Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - What to Expect in Week Ten for the ACC

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Are we on the path to an unexpected meeting between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Virginia Cavaliers in the ACC Championship? Only five one-loss teams remain in the ACC and four of them are on the road this week. How many will survive? Peeking ahead to basketball with preseason predictions. Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOACC?sid=YouTube Locked On College Conferences, HBCU, Basketball & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnCollege Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com. DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18. MazdaIt’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle.Mazda. Move and Be Moved. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)  #ACC #CollegeFootball #CollegeBasketball Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just two undefeated teams remain in the ACC. Are we looking at the Georgia Tech, Virginia conference championship game, or will one of them get knocked off? I need help figuring it out. Let's assemble 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 ACCC squad. Hey there. What's up? It's Thursday, October 30th. Happy All Hollows Eve, Eve, I guess we'll say to you all. Great to be together. You're joining us here on the ACC squad. As part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, we're bringing you your team every day. Joining me today, the guy Jackson Holzer from locked on Syracuse, our guy Kenton Gibbs from Lockedon Wolfpack, and myself, Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Hills, filling in for our great host, Mr. Alex Dono, who was off doing bigger thing. I don't know what he's doing today. What is Alex Dono doing right now, boys?

Let's make a guess, no wrong answers. I am sure that he is yelling at the head coach of his son's soccer game or his son's soccer league. like, hey, we understand that their second graders playing against fourth graders, but we need to play a more flexible offense. I was going to say early trick or treating, but I think that's it takes it take care. In fact, Alex Donno was dressed up as Kenton Gibbs for Halloween and it's incredible stuff. You guys, he's got headphones on and everything. He's going to get canceled. Now's not a great time to do that, Donald.

Fair enough. Dono, no black face for you, my friend. Special shout out to all the everydayers joining us. We're so glad that you're here. This episode is brought to you by Fandul right now, new customers. I can't quit laughing. I can bet just $5. And if you're a bet,

you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app. Download it and get started today. You guys, so glad you're all joining us here on the ACC squad show. Here's where we're headed today. It was kind of an weekend in ACC games. but SMU lost, that means we've got just two undefeated teams left. Are they going to make the ACC championship game? We'll look at that.

There are now five one-loss ACC teams, four of whom are on the road this weekend, who's going to emerge with still just one loss? And we are less than a week away from the basketball season tipping off. So Kent and Jackson and I are going to make some ACC basketball predictions for you coming up on the show today. Gentlemen, let's start, though, with these undefeated teams. We entered the weekend with three. We almost exited it.

That's a word, right? That makes sense. With one, SMU falls off the horse losing at Wake 13 to 12, which, how I don't know, that's a score. Georgia Tech keeps rolling with the 41-16 win over Jackson's Orange in Atlanta. And North Carolina nearly spoils Virginia's undefeated ACC thing, but falls inches short with the two-point conversion try in overtime. Gentlemen, my question for you, Georgia Tech, Virginia, is that our ACC championship game or is somebody going to get knocked off? Kenton, what do you think? Listen, Tony Elliott, I love you, brother.

This has been a season to remember. This has been a season to remember. And I don't want UVA fans to take this lightly because this has been a whirlwind, just who could have thought, right? Who could have thought from throwing a last second interception to a defensive end for NCG? State, by the way. Ken Sloan is not even an off-the-ball line. A defensive end picks off the game, the play that ends that game to now being undefeated in conference. Yes, we know they lost it. It wasn't a conference game, everybody. It's complicated. It's tricky. Money sucks. Anyway, with that being said, it was a, that team has been amazing so far this year, but they're playing

with fire. They're dancing with the devil. And you know what the old saying is. You keep on dancing with the devil long enough is going to follow your home eventually. Okay. And right now they're doing the tango. They're doing the morainega. They're doing the dunga. They're doing all types of dances with the devil. Right there.

Right there. Isaac, don't do that. Isaac, don't do that no more. See, not your dance moves going to get you guys. But in all seriousness, it is a moment for this team where they should be excited. I don't think they make it all the way through. Georgia Tech on the other hand. Key and company.

Haynes King and Company. Oh, they're going to be there. They're going to be there at the end of this thing. If Virginia proves me wrong yet again, I'd be elated. Georgia Tech, y'all bet not prove me wrong. I'm excited about this team. I'm all in on Georgia Tech. They're physical.

They run the hell out that ball, and I'm going to tell you something. Defensively, I think their defense is one of the best kept secrets in all of America. I think they're one of the most underrated units in all of America because they continue to show up and show out at a high cliff. So Georgia Tech is going to be there. Now, who's going to play against them? I don't know, but that's no knock against Virginia. they have exceeded every expectation by far, and I think they'll continue to do so.

I just don't think that they'll have enough to hold on to end up in the ACC championship. All right, Jackson, so here's Virginia's schedule. You tell me where they're going to lose, or if they're not, maybe, at Cal, hosting Wake, at Duke, hosting Virginia Tech around the regular season out. Where's there a loss in there? Their loss is going to come this Saturday at Cal.

They are going on the West Coast. They are, look, you think Virginia is a great team? because, Isaac, do you think North Carolina is a good team? No, I do not. Okay, they barely beat them. How about Washington State? Are they good? They're not.

Okay, they barely beat them. They beat Florida State. We all thought Florida State was good. Are they actually good? No. No, they're not actually good. NC State. Are they good?

No. Okay, they barely beat them. Their big win is Louisville. That's what actually makes Virginia relevant. They lost to NC State. Lost to NC State, even worse for Virginia, right. Their big win is Louisville. That's what actually keeps Virginia relevant,

but this is not a good team. This is a flute. This is a Cinderella run that they are on right now. And I just don't see how they're going to run the table here in the rest of the ACC schedule. They're going to trip up at least twice. I think it's going to be this Saturday against Cal, and they are definitely not going on the road and beating Duke.

No, I don't see that. TBD on Wake Forest, because Wake Forest can be kind of sneaky. We just saw that this weekend against S&KAL. SMU. And Virginia Tech, who knows? Who knows? I mean, they're at home. Virginia should win that game, but the way that Virginia can play with fire with pretty much anyone would have shocked me if Virginia Tech actually won that game? No, it wouldn't. So I do not see how Virginia, great story. Congratulations to them. They've had a great year so far. And chances are they're still going to get a couple of more wins to end the season. So it's not like, oh my goodness, them not making the

ACC title game. What a colossal failure for them. But I cannot see how they're making the ACC championship. They're just, they're, they're not that good. I watch them. I don't think they are particularly overpowering. Most of their games are very, very close. It comes down to a player or two. And credit to them, they make the play, right? They stop the guy short for North Carolina. So they win that game. But that's North Carolina. They're not a good team. So play with fire at Cal and see what happens. Play with fire at Duke against Dariusna. See what happens, I think they're going to lose twice. I agree, and I think it's those last two.

I think Duke and Virginia Tech get them. Let me tell you why. Virginia Tech, I don't know why. Even when Virginia is really good, and we're like, oh, yeah, this Virginia Tech team stinks. This is their year. All of a sudden, you look at the final score of that, and you're like, oh, my God, can Virginia protect themselves in that Commonwealth Cup?

Can they do something? Pinch her, Penta, do something to protect yourself. I think those last two are going to be particularly tough because Darymanston in that offense, if you can't turn them over, they're going to put up 30. That's a guarantee. They're going to put up at minimum 30 if you don't turn them over. I don't see that Virginia defense being able to create a bunch of turnovers.

And on top of that, again, Darymancing that offense, they're now hitting their stride. They're now comfortable. So I think that if they can do anything on the ground, they'll be all right. But, you know, I'm telling you, this Virginia team, they have nothing to hang their heads about. And we're talking about potential losses.

All three of us, our teams are horrible. So Virginia fans, when you hear this, tell us we hate from outside the club. Because right now, you're all in the top two, y'all in the undefeated club in the conference. Something that none of us. Miss bowl, Miss bowl, Miss bowl, all three of missing a ball this year. Mathematically, there's still a change. Mathematically, might you know what? Mathematically, someone's winning on Friday night.

Who cares? Let me tell you something. Like a little kid trying to potty train, all of us have missed the ball, okay? So it's not going to go great in terms of us talking to UVA fans. They're undefeated in conference and they deserve to live it up. But I'll tell you what, at the end of the day, I just don't think they have what it takes to finish this season out in a manner that ends them up there. But here's another redeeming hope for them. They have built up the type of cushion.

I think they can lose one and still end up going. Georgia Tech, you mean? No, no, no, not Georgia Tech. Virginia. I think Virginia can lose one ACC game. because would they not have the tie break over Miami or would they how would that work out? I don't know. I haven't.

They would have it over Louisville. Because common opponent, common opponent, Louisville, they got the head to head. Common opponent against Miami. They beat Louisville. Louisville beats Miami. So they have a game cushion to where they could lose to do. But if they finally figure out how to beat Virginia Tech and shut, you know, I'm just saying they can still end up there even with one in one of those. last two. And it's going to depend like all those tiebreakers because right now we've got five one

lost teams additionally. So there's there's a whole bunch to figure out all the tiebreakers right. And it's maybe they're getting with one loss, but I don't know. November's coming. And we know that November always has a way of working things out on its own without us having to speculate about it. By the way, Kenton, the way I avoid all missing the bowl, I just sit down. And then that erases the whole issue. He said, boy, girl, don't matter. Sit the tail down. Sit down. Sit Well, Syracuse and North Carolina on Friday, and they're going to be sitting down the whole time. Fair.

The other thing is, what's going to happen in that game? The other feather in Georgia Tech's cap is they've already played five ACC games to Virginia's four. Georgia Tech just has at state, at BC, and hosting Pitt left on their schedule. So we'll see what happens. Elsewhere last weekend, Miami got back on the horse, throttling Stanford, Louisville over BC at home. And then Pitt beat NC State 53 to 34. Kenton, wow, over under on that one.

I don't know what it was, but 87 was the total there. That's bonkers. We just mentioned it over. I told him it over. Hand it over, baby. While we have just those two undefeated teams left in ACC play, we just mentioned it. But there are still five with only one loss, all of whom looking up hoping Virginia and Georgia Tech got knocked off. But guys, right now, four of those teams are on the road this weekend.

Who's going to emerge unscathed with just that one loss still? We'll look at that all coming up in just a second. right after I tell you about Fandle, you guys, the NBA is back and there's no better place to get in on the action than Fandle, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Heck, even if you miss the start of a game or maybe you just want to ride the hot hand, Fanduil has live bets on everything. From who's going to score next to what kind of fourth quarter comeback there's going to be. Plus, you can combine all your live bets into one great same game parlay for a shot and an even bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late put. We're going to talk some ACC basketball here in a little bit.

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All right, guys, let's look ahead to this weekend and to kind of give us a frame to talk about it. Behind Georgia Tech and Virginia, there are five one-loss teams. Four of them are on the road, and the fifth is hosting one of those one-lossed teams. So, man, we're going to learn some things this weekend. Those games, number 10, Miami at SMU noon on ESPN. They're both one-lost teams.

Duke, one-loss team on the road at Clemson, very intriguing noon ACCC network. Number 16, Louisville, heading to Blacksburg, 3 p.m. on the C-dub for playing at Virginia Tech there, and then pit a one-lost team at Stanford 330 Eastern on the ACC network. So Jackson Holzer, my question to you, obviously we can't have five because two of them are playing each other. Will we have four or fewer one-loss ACC teams after this weekend? I am looking at the matchups right now. I know that the game that they both have one loss is Miami-SmU.

gut is telling me that Miami is probably going to win that one. I mean, the odds are certainly saying that Miami's a big favorite. So we'll see what happens. The Duke one is very tricky. Yeah. Clemson is, it's so weird how we're in late October and I still don't have a great read on Clemson. That's fair. Like I really don't. Like I, they're close in games and then it looks like they sort of turn a corner, albeit against some bad teams. And then last week, we're like, last time they played against SMU, their backup quarterback was the quarterback. So is that a fair assessment as to what Clemson actually is? How much different would have looked like against SMU had they had Kay Klubnick. So that's a toss-up game. And right now, actually, I'm looking at it.

Clemson's favor. And it's not easy to win. What was the line? I think it's around three points. Well, I guess my gut is telling me that I think Clemson might win that game at home against Duke and knock them out, essentially. Because I don't, I don't know. I don't trust Duke. I really don't. I love their offense. Their defense is, eh, I just don't trust them.

I really don't. So you're down to one. What about Louisville and Pitt? Are they winning or no? Louisville on the road at Virginia Tech, that should be a win. Although it would be classic Louisville to lose that game. And then Georgia Tech, now they're going to win. was the other one lost team?

Pit at Stanford. So many. Oh, they're doing the West Coast thing. Yeah. Yeah. Logic says they should win. So I'll just pick them. But if they're going to go,

if they do the whole Florida state thing, I wouldn't be surprised either, but Pitt should win at Stanford. So you're saying three of the five one lost teams emerge. That's Miami, Louisville, and Pitt, with SMU losing to Miami and Duke losing at Clemson. KG, what you got? Over under Jackson,

three. Oh, it's going to be over. I don't, I mean, listen, if you think that Clemson has turned a corner, I would like to tell you what my mom used to tell us when we were playing when we were kids. I don't know if they turned a corner. I have no clue. Stay between this house and this house. You know what that means? You stand far the hell away from a corner. This team has turned nothing. They beat up on the two bills. The two bills are the worst coaches and the worst teams in the the ACC. Those two teams are pathetic. I don't mean they're bad. I mean, they're like, I'm genuinely surprised y'all are getting paid to do this job type of terrible. I'm not going to give you credit for beating them. Anytime Clinton has played a team with a post this year,

it's been a problem, including the Troy Trojans. When you need a comeback to beat Troy, I kind of think I know what you are. I kind of think I have a good understanding of what you are as a team. And while Duke does have their problems defensively, I think that Manny Diaz is going to give whoever is that quarterback all types of problems. Be it Clubnik, be a Vizino, it does not matter. They're going to have problems. Clemson has played like a team all year, and I hate to say this,

but they've played like a team that's entitled and spoiled. They played like a team that thought, we're going to beat you because we walked in and we were better than you. It took up until, I want to say, a week or two ago for T.J. Parker's sack number to exceed his penalty number this season. I'm not joking. That was a young man that we said, oh, there's a top 10 pick. That's a top 10 pick.

He did his play. To avoid being drafted by the Jets. Good for him. Listen, with all due respect, okay, nobody hates the Jets that bad. You know, nobody. You can't hate them that bad. Usually it's the teams that are tanking for the players. Now we've got to play your tanking for a team.

Hello. He don't play this up darn near. Fernando Mendoza. If he starts laying some eggs here, don't be surprised. Listen, that man will play himself nearly out of the first round altogether. And to avoid the Jets, come on, come on, come on. All I'm saying is this Clemson team has shown us who they are time after time after time. They've still shown the inability to stop the run from last year.

The pass rush has markedly declined from last year. The receiving weapons have been hurt. I give them that injuries. The passing game as a whole has had some injuries. The quarterback, K. K. Klubnick, injury. And then we talk about a running game that was never supposed to be good. We all said if they had a running game, that would have been a great compliment, but we know who they are. I'm not giving Clemson not nary a benefit of not nary a doubt.

If locked on fielded a football team, we could go ahead and beat UNC in Boston, college. AJ Black would go crazy against that Bill Belichick defensive scheme right now. Jackson, you would be looking like Christian McCaffrey against that Boston College defense. Would they be calling you white lightning? Okay. This is a situation where, again, I think that we see all of these teams that can come out as one lost teams and they're not playing another one loss. I think all of them come out. I don't see a single one of those teams losing because again, these are some overwhelming favors. The least surprising, I guess,

would be Clemson overdue, but even still, that's because we know the type of talent that Clemson has if they can put it all together. But if we say... What's his favorite in this game? And Vegas favored Drew Aller and Art Manning

as Heisman favorites. What Vegas says, don't mean that must be. I'm not here to argue, like, I'm just pointing it out, like, it would not be surprising at all if Clemson wins, because they're actually favored to win. It would be surprising to me, because when I've watched these football games, I've said, them ain't no tigers.

They got a popcorn on the side of their helmet. They're not playing like a Clemson Coast team. They're not playing like a Dabot Coast team. There you go. They're playing like little kittens. They play like they need a litter box. They ain't playing like the little tigers. How do you explain how they lose to Georgia Tech,

which we can all agree right now is the class of the ACC? They barely lost to them. It took like a 50-plus yard field goal for them to beat Clemsden. And then you also have SMU. Like I genuinely think that game could have been different if they had K. Klobnik instead of Vizina in there. So that's why I'm saying I don't have a read on Clemson right now. I really don't because, yes, they were playing bad teams, but it was starting to,

it started to feel like something was clicking there that they could take forward into the SMU game and then their backup quarterback is starting that game and not K. Clubnik, so they lose. And then they have a buy week. So we all forget about Clemson for a week. Now they're at home. They're playing Duke. Duke has everything to play for.

Clemson, their season's basically over. Is the moment going to maybe be too big for Duke because they realize like, hey, like, we have a legitimate chance here in the ACC and Clemson is just like, well, we got nothing to lose. Or is it really going to be like, well, we have nothing to lose. Our season's over. So we're just going to come out lifeless. I don't know. I don't have a read on Clemson right now because they have a close loss to Georgia Tech. Maybe they beat SMU if it was their.

their starting quarterback in instead of Azina. So their favorite at home, I'm going to pick Clemson to win this game. I think Gabbo is just going to trip running down the hill on the way in. That's what's going to happen. It's going to be glorious. Don't worry. Clemson has a ton to play for it. They're going to go to Shreveport to play in the R&L Carriers Bowl.

Because by the way, while we have all slept on this, very quietly, Clemson is very much so at risk of not making a bowman. If they lose to Duke this week and they lose, to Louisville or South Carolina, I believe that's it. I believe that would be. They've got it. They've got three wins.

Yeah. And they've got five remaining games, hosting Duke, hosting Fulke, hosting Ferman and South Carolina. That's, yeah. Good luck finding three in there. I was just about to say, if you lose to Duke,

that puts you in real dicey territory. You ain't got no quick lane ball in you. Yikes, yowsers. That's a tough one. Wow. Okay. So we'll see. Kenton thinks all four of these road teams with one loss are going to win. We'll see if that plays out. And that's what we emerge. By the way, both of those undefeated teams are on the road this weekend as well. Georgia Tech at NC State, Virginia at Cal. Notre Dame ACC light in football is at BC. We've got our spooky Halloween game between Jackson and I with Carolina going up to what I'm still calling the Carrier Dome because I refuse to call it anything else on Halloween. and then Wake Forest at FSU. That's our other ACC game this weekend. Boys, basketball season four days away.

That means we need to make some preseason predictions. We'll Duke repeat as regular season and conference tournament champs. Or can someone knock them off? We'll find out coming up in just a second. Right after I tell you about Mazda, who crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more I-IHS top safety pick plus awards than anyone else.

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Mazda, move and be moved. Gentlemen, we've got college basketball regular season tipping off next Monday, November 3rd. It's going to be electric. I fully expect the ACC to be back up this year, not all the way back to ACC height, but better certainly than it was last year. Good grief. That was ugly.

That's said. we got a new coach for Kenton and the Wolfpack Jackson Holzer's trying to figure out what Red Autry era is going to be. Can he hang around for my North Carolina tar heels? We're going to see if the Hubert Davis roller coaster goes up or down this year. And man, we've got a whole slew of other teams with lots of great stuff happening. So guys, I want us here, you know, before the football season started, we made some preseason predictions. I think we did our ACC championship game contenders. What I want to do here is when we think ACC tournament. The goal is always to be one of those top four teams to get that double

buy for the ACC tournament. So that's what I want us to do. Make our predictions for the top four teams in the ACC regular standings. K.D. My man, what you got? Well, obviously, the class of the conference is Duke in basketball for a reason. They are, you know, again, Duke fans, start pitching to see your football team. They put out a pretty good product over there, but the camera crazies are not the Wallace Wade Wackos for a reason. They turn that place up and rightfully so that's to be expected. Louisville, my God, what a difference a year makes, right? They got done with the Kenny Payne error.

Notice I said error, not error. The Kenny Payne error is over. And they've seen the light at the end of the tunnel and they're phenomenal this year. I expect them to be a team that's going to be contending as well. And then all roads lead through Wade Avenue and Raleigh, baby. It's state fair time in Raleigh, which means the exit is Wade Avenue that everybody got to get off on. But the biggest attraction ain't going to be food that'll kill you and rods that'll kill you in Raleigh. It's going to be the Lenovo Center.

It's going to be Will Wade and what those boys are doing. And I'm going to tell you, I struggled to come up with who I was going to have and forth. I really and truly did because I said to myself, well, you know, you could say Brownell at Clemson, going to do good things and and he's not returning a ton of talent but he's always a very good coach and i don't know i don't know in this in this world of the portal he's been better than i expected but i'm not sure if he's going to be there you could say old him at virginia as or fourth but it's tough to say that too and then you look around at the rest of the conference say well hell who's got a squad that you would even look at and say they could potentially be in that four and i'm going to go

off the rails with this one. I know y'all are going to be looking at me crazy with this one. I think Jackson's squad ends up in that top four. I think they end up in that top four. Hold on. I think they do. I think they do. Listen, hear me out. I like this. Hear me out. Hear me out. This is why I think they end up in that top four. Autry knows he's coaching for his life. He knows like, this is it. This is it. They've had one of the better recruiting classes that we've seen from Syracuse in quite some time. And we know, what a difference a year makes in today's landscape. I think this is a team from game one that, yes, they're young,

but they're going to come out with desperation that nobody else has. Nobody else that I look at as like, are they on the brink? Are they on the cusp? Is going to have that desperation except maybe the tar heels. And the only problem I see with the tar heels, they're running into a similar problem that NC State ran into a couple years ago. Where's the floor space it coming from? Where are your shooters?

And that's something that I look at with them. And I'm like, they've got a ton of size. Don't get me wrong. I think they're going to be phenomenal down low. But at the end of the day, if teams could just go, hey, we're going to go pack line defense and we're going to figure out those bigs eventually. I think that could be potentially problematic, especially for a coach that, you know, Hubert Davis in the half court, things haven't exactly been.

Exactly. It hasn't exactly been the best. So I think Syracuse ends up being that 14. I know that's a hot take. I know nobody's going to agree with me. Everybody's going to say I'm insane and that I'm making – y'all know I don't like to make Jackson happy. That is the last thing I've ever wanted to do with my life.

But I've got to give Syracuse the nod. And I know I'm going to get a lot of folks coming at me. But when this season is ending and they're in that contention, I told you first. Okay. Jackson, Kenton, I think you just might have gained 20 new subscribers, maybe even more on your locked-on-Wolkack channel. I think it's all the Syracuse fans that are flocking over to your right now, giving your content some love.

What I have said about Syracuse throughout this offseason and what I've said over the past couple of weeks of them is their expectation has to match the stakes of what's happening here. The coaches are coaching for their jobs and quite frankly so are the players too. Because the trend in college sports really is when your coach leaves, so does all the other coaches of the staff and so do all the players, which means you're also looking for a new school. And you want to make sure that you're playing your best so that there's another school that actually wants you that's actually going to pay you when you enter the transfer portal, right? So everyone's playing for their job. Everyone is coaching for their job this season. So there is that

desperation in Syracuse and the expectations have to match the stakes of the season. This is a team that, look, they don't have to finish top four in the ACC, but they do have to make the NCAA tournament. That is a non-negotiable in my book. I don't care how they get there. I don't care if the last team in the ACC and then they go on a miracle run similar to what? Do what NC State did a couple of years ago. Like, I don't care. Like, you're in the NCAA tournament or goodbye to everyone. So if they're top four in the ACC, chances are they are definitely going to be in the NCAA tournament. And so therefore, that is a very, very successful season for Syracuse. Having said that, I can't pick them in the preseason right now to finish top four. I can't. I do think they could be up there that they have potential, but I can't do that. I can't be that much of a homer. I can't be like Kenton in. really pick Syracuse to actually finish top four. I think there's two that are pretty obvious. Duke, I don't know if you ever heard of Duke, but probably going to be pretty good this year. They got this guy named Cameron Boozer. He's okay. He's so good. He had 20 billion rebounds against

Tennessee. I know it was an exhibition game, but still, I mean, 20 billion rebounds is a lot of rebounds. He's pretty good. He should be a solid player for Duke. So he's still rebounding right now. Still cleaning the glass. Yeah, he's okay. He's okay. And then you got Louisville. Louisville, Pat Kelsey, great turnaround, great transportal class. They were competitive in their exhibition game and they were playing against Kansas. So am I going to sit here and penalize them for that? No, actually, I give him a lot of credit because Kansas, I think, is going to be really good. They got another freshman over there at Kansas by the name of Darren Peterson. He's pretty good as well. So he's capable of taking over games and that's what happened in the first half of that exhibition game.

after that it kind of gets interesting because there's a lot of brand new rosters, there's a lot of talent going around, but we don't know how it's necessarily going to match. Right now, I'm leaning towards NC State, and it's not just because Kenton picks Syracuse, but I am leaning towards NC State because of Will Ways and his pedigree, and this day and age of college basketball where you can turn your season, you can go from one of the worst teams in the conference to one of the best teams in the conference in one year. saw it last year. Ken just talked about it.

Yeah. NC State, they invested heavily this offseason. They got themselves a proven head coach. He knows what he's doing, brings in a ton of talent. Darian Williams. I mean, he could be terrific for that team this season. He's a monster. So that was a great get for Kenton and NC State.

My sleeper's Miami. Miami's another one of those teams. Crappy last year. Wasn't they the worst team in the ACC or was that Boston College? It was one of the two. One of the two. but Boston College ain't going to be good this year. Miami has a chance.

They got a new coach. All right. We'll see what happens. What is it? Jay Lucas, who took over? Jay Lucas is now their head coach. They bring in some transfers. Trey Donaldson's a nice one.

I like him. They got that guy from Indiana as well. Maybe they're in the top four. How about that? Because I think the conference is in flux right now after that. After the top two, it's really anyone's desk who's going to be three and four. Yeah. And yes, Miami wasn't like they were a good.

By the way, the BC last year. Like it was that. What a great story if they're now in the top four. Oh, dude, it's insane. So I'm right with you guys. The only difference I have with that top two is I actually, earlier this offseason, I was Duke Louisville. Just a week or two ago, I flipped to Louisville Duke.

Spoke to Dalton, didn't you? No, it's just the more I've looked at their roster, the shooting, the depth with that, Ali Khalifa coming back. He was injured last year. I'm in on Louisville to knock off Duke. I think Duke has better top end talent, but I think Louisville's entire roster comes together better than does Dukes. But where we don't quibble in any way is I do believe that is a tier separate from the rest

of the league. And so one or two, whatever. And then one of my responses to Kenton is Carolinas, one and three are both 40% shooters with Kai and Evans coming over from Colorado State. Luca Bogobot's coming over from playing professional. professionally in Europe for a couple years. He's Montenegrin. And that's your floor space. Both of those guys provide that. And now that Carolina for the first time ever has some Biggs who actually floor space a little bit as well, it's kind of a little bit everywhere.

Now, they're not as high level percentage wise, but they're going to do it. That said, I do think it's NC State and North Carolina as that the other to round out the top four. I'm going to go Carolina three, NC State four. But as Kent and I and Grayson, we're literally just talking about yesterday before we recorded this. One of the good things for NC State is they only play both Duke and Carolina once, and both of those games are at home. So in terms of the unbalanced scheduling of the ACC, that actually could slingshot NC State into third if those games go well for them.

So that's something to keep an eye on is how unbalanced scheduling affects conference standings that we're always watching. But I'm going to go Louisville, Duke, Carolina, NC State as my top four for this thing. boys it's a lot of fun a lot of college basketball coming absolutely cannot wait we got some bangers in week one can't wait to see it happen folks if you're not already gone to follow locked on syracuse and jackson holzer's great work make sure you do that so you can get that halloween coverage Halloween i don't know what do y'all say Halloween or Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween Halloween I think i'm a Halloween and i have no clue why i said Halloween that's weird how Halloween Halloween Halloween yeah Halloween

Make sure you go check out KG and Grayson Boone over there on Lockdown Wolfpack. Man, they're bringing it to you every day as well as all the great rest of the locked on ACC shows, man. So many great dudes bringing you coverage of their team every day and myself as well on Locked on Tar Heels. It's been great to be together. Can't wait to be back with you next week. Lots of more great content to come on. Thanks for being here with us. Again, all you every dayers, we appreciate you so much.

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