrutiny.The ACC Squad dissects the controversial CFP rankings that place Miami four spots below Notre Dame, exposing inconsistencies in how the committee evaluates wins and losses. The crew analyzes Virginia Tech's blockbuster hire of James Franklin from Penn State, breaking down why this represents a grand slam for the Hokies and what it means for ACC football's future. Georgia Tech faces Pittsburgh in a crucial matchup that will determine ACC Championship Game participants, with Haynes King leading the Yellow Jackets against Pat Narduzzi's Panthers. The discussion covers everything from Phil Knight's influence on Oregon's rankings to revenue sharing implications and whether SMU can survive a dangerous Louisville team playing spoiler.Tune in for expert analysis on why the playoff selection process favors certain programs and how ACC teams can navigate the rigged system. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The college football playoff committee stirs up controversy and the ACC is front and center. 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. The CFP just can't keep their logic straight, and we have plenty to talk about. Shout out to the everydayers, and thank you so much for making the Lockdowne ACC Squad your first listen. We're available wherever you get your podcast. We're available on YouTube.

We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcasting network, and this episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you'll get $300, and bonus bets to use across the app. Download FanDuel today. We'll look at week 13 in college football with Georgia Tech has an opportunity to clinch

an ACC championship game birth. We'll talk about James Franklin landing at Virginia Tech and why it's a home run, despite what you may think about James Franklin. But folks, let's talk about this CFP controversy. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Cains. I almost feel like I should recuse myself from this conversation, but that's not going to happen. We got Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Locked on Wolfpack.

We got Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels, Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse. So there's also points of inconsistencies, fellows, with what the new committee chair, Eurecheck is saying about, you know, Virginia, why Virginia, you know, they get penalized for a loss to Louisville that now looks worse because Louisville is no longer ranked. But yet, BYU does not get penalized, you know, for Ursioux. sorry, Virginia, that was a win over Louisville. Excuse me. Meanwhile, Oregon has a win over Penn State that still looks great to the committee because of Penn State's preseason ranking, even though that team is completely tanked.

And then you've got the Miami situation. And let me, Kenton Gibbs, I'll let you buy the first round on this one. You know, Miami is ranked five spots behind the Notre Dame, four spots behind the Notre Dame fighting Irish, the head-to-head win, similar strength of records, similar strength of schedule, and yet, you know, the committee feels Notre Dame is that much more impressive. See, Dono, you're doing this all wrong. You're doing this. You're doing this by on the field logic.

Who won football games? Who lost football? Hashma, wins, man. Nobody cares about that stuff. Who is Oregon's most famous living alum? Phil Knight. Phil Knight, buy them out, right? Why wouldn't you want them in the playoffs?

That's Nike, baby. The school of a thousand uniforms. You got to find a way to put them in. So what if their best win is over a Penn State team whose head coach is now headed to Blackspar. What is that? Oh, Miami beat Notre Dame. I'm sorry.

Does Miami have an exclusive TV deal with anybody? Is Miami exclusive to cover? by one channel. Oh, okay. So get out of here, you doeeves. Go back to your little coral gables. Go back to your little nice little beaches and whatnot. Go back to my city and have all the fun there.

But this is not for you. This is not. The playoff ain't about who can win football games. It's not about what teams are good. It's about who has the famous alums. It's about who draws the eyes. It's about who has the best TV deals. And I'm sorry to tell you,

Dono. I'm sorry to tell you, Isaac. Sorry to tell you, Grayson. Sorry to tell you, Jackson, even though none of our teams are close. None of us meet the criteria. In the words of Isaiah Thomas, Louisville and Virginia meet the qualifications to be chosen, but they won't be. It will never be you. It will never be you. You got to get in by winning the ACC championship or else. Because again, Donnell, we don't have Georgia here. We don't have Bama here. We don't have, you know, not in the fact of whether or not they're good teams or not, because Benven just lost to Oklahoma, but it's about whether or not you got the odds.

You lost to Florida State by two touchdowns. Yeah, that one was worse. Oklahoma is actually pretty good. Florida State is terrible. Yeah. Donno, but here's Miami's problem. And I wish you could talk to the coaching staff about maybe fixing this next year. You guys lost too late in the season.

that's my biggest thing. If you had been smart like Notre Dame, you would have got your losses out of the way right out of the gate, and then you would have been fine because you would go on a winning streak after it. It's all about when you lose. If you lose at the wrong time later in the season, well, then you got to work your way back up the rankings as other teams lose and fall down. Notre Dame loses their first two games,

but they've been able to go on a winning streak ever since. So they're just letting other teams fall as they lose and they just keep working their way up. That, my friend, is the hurricane's biggest sin is losing at the wrong time. Yeah, 100%. And then the wonder if they have enough time, as you mentioned, to climb back into it. And I don't take for granted the fact that Miami still has two more games to win, right? If they lose to either of Virginia Tech or Pittsburgh, the conversation is moot. And they're no longer going to even deserve to be in that CFP formula and conversation.

I get that. but if Miami takes care of business and they've looked, they've looked better their last couple of games. I mean, sorry to Kenton and Grayson. Miami just put up their most complete performance of the season against NC State. And I think the committee did notice that because they leapfrogged Miami over Vanderbilt despite Vandy not having any new losses. So at least the committee has shown you they are as consistently inconsistent as

Miami football is over the years. The committee just kind of makes it up as they go along. Yeah, it's possible that if Miami were to hypothetically dominate Virginia Tech this weekend, which probably should happen given the state that the Hokies are in right now, James Franklin won't be coaching this weekend, by the way. And then if Miami is able to score a dominant win in their season finale against Pittsburgh, which won't be easy. But if Miami can dominate these two games, then maybe the committee has already shown you.

You know what? Yeah, we had Miami ranked behind BYU and Utah. and the Utah thing is a real head scratcher because their best win is against Arizona State, not the Sam Levitt Arizona State, the Jeff Sims, Arizona State. That's their best win, right? And you could say their losses are good.

Like, oh, Utah's got losses to BYU, who's ranked in Texas Tech, who's awesome. They lost to Texas Tech by 24 points. Like, they didn't belong on the same field with that team. So maybe, maybe the committee might say if Miami wins two more games in Presley, you know what? maybe you should be in front of Utah.

Maybe you should be in front of BYU. Maybe you should be in front of Notre Dame. Maybe they'll actually start to take that head-to-head seriously, but I'm not holding my breath. Why the hell is who you lost to this important? Why are we valid with losses this month? I'm so confused. When did it become like, hey, you just need to schedule good teams,

get your brains beat off our good teams, and you're all right. Is this basketball? Is this Isaac's time to shine? Are we talking quad one losses? What's happening? This is essentially what is happening now. Yeah. It's preposterous that Notre Dame is almost being rewarded for a good loss,

whereas Miami is almost being penalized for winning that game that they were previously talking about. If the results on the field don't matter, then what are we doing here? It's purely just a beauty pageant. Last thing, we talked about NC State getting their face beat in by Miami. I've seen people use NC State as a buffer between Notre Dame and Miami, because Miami beat us by a couple more points than Notre Dame did. What are you saying screw me for? Leave us out of it.

But they're building a resume here. I actually think they will win the last two games of the season. And I find it hard to believe that they're going to be left out 10 and 2, especially if they win those games with some style points. And the problem is it's not, let's all remember, it's not just about getting to 12th. You got to get to 10th if you want to be at large, right? And so that's part of the.

issue here that we're looking at because you're going to have a G5 team that's going to be the 12th seed and probably the ACC champion who unless this bunch of stuff breaks right for Miami, Miami's not even going to be in that game. So if the hurricanes want to make this thing, they got to jump not just from 13 to 12, but 13 all the way to 10. And that's where it's like the committee feels like they're gatekeeping with these groups that have different sort of credentials that others don't. And so keep that in mind critically as well. I think so, And that's another part of Miami's problem is, and again, like, it just feels like even scheduling Notre Dame was so pointless because you don't get any credit for actually beating them. They get credit for losing to you. You don't get credit for beating them.

So, like, you look back at the situation Miami's in where, yeah, Miami's two losses are against conference opponents. You would think beating Notre Dame would be a big deal, but Miami would have been better off losing to Notre Dame and beating SMU. Like, if you could trade those two losses, Miami's. would be in a better situation had they lost to the Irish, beaten the Mustangs, because then Miami would be firmly in the ACC championship conversation at a chance at an auto bid. You know what Miami could have just done instead? Because someone finally just has to say it because it's not that I disagree with any of you guys about the college football playoff and all the committee. But, you know, Miami is a, they didn't have to lose to Louisville.

They didn't have to lose to SMU. I'm sorry. I mean, you're not wrong. You didn't have to lose those names. Miami, yeah, it's a rigged system. Oh, my way, Jackson, you're suggesting. Learning and it's rigged, like, win your games. You're suggesting that Miami's best course of action was to have not lost that they should have won.

It's revolutionary. Because I'm not going to sit here and cry over teams that are on the bubble. If you're on the bubble, the problem is that you are on the bubble. That's the problem. You got to get away from the bubble. Win your games. Jackson, Aloysius, Hozier. That does not make sense.

What do you mean? That doesn't make sense. They have two losses. You are saying. You are from Louisville and SMU. So did Notre Dame! What are you? How does having two losses?

How are you saying just win your games to Miami with them in Notre Dame play and they did? It's a rig. Kenton, it's already a rigged system against you. So you have to beat the rigs system. No, no. I wish it was that easy. Like, let's just win all of our games next time.

Okay. I'll let Mario Cristobal know. And leave no doubt. What, they beat, they beat the team that's rigging the system. Thank you. I know with the rigged system. I'm sorry, but I've never. It's like we did this last year with March Madness.

And we do it every year with March Madness trying to decipher what bubble team should get in and what teams shouldn't get in. And we talk about this is rig. That's rig. Whatever the case may be, it's an imperfect system. There are clearly teams that get more favoritism than others. That is very, very obvious. I acknowledge that.

So the way around it is very simple. Don't lose to Louisville. Don't lose to SMU. Guess what? You're undefeated and playing for a chance to go to the ACC title game where guess what? If you win the ACC, you don't have to worry about a committee because you're automatically in the playoff anyway. So this is Miami's fault. That's what it is.

Miami lost two games. They lost them later in the year when we all know. as Isaac pointed out, that recency bias matters. I'm not going to fire for it. You're on the bubble. I'm not mad at win your games if they have a worst record. People are discussing the possibility of a four lost Texas in the playoffs. And you're telling me that the solution is to win your games.

Texas is not good. They're not kidding in. I agree that they shouldn't get in. But guess what, Jackson? You're talking about an imperfect system that we know is rigged. And guess who had their own damn network? along with Notre Dame, the Longhorn Network. Guess who has the biggest fan base?

And you can't even name the most famous Texas fan. Because even if you say Matthew Conno, there's a bunch of other very famous of rich people who are Texas fans. This is ridiculous. Miami wouldn't draw ratings in a college football playoff now? Not Texas ratings. They're not Texas, but they wouldn't draw ratings either? Not Texas ratings, not Notre Dame ratings either. Okay, but are they drawing more than BYU in Utah?

Yes. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. I can explain that to you. The reason why the committee has BYU and Utah in front of Miami is they need to create the buffer between Miami and Notre Dame because the committee has said it. Their logic, the way that they grade teams is they grade them three at a time. They have comparative pools. And so what the committee has said was, well, we can't count Miami's head to head against Notre Dame because they're separated by too many spots.

They're not in the same comparative pool. Well, how do you make sure they're separated by more than two spots? You rank BYU and Utah in front of them. And it feels like one of the things I understand that the college football committee is just ridiculous, but my counter to it is very simple. If they had not lost to Louisville, had they not lost to SMU, they're not having this conversation. We weren't having the conversation about Miami last year with the college football

playoff up until they lost the final game of the season because they had one loss in the regular season and they were firmly in the college football playoff. It's that simple. If you have only one loss at this point of the year and you're in the ACC and you are the Miami Hurricanes, you would be safely in the college football playoff right now. You wouldn't have anything to worry about as long as you won out in the regular season, but you have two losses. You are in the ACC.

We already know the ACC is not going to get a single ounce of favoritism by the committee. That's the problem, though. You're saying that as if that's okay. You're asking a system to change that will not change because the, The people that are running the system don't want the system to change. And it's not going to change. Why do they care about the ACC? They don't.

So you don't give them a choice and you win your games. Brother, the ACC is in an abusive relationship with the committee. So we should get out of it. Your idea is just put better food. That's not going to work. It's not how it works. Everybody should just go undefeated. That way we'd have a bunch of teams.

Meanwhile, we're watching other conferences have four lost teams that people are discussing being in. is ranked 17. They are not getting in the college football playoff. They are not going to leave from that many spots. Now in the playoffs. But you know what's funny? Everybody's saying if they beat Texas A&M, they got to be in. Yep. Yeah, they think it's not going to happen. But if they do, but if they do, we've seen Marcel. I promise you're not getting in. You want to see South Carolina almost beat Texas A&M. I don't think they're going to beat Texas A&M. Second of all, if they beat Texas A&M, I still don't think they're going to get it. Okay. All right. Well,

Well, when we come back, we have a new head coach in Blacksburg, and Virginia Tech could not have done any better than they just did. I know. People have their feelings about James Franklin, but this is a grand slam for the Hokies. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of the ACC squad. I know you're only getting started with Fandual. The NBA is back, and there's no better place to get in on that action than Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand,

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making the ACC squad. Your first listen, I'm Alex Dono from Locked on Cain's. We got Kent and Gibbs and Grayson Boone from Locked on Wolfpack, Isaac Shade from locked on Tar Heels, Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse. All right, so finally, guys, it became final on Monday. We heard weeks about the possibility of James Franklin to Virginia Tech. We were wondering if Franklin might be holding out for a quote-unquote bigger job to come open, but the Hokies were able to get it over the finish line.

And first and foremost, guys, I'm a big recruiting nerd, and that's an area. James Franklin is not only a hell of a recruiter, but he's a hell of a recruiter in that area, the DMV area. He's got a great track record there. So geographically right away, James Franklin, who's a proven program builder, like he made the standards so high at Penn State that they're able to fire the guy, one-year removed from a final four college football playoff appearance because he was no longer meeting the standard that he created at Penn State after all the scandals and the fall

from grace that that program had. So I'll let Jackson buy the first round on this one because you know, Franklin may not be a perfect college football head coach, but given where Virginia Tech's program is right now, they could not have done any better than this. You stole the words right out of my mouth. I mean, this was a, home run hire. This was the perfect hire for Virginia Tech. And it's just like, well, welcome back. Welcome back, Virginia Tech. We missed you. It's been a long time since they've been relevant in the ACC. It really has been. I'm a Syracuse fan and they like to recruit in the DMV area too. So I'm also not exactly thrilled that James Franklin's now in that area. But in terms of the ACC,

they need more very clearly. They need more good teams. They need some. one that they can crown at the top. And I think that's ultimately the ceiling of Virginia Tech. I do believe that Virginia Tech could be that team that we look at as the standard in the ACC going forward. I don't know if that's going to be as soon as next year. But that could be down the line with James Franklin because we have seen what he did at Penn State in creating one of the best programs in the Big Ten while he was there.

We also saw what he did with Vanderbilt, not in the transfer portal. era, by the way. And he had that program be very successful, too. He's a great recruiter. He is a really good coach. He has his flaws. He's got a well-earned reputation of not being able to win the big game. But that being said, Virginia Tech hasn't played in a lot of big games in a while because you've got to be good to play in those big games. And he is someone that can definitely elevate the floor of Virginia Tech. And he also gives them a ceiling of maybe being able to compete for college football playoff appearances year in and year out. This is a home run higher. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Home run higher. And, you know, I think that his inability

to win big games is greatly overstated. Again, pull up any coach's record against the top 10. Who's crushing it against the top 10? Who, oh, Georgia, what, Bama? That's it. That's about it. Jeff Brom. Yeah, Jeff Brom. Of course, but don't know. to ask his record against Kentucky. I'm joking. I'm joking. He does just fine against Kentucky. But the reality of this thing is, you know, I honestly don't think that this was a slam dunk hire for Virginia Tech. I think that he would have been a slam dunk hire wherever. I don't think there's a single job available right now where I would say you're going to do better than James Franklin. I'm going to look back at this hire. And I feel like I knew coming

in you would do better than James Franklin. Now, are there people who potentially have a ceiling over James Franklin? Absolutely. You look at summer all and you say he could have a ceiling that's hired in james frankness absolutely you say he could but you also are going up against the fact that he is unproven as a power for head coach that's right just the fact that's just the fact you go in and say oh some of these coordinators could be really big names they can be really good sure but the reality is for all of those coordinators that can be really good none of them have had to run a power for program he brought vanderbilt from being a baseball ball school to respectable at football.

And then he messed around and took, do y'all know who the head coach of Penn State was before, uh, uh, my, my boy, uh, Franklin?

Go ahead, Donald, who was it? Bill O'Brien. Did they win very much with Bill O'Brien? No. Of course not. He's Bill O'Brien.

Nobody wins a lot with Bill O'Brien as her head coach. So, not Boston College, that's for sure. Not Boston College, not nobody except in Texas when they had Deshawn Watson, that quarter of Babbling. I'm getting into that right now. So the reality of this thing is very, very simple. James Franklin is a hell of a hire.

Like y'all already talked about, he is going to be a great recruiter. And I want you to look at this as the biggest difference. Look at LSU's class. Look at Florida's class. And look at Penn State's class. All three no longer have coaches. Only one of those three schools. All the recruits said, actually, I think I'm good here.

I think we're all set. It's crazy. Like all of their guys have either decommitted, flip, or they're opening up their op. It's like, it's insane. Like everyone was like, no Franklin, I'm out. Again, let's go get them. Penn State is about to go through their Nebraska after Bo Politiare.

They just don't, they didn't know it. They thought that they were still that girl. You're not anymore, honey. It's not the 80s. The updews are out. It's not that time anymore. Joe Paul, God rest his soul. He ain't walking through that door, but I digress.

Three quick things. When Virginia Tech is good, it's good for college football. They have not been that since Frank. Beamer left. We need it. Number two, this is good for all of us in our schools. When you look at James Franklin, who is a phenomenal, everything you guys have already said, the fact that an ACC school is getting him, I think speaks volumes about what he thinks about that program and what it's going to ultimately mean for the ACC and recruits that are going to come. I love that. Thirdly, and most importantly, I hope we get some more Keegan Michael Key impressions of Coach Franklin in Virginia Tech

garb. That's the most important thing that's going to happen out of this. I think the last thing that hasn't been mentioned up until this point, Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago also announced they're dumping like $230 million into their athletic program. And you have to figure the football programs probably get the massive portion of that pie. This is going to be a quick turnaround for James Franklin. They're going to be really good, really fast. They could be near the top of the league like as soon as next season. I think like not no exaggeration. This will not take long at all.

I think it's just order in football to be able to turn over a roster year over year and be. successful than it is in basketball, but I think it's very easy. It's so easy. Just bring in 70 new dudes and you're good. Watch this. Watch this. Right. When you do the number breakdown on it, the absolute max for revenue share is how much guys? 20 and a half. 20 and a half. 20 and a half. So we'll round up. So we'll round up over the course of the next four years and say that the average will be about $24 million, dollars, right? Grayson just said that they're dumping in $200 million. So even after hitting max salary allowance or max revenue share rather, I'm sorry, not salary allowance because, you know, they're amateurs, max revenue sharing, you still

have $30 million left over. I mean, this is, this is something unlike anything that I think we've seen in recent history, because so many other teams around the country are bleeding out money. With all due respect to Florida State, that's a job that's probably going to be open. And they've had to pay for a reconstruction of their field. They're about to have to pay for a massive buyout. They've got a lot to pay. And meanwhile, Virginia's like, hey, we like those guys in Blacksburg.

Let's give them some money. It's a really good time to be a hockey fan. Well, it's a good time to be an ACC fan, despite all the chaos in the conference. but we've got a big matchup coming up this weekend, guys, between Georgia Tech and Pitt. It's an ACC championship game Eliminator. We'll tell you who wins when we come back. You want to keep it locked right here to the ACC squad. Thank you so much for making us your first listen.

We're so proud to be a part of this Lockdown Podcast Network. We recently became number one, number one sports podcast network. And I'm happy that all five of us on the screen, you know, have played our part in that. But it's really about the everydayers. It's about you guys who tune into our shows each and every day, whether it's locked on tar heels with Isaac, whether it's locked on Wolfpack with Kenton and Grayson, locked on Syracuse with Jackson, locked on Cains with me. We appreciate the support that you guys give to us. Now, fellas, this coming Saturday, 7 p.m., good prime time slot on ESPN. 16th ranked Georgia Tech is going to be hosting Pitt.

I think the fact that Georgia Tech is only favored by two and a half at home tells you how close the odds makers and the betting public think this is one is going to be. Now, Georgia Tech can clinch their spot in the ACC championship game with a win. If Pittsburgh wins, they still need a little bit of help, but if they lose, they're eliminated. So this is an ACC championship game eliminator. Georgia Tech can seal their deal this weekend. both teams have had recent down performances. You know, Pitt, they wanted to lose by Notre Dame to 100 so Narduzi could focus on the conference games. Here you are.

This is the conference game you are focusing on. So who do you think wins this weekend and why? And whoever wants to buy the first round by all means. I'll go first. I'll go first because I made this pick two weeks prior to right now, and I'm not coming off of it. I think Pitt's going to win this football game. And I'll tell you one thing even further. if you want a general idea of how I think this game will go,

watch the Georgia Tech NC State game. I think it's going to be high scoring. Georgia Tech has shown they can't stop anyone, not even Boston College last weekend. Narduzi, he's been hiding those cards up his sleeve. Now's the time, brother. If you're going to get blown out by Notre Dame, but focus on the ACC games,

now is your time. I think Pitt's going to get this done. They're going to knock Georgia Tech out, and SMU's going to beat Louisville, and SMU is going to rise up to Charlotte. My brother and Jim Valvano on this, no, that ain't happening. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why.

Pitt has upset the football guys. They've upset her. You know why this thought of, oh, we could get beat by 100. We just need to figure it out. Anytime teams do stuff like that when they need help, it always turns out that one of the funny things happen. So they may win this game because I do think that the sharks had the worst week I've ever seen from them as a linebacker. I mean, there were multiple plays where Kyle Lewis is right there.

And Jeremiah Love makes him look like, hey, this guy isn't playing in the NFL. He needs to go learn some account. He needs to learn some enterprise rental car real quick. But I do think that they'll be better. Yeah, they will. They will. And I'll tell you. Put you down too.

I was just about to say, Kyle Lewis picked people up and put them down, except last week. He said, I'm good. I'm Montaleo doing all of putting you down. I need. So with that in mind, I think that Pitt has a shot in this game because they stopped to run well. that's what Georgia Tech does best. Of course, Georgia Tech to throw the ball, that's where things get a little bit dicey for them.

But I think the biggest thing is that instilling of a loser's mentality, that instilling of like, oh, yeah, we could lose by 30. Yeah, yeah, it's fine with us. That never bodes well for a team, especially not late in the season. So I'm picking Georgia Tech solely because

the pride of the ACC is hanging in the balance here. You can't let Pitt win. Well, and even if Pitt wins this weekend, they would still need to beat Miami to get to the ACC championship game. So it's not, you know, depending on which Miami shows up, you know, you never know, but it may not be the easiest route for them. But like, I think Pitt wins this weekend, guys. And there could be some recency bias here, but based on recent results, Georgia Tech's defense is getting worse every week. And I would have thought, you know, maybe coming off a buy week earlier,

they can't stop a run, they can't stop a pass, they can't stop a nosebleed. And I just think that that team is so reliant, overreliant on Haynes King. You know, maybe Haynes could have such a brilliant game that he can like outscore Pitt single-handedly. He's done stuff like that before. But I just think Pitt's, sorry, Georgia Tech's defense is too much of a liability right now. I think Pitt is going to have enough with Desmond Reed, especially to exploit that and probably win this game on the road. Yeah, you want to be, you want to be trending up this time of year?

I tell you what, boys, the yellow jackets are going in the complete wrong direction. They've been somehow sneaking them out, but it doesn't matter. But here's the other thing. All eyes in both Coral Gables and in Durham are going to be on Dallas, Texas as well, because that's a critical game, right? We've got two other one-lost teams outside of Georgia Tech and Pitt. Virginia is off this week, but SMU's hosting Louisville. I'm curious if Louisville is like, yeah, we're kind of done.

Or are they like, look, we might not make this ACC championship, but let's go spoil things for the Mustangs. I'm really curious what's going to happen. there if we're going to get chaos, if Miami and or Duke have any hopes of making the ACC championship game, it's probably going to start with Louisville winning in Dallas on Saturday. It would not surprise me if Louisville won just because Louisville is now out. Because Louisville's out. If Louisville was still in the race, I mean, they ain't win.

I mean, trust me, they ain't win it. But they're out of the race. The pressure's off of them. Nobody expects anything from them anymore. We don't care if they win or lose. they might actually go ahead and steal that game against SMU. But regarding this matchup with Georgia Tech and Pitt, I think the matchups honestly favor Pitt,

but Georgia Tech is at home. It's probably going to be a pretty emotional game, high stakes. And in that case, I like to usually favor the home team in this one. So I'm going to take Georgia Tech. Plus, as Kenton mentioned, the football gods should be against Pitt. But not necessarily the Pitt players. I don't blame the Pitt players.

It's not their fault that their head coach has a loser men. mentality and a loser mindset. And I got to be honest with you, I would fire Pat Narduzzi. That's what I would do. You can't go to the media and say that this game just doesn't matter. I'm sorry, you can't do it. That's inexcusable. The only way that I can forgive it is if Pitt does go to the ACC title game, they win out and then they go to the college football playoff. Then Pat Narduzzi, you are forgiven. But in the meantime, he deserves nothing but losses. Give me Georgia Tech. Well, we appreciate everyone for making the squad your first listen and your first watch. Make sure you support this awesome network and check out our other shows.

I host Locked on Cains and Locked on ACC with Kenton Gibbs and Jackson Holzer as well. Kenton also from Locked on Wolfpack, Jackson from Locked on Syracuse, Grayson from Locked on Wolfpack, and Isaac Shea, who not only hosts Locked on Tar Heel. Uh-oh. Don Pitt. Oh, we lost her, Donald. Oh, that's the buzzer. We lost Donna.

I'll finish up what Dono was saying there. This is like Miami in the college football playoff. Just so close. But it's rigged on Dono. Wi-Fi is rigging in. Oh, man. We're talking about Louisville. You know.

All right, you guys. Hey, listen, as Dono was saying, he hosts locked on Cains, locked on ACC. I'm also hosting locked on college basketball in addition to Tar Heels. We're going to see if we can get things going. My, my, my, Darien Williams. What a dude in Raleigh, North Carolina. Great stuff there. We can't wait to be back with you guys again next week

as we get ready for the final week of the regular season. Going to be spectacular to see who ultimately makes that ACC championship game. All coming up next week on the show, don't miss it. Stay locked in right here to the ACC squad. And remember, if you want to have a number one podcast, just be number one. Win your games.