Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Which ACC Contenders Will Step Up? Clemson vs Wake Forest, Notre Dame Hosts Stanford

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Welcome to ACC Squad, your go-to roundtable podcast for everything Atlantic Coast Conference! In our Week 7 preview, hosted by Alex Donno of Locked On ACC, we’re gearing up for an exciting slate of games as we analyze matchups, discuss key players, and make predictions for the upcoming ACC football action.Join us as we dive into the crucial matchups that could define the season for your favorite teams, whether you support 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 is packed with insights and analysis you won’t want to miss!In This Episode:Comprehensive previews of Week 7's key matchupsBreakdown of team dynamics and strategiesPredictions from Locked On podcast hosts on potential outcomesSpotlight on players to watch and their significance in the gamesDon’t forget to subscribe to ACC Squad and hit the notification bell for all the latest updates and thorough coverage of ACC football. We want to hear from you—share your thoughts in the comments below and tell us which matchups have you excited this week! #ACCSquad #ACCFootball #LockedOnACC #Week7Preview #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.

In back-to-back weeks, ACC refs have played a role in keeping Miami undefeated, and Alex Dono's not even here to explain it. We better bring in the ACC 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. Hey there, what's up? Welcome into the ACC squad as we get ready for week seven of college football. Shout out to the everydayers. Thank you so much for making the ACC squad your first listen or watch of the day. Reminder that we are free and available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. It's all part of the Locktown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Today's episode is brought to you by Fanduil. Place your first $5 bet, and you'll get started with $200 guaranteed in bonus bets. Visit Fandul.com to get started. Look, I am not Alex Dono. Our intrepid host figured that with Miami's good fortune from ACC refs, the past couple weeks, he should probably go off to Vegas, invest in the stock market and grab some powerball ticket, so he's off doing that.

Meanwhile, I'm Isaac Shade, your consolation prize this week. and it's my job today to wrangle our merry band of ACCers. No, in all seriousness, Dono lives in Florida in the potential path of Hurricane Milton. We're recording this just behind the scenes on Tuesday. And so we actually don't know what's going to happen on Wednesday and Thursday. So as we get into this man, to Dono and all of those who might be affected by this, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you who might be and will be affected by Hurricane Milton, as well as we continue to think of those of you who have been affected by Hurricane Helene as well. And so, man, we are in mind of all of you.

Joining me today, it's like a mini squad basketball edition because it's myself, the host of Locked on Tar Heels, Jackson Holzer of Locked on Syracuse, and JJ Jackson of Locked on Blue Devils. And so fellas, our buddies from State can't take the heat. We don't have Dalton Pence from Louisville. man, it's just going to be a trio of round ball today. So it was a nuts weekend of college football all around, boys. We all saw it.

But where we have to start is a team that maybe should have been part of that nuts losing streak is my amy. Cam Ward and company were down 38 to 18 with 10 and a half minutes left and finish out at Cal on a 21 to nothing run, maybe aided yet. again by ACC reps. Who's buying the first round, fellows? Let's get into it. So I'll buy the first round here. And I think every Miami fan is going to love what I'm going to say. Here we go. Here's the deal. And Cal fans are going to hate me, all right? Sorry, where in the rule book does it say you need to let up 21 points? Where is it? You let up 21 points

in 10 and a half minutes. I'm supposed to feel sorry about a non-targeting call. That's what you want get about the, you want to talk about the referees when your defense surrendered 21 points in 10 and a half minutes. That's what we're going to do here. So yes, it was another ugly win for Miami, another comfort behind win. And if you're obviously in the ACC, if you're a team that's looking good right now, you got to be feeling pretty good because the top horses, they don't really look as strong as you might think. All of a sudden, Miami's looking a little vulnerable. I know Clemson's looking good, but you still have those things from week one, right? The ACC is wide open, but honestly, look, you let up 21 points in the fourth quarter.

I don't feel sorry for Cal. You screwed up on defense. Tell me in the rulebook where it says you need a lot of 21 points. That's a fun way to look at this. Truth be told, I went to bed when it was 35 to 10. I thought this is over. There's no need to continue watching this. It's a game that started at 10.30 p.m. Eastern.

We were talking last week on the squad. What is this going to look like the first time we see an East Coast ACC team travel west? I learned I got a hang. I'm not as young as I used to be. But yeah, to see Miami come back, I couldn't believe it at the end of the day. Jackson, I think that's a very fair perspective to talk about here.

How do you let that happen if you're cow? You've been in big games already so far this season. You're at home, by the way, as well. Advantage should go to you. And next thing you know, yeah, credit to Miami for being able to make this comeback, despite whatever controversy might be out there in regards to the officiating. Yeah, I mean, because there was both the targeting call and the potential ineligible downfield call. And you had both of those.

But you know what? If you take care of business like you've been doing the rest of the game, you're not in this scenario to start with. But, you know, for the canes, man, they're living good. And they've got to feel good about things because it always feels. feels like in a special season, you have to dodge a couple of these landmines to get to the promised land to where you ultimately want to go. And so if Miami has been able to do this, and now they can get stuff figured out because they don't play this week, right? So they can go back to the drawing board a little bit and say, all right, what has happened these past couple weeks

that's just caused us to win in at least slightly controversial fashion? Is that who we are? Are we vulnerable? Like you said, Jackson, because that's what they've shown these past couple weeks. are we the dominant team we've seen in other weeks? What do you guys think? I think with Miami, they are still one of the two top teams in the ACC. Like, I'm not trying to disrespect them, but there is now a feasible path to beat them. Like, the blueprint is there. Can you stop their offense? No, you can't. Like, they're going to store their points. They're going to store 30 plus. But I was talking about it on the podcast, which you guys are seeing this on Thursday, but on my chat, on the Wednesday podcast.

I was talking off air. And I was like, look, a team that wants to beat Miami, if you turn the ball or if you force a couple of turnovers on them and you can get to like 38 points, there is a feasible path to now beating them. It felt like through the first couple of weeks of this season, we were like, man, Miami's going to steamroll through this conference. So not so fast anymore.

Are they still one of the top two teams in the ACC? Yes. They're a little bit more vulnerable now, though. I agree with you. AJ, let's turn our attention to your team. Who was one of these other undefeated teams overall and in the conference coming into this game? Head down to Atlanta and just can't quite keep that street going,

losing 24 to 14 to the yellow jackets. Unpacked for us how that went down. Yeah, first time this season, Duke picks up a loss, five and one now after the first six games of the season. They, like Miami, go into a by week, so they've got the opportunity. It's going to look themselves in the mirror and unpack what happened. For the first time and quite some time,

couldn't run the football, Star Thomas has emerged as the go-to back following Joaquaz Moore's injury to begin the season. Star Thomas had three consecutive games of 100-plus yards rushing, and he's really not able to get it going. And then defensively, when Duke needed to get off the field late on third down, they weren't able to do that. So tip your cap to Georgia Tech. Saturday nights in the heart of Atlanta at Bobby Dodd Stadium, I was really impressed with the environment that they were playing in, like credit to Georgia Tech there. But I think those are the biggest things that Duke for the first time this year wasn't able to run the ball effectively. And we're seeing that Malik Murphy takes a little

while to kind of get going. The later in the games it goes, the better he's been playing. Is that a warm-up issue that Duke's got to kind of take a look at in the soft week? I think that's going to be curious because we're also seeing week after week that completion percentage isn't looking the best for Malik Murphy, despite some of the gaudy numbers that he's had so far. this year. So I'm excited for this Duke team to go to the drawing board. I think they're by far ahead of expectations. Five and a half was the over under guys going into the season. And now yeah, and now they've got to, now they've got to look ahead to after the by week, getting to play Florida State on that Friday night. Duke has never beat Florida State before. Can this finally

be the year? Probably Florida State's terrible. This is the year to beat him. But, Georgia Tech is a very, very simple team. Okay, they're going to run the football. If you can't stop the run, you're not going to beat Georgia Tech. That is exactly what happened with Duke. They could not stop the Georgia Tech running game who had, I'm looking at it right now, 245 yards rushing. There you go.

Game over. Game over. When Syracuse played them, I know I'm a Syracuse channel, but I'm going to reference them because they beat Georgia Tech. They beat them because they held Georgia Tech to under 115 yards rushing. If you can stop the run against Georgia Tech, you'll beat them. If you can't, you're going to lose. And that is exactly what happened at Duke on Saturday.

Indeed. Jackson, let's turn our attention to what you guys did. The CUSB and the lone team to go out of conference over the weekend, heading to UNLV, who was ranked at the time and needing some OT to take care of business, 44 to 41. What went down in Sin City? Well, what happened was that you saw a team dominate the game, but win in overtime. And you asked, how did they win in overtime?

And no, I'm not going to blame the officials. It's not the official's fault. Again, not the officials. Two block punts. Two block puns. Syracuse controlled the game. If you look at the stats, just the team stats, time of possession, passing yards, rushing, whatever it is you want to look at,

Syracuse probably won it. If you look at the turnover battle, both teams had one turnover. So how is it a game that Syracuse controls? they only win by three points in overtime. Now granted, UNLV is a good team, but you let up two block puns, that is what happens. So going forward for Syracuse,

it's you got to clean up the special teams gaffs. It's as simple as that. Next week they got North Carolina State, right? NC State on the road. They're a favorite against that team. They should beat them. But guess what? They let up two block punts.

They'll lose. Yeah. Man, and look, we all know what a crazy critical deal special teams is to pull this thing together. I know that full well being the host of Locked on Tar Heels who have struggled with allowing blocked punts this season. So I feel that pain. Now look, we've talked about Florida State yet again how terrible they are. And Clemson kind of sliding into being this sneaky good team who we had written off after week one getting blitz by UGA. But here they are yet again.

And I know, again, it's Florida State. But Clemson just keeps continuing to find a way to win. Jackson, you talked about the two best teams in the ACC. Is Clemson that other team that you're referencing? Of course, it's Clemson. And everyone's saying that we all rid off Clemson after that first game. There was one person that did not write off Clemson. And I'm going to admit when I'm wrong, but I'm also going to tell you when I'm right. And I told you guys on the show, I was like, why is everyone writing off Clemson? Why? They lost to the number one team in the country. They'll be fine. They still got a ton of talent. They'll be good. This is not a sign of a him and demise. It's one really bad game. They had their F game against Georgia. And really,

their defense played fine. It was just their offense, can get anything going. Now their offense is clicking. And their schedule going forward is very, very winnable. Honestly, they might run the table. They very easily could run the table, be 11 and 1 heading into that ACC championship game. It's going to be very hard for them to lose. Just go look at their schedule right now in the way they're playing. Man, okay, we're going to keep our eyes on that atop. the ACC. As for some other teams, we've already talked to one of the North Carolina teams, but NC State and the Tar Heels, boy, they continue to struggle. We talked about that Louisville and SMU game last week, and Louisville just couldn't figure it out against the new ACC friends

from Dallas. We're going to look at that, start getting ready for week seven, where six ACC teams are off. All of that coming up as we carry on with the ACC squad. Stay right here, locked in. First, let me tell you, though, about our friends at game time. Look, going to live events is the absolute best, whether it's music or theater or comedy. And you all know it, man, we are well into the college football season now. And man, the new memories that we're all making just are phenomenal. Well, great news. When you're getting tickets for this season, game time has a new feature called GameTime Picks

that makes getting tickets for your favorite live events even easier. What Picks does is filters out all the fluff to show you the most incredible deals on great seats. that you don't have to waste time waiting through all the muck and bad seats to get you the very best. So whether it's game time ticket coverage, the lowest price guarantee or the panoramic views from your seat in the app game time has got you covered. Hey, how about this? You want to go check out our Saturday night ACC game this week. It's over in Raleigh, North Carolina. Syracuse and Jackson Holes are heading to NC State. Cheapest ticket I could find was 35 bucks in section 13 row But man, if Jackson wants to get down there, maybe need some seats behind the Syracuse bench,

just 52 bucks in Section 2 row O. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime, download the app, create an account, and use Code Locked on College for $20 off your first purchase. Again, create an account and redeem code locked on college for $20 off. Terms apply. Download the Game Time app today. What time is it? It's Game Time. Thanks again for making the ACC Squad your first list. or watch of the day. We got a mini squad today. We'll call it the three musketeers of round

shooty hoops ball. Myself, Isaac Shade, the host of Locked on Tar Heels, Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse, and of course, J.J. Jackson from Locked on Blue Devils. And look, here's the deal. I got to have a self-own here, the Tar Heels. Who started off this season 3 and 0 are now three and three, having lost back to back to back to James Madison, to some, to some team from down the road in Durham, North Carolina. And last week to pit. And we got to be honest, we'll get to this in a second. But this pit offense is something unlike I've ever seen from a Pat Narduzi coached team, but NC State as well struggling to win football games, losing to Wake Forest, 34 to nothing. There has been a suggestion that perhaps the Wolfpack and Tar Heels

should cancel the rest of their season until the season finale when they play each other. for just to see who can salvage some sort of okayness out of this season. Fellas, what's going on with the Tar Heels and Wolfpack right now? A whole lot of everything. I mean, I think you start at the quarterback spot for both of these schools. It's been a roller coaster for UNC Carousel, if you will, with the number of different guys who have been under center. And then you look at NC State and Grayson McCall's back for the Wake Forest game.

and then he's knocked out of the game due to injury. And that was just a tough play to watch. But anytime you've got inconsistency at that quarterback spot, that's a simple answer, but that's really where I go first. And then for both of these teams, NC State in particular, you're giving up 34 points to Wake Forest. I mean, at some point, the defense has to step up a little bit and make some of those plays.

I think when you look at both of these teams right now, actually, I don't want to say that about NC State because Syracuse is playing them this week. But for North Carolina, I was going to say I would look towards basketball season at this rate. But regarding NC State now, I do want to say something about that Grayson McCall play because I brought this up into the chat after watching the replay of it. I didn't watch it live in that moment, but I saw the replay and it was a very brutal hit, vicious. And I'm just, I'm glad he's okay.

I'm so glad that like he's okay. Like everything was precautionary. He's good. You got a slide. You got to slide. man. These, they have to get it in the head of all these quarterbacks that you got to slide when you, or if you're near the sideline, get out of bounds. I think maybe they're watching too much Josh Allen or maybe other quarterbacks that like that physical contact, like Cam Newton, if you watch his film, he like never slid. He just always barreled over into people. Well, it's because he's eight foot nine, three 20. But even a guy like Cam Newton, eight foot nine, three 20 was knocked out of the lead pretty quickly. than a lot of people expected because you take a lot of hits you're going to get injured a lot. That's how it works. And especially for any quarterback out there, the lesson is like, look, man,

you got to slide and fight another day. It's a brutal hit. It's unfortunate. I feel for him. I'm glad he's okay. He hasn't been ruled out for the season, which is great. That's great news. Terrific. He's a sixth year senior. He's not going to play any. This is it for him. But you got to slide. You have to slide. I've been trying to think what Kent was going to say today, and I'm so sad he's not here because we need some crazy cultural reference. I was looking forward to previewing Syracuse and NC State with them on the squad, and then here they are just not showing up.

They're dodging the smoke, Jackson. Oh, God. Kenton overtaking things and making all the bombastic statements. I guarantee you. If NC State was like five in one right now or whatever and Syracuse was one in five, we'd be having a different conversation right now. They'd be here right now all over me. Cues by 100.

I'm there. On the other side of this North Carolina, Pittsburgh game, I'm not joking, y'all. This Pittsburgh offense is for real. Eli Holstein is doing absolute work. They've turned over the keys and he's just filling it up.

And little tiny Desmond Reed, he's a fine running back on the ground. But this dude is a real threat through the air. We've been seeing it multiple weeks now. And here we go. Pittsburgh remains undefeated 5 and 0. They've only played one ACC game. But still, do they have something cooking up in Pittsburgh? That's what we're going to have to continue to find out as we move ahead to week seven.

And let's go ahead and do that now, guys. Moving to week seven where we have wildly six ACC teams with no game, Miami, SMU, Duke, Boston College, Virginia Tech, and FSU all off this week. We have five ACC teams still undefeated in conference. Clemson, the only three and O team. Miami, SMU and Virginia, all two and O, Pittsburgh, one and O, as I just said. And there are three teams that are winless in the ACC. Cal, who could have been with the win, which would leave only. It's the refs. It's the refs. It should be one and oh in the ACC, but really it was the refs. So you want to call it one and one. Oh, man, Jack Nicholas is so sad about his golden bears. And the other two winless teams, of course, the North Carolina Tar Hills and the NC State Wolfpack. What on earth is happening? By the way,

Peyton Wilson looks like a dude for the Steelers right now. So, fellas, as we look ahead to this week, we do have some very interesting games, right? And so we've got Clemson at Wake Forest, Georgia Tech at North Carolina, Stanford at Notre Dame, Cal at Pitt, Louisville at Virginia, and Syracuse at NC State. Jackson, I know this Syracuse at NC State game. You've already mentioned it. So why don't you just get us? prime. What are you looking for in this battle? And what were you prepared to say to our NC State brethren had they been here today? I don't want to say, I'm not jinxing it. So I'm not going to say it. I'll keep that thought in my head right now because heaven forbid that that would be clipped. And all the only for everyone to see if I actually said that, I'll keep it to myself.

But for Syracuse in this game, they are a team that throws the ball more than any team in the country. Forty-eight pass attempts per game. Can they blame them with Kamakord and slinging it all over the field and all those weapons? No, but you're going up against NC State who's actually pretty good at stopping the past. Sixth in the ACC, upper half in the country and in a pass yards per attempt, pretty good against the pass. Where is NC State susceptible against? They'll run. So what I am looking forward in this game, LaQuinn Allen, the running back for Syracuse, running for 100 yards. I don't think he's had a hundred yard game yet this season, but that's an all-conference back right there.

If he runs for 100 yards, they're not going to lose. They are not lose. And I am okay with that being clipped. I'm fine with that. If Lequin Allen runs for 100 yards and they somehow still lose this game because C.J. Bailey, who's probably going to start for NC State, decides to have a career day, 400 yards, five touchdown. So be it.

So be it. But this passing offense is still going to do its thing no matter what. If you can punish their run defense, Lequinow in 100 yards, they're going to win. Jackson, you got to say it. Whatever it was, give it to us right now. No, no walk away. Do you know what I just said to you about basketball season and North Carolina? Yeah.

All right, play it with state. Say it. Look forward to basketball season. There you go. What's up? You know what? Fine. If Syracuse loses this game, we'll look forward to basketball season.

season two. All right. Let's go. There we go. All right. You got it out of me. Fine. Basketball's the best. That's okay. Now I'm going to have every NC State fan chirping me. That's fine. Whatever. Oh, man. I don't play. I don't coach. So we look around the rest of the conference, guys. There are some interesting games, but again, there's only six games, one of which includes Notre Dame, obviously, kind of our fake quasi-ACC member, whatever with them. Outside of that, the Syracuse and NC State game, what other game jumps out to you the most? this weekend. It's hard for me to pick one, Isaac, when I'm kind of looking at these,

not the greatest of matchups, I guess Georgia Tech, North Carolina, just to see how the Tar Heels can respond at home and another opportunity. Can Georgia Tech keep this thing going after their big win over Duke? They've already had their byweek. What does that look like for the yellow jackets? And then I guess if it's Cal going on the road at Pitt, another ACC game for the Panthers to figure out whether or not they're legit. And then for Cal, can you respond to what just happened against Miami? Can you put the

controversial calls behind you to Jackson's point? Can you get some stops defensively? I think that's probably the game I'm most excited to seeing how it plays out would be that pit and cow game. I'm right with you, JJ. That's the game I've got circled specifically because of what you just said, what you just said, right? They've got to respond. They've got to fly back across the country, as we talked about last week with Miami, all the way to Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens with that. Maybe Marchion Lynch can come in

and they'll hand him the ball and take care of some business there. Who knows? He's just there so we won't get fined. We'll figure it out. All right. Look, where we need to get to figuring out now is Cam Ward really in good position for the heism?

Are there other guys who could win that from him? And what right now is the shape of the ACC playoff hopes at the midpoint of the season? We're going to get to all of that and more coming up as we wrap up this episode of, the ACC squad. Keep it locked. Hey, but first let me tell you about our good friends at Fandul.

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regular season winner odds. Miami, as you would expect, leads the way at plus 140, but Clemson not far behind at plus 165, followed in third place by SMU at plus 500. How about that? Or if you want to look at some of the odds for this weekend, the closest we have is that game we just talked about, Pitt minus three and a half over Cal or NC State Jackson, holes are favored by four and a half over Syracuse. Yikes. If you want to go get in on any of that action, go check it out at fanduel.com. It's America's number one sports book. Fellas, I want to get into a bit of a Heisman conversation here. I looked ahead at Fanduel's Heisman odds, just talking about our great partner who we just

highlighted. And right now, I would not have guessed this. I want to ask you guys, having not looked at it, where do you think Cam Ward sits in Fan Duel's Heisman odds right now? Second. Four. Behind who, Jackson? The kid from Boise State, the running back, Gentee? What about you, JJ? Who would you have him behind? GNT would be in that conversation. Travis Hunter, I think, could be up there.

And then I just threw a number out there for fourth. So I can't think of a third name right now. And so player X. Okay. Here's the reality. It's right in between you guys. He is third. Genti leads the way at plus 240.

Travis Hunter is second plus 320. Then comes Cam Ward at 450, followed right. behind him are Jalen Milro from Alabama at plus 900 and then Dylan Gabriel a little bit further back at plus 1,400. Here's my question to you guys. Is that the right spot right now for Cam Ward? Or is he being slept on? I don't think he's being slept on. I mean, the guy, you said he was third. The guy ahead of him is Travis Hunter, who's the best all-around player in college football. Am I going to sit here and be like, oh, that's a robbery. That's a raw. Oh, man, Cam Ward. I mean, he's so great that you know, he has to be above the best player in college football.

Honestly, I probably would have said third if I didn't remember. I forgot I'm off the top of my head, honestly. I probably would have said third. But yeah, that's about right. I mean, Gene T is going to shatter like every FBS record there is. Like, I think he's got the Heisman on lock right now until further notice. And then Travis Hunter's the best all around player in college football. That leaves Tamworth at third.

Is there any argument for Miami is the best team of those three? and so Cam Ward should be more highly valued. Like where are you guys out on to the best teams go the awards and rewards? What are your thoughts about that? Who was the best team last year? It was. Georgia, Michigan, right? Those were the best teams.

Alabama, right? They were pretty good. You know, Washington. Who won the Heisman? Jaden Daniels at LSU. There you go. I had to jog my memory because I was looking for, to your point, Isaac, typically I'm like, well, yeah, the best team.

that's typically where the awards are going to kind of follow. But to Jackson's point, just this past year debunks all of that. And so, yeah. Why did Michael Pennix? I mean, Michael Pennix was flinging it around. Washington was undefeated. Exactly. So it's, but the point that I'm making is that it's an individual award, right?

If, if Boise State is 0 and 12, you might have a point. But to me, it's not like, oh, you know, Miami's undefeated. They made that they won the ACC. They're in the playoff. But oh, this Jeanty guy, I know he shattered every record known to man for any running back. But oh, my God, his team went nine and three. Yeah, right.

I mean, it's an individual award. That's, it's not the best player on the best team. It's the best player. All right, fair, fine. I can live with that. Okay, let's look at the ACC playoff hopes. Right now there are four ACC teams ranked. SMU sneaking in at 25.

Pitt at 22, Clemson and Miami both top 10 with the Tigers at 10th, Miami at 6. Guys, I mean, look, it feels like Miami and Clemson are the only ACC playoff hopes right now. Let's get back to them in a second. Is there anyone else that can sneak in? If Pitt, I mean, if Pitt keeps rolling, can they get up that high? What are your thoughts? I think that'd be the only hope for that to be the case. I'm truly trying to hype somebody else up and give them the opportunity to be a part of the

conversation, but I just, I don't see it right now. Maybe in a few more weeks, if Pitt can keep winning football games, SMU can go on a big run and keep this thing going, maybe. But I still see it. Yeah. Yeah, I just think it's the two of the teams there, Clemson and Miami. What about Florida State is, is five and oh, they're undefeated. Second in the nation. Oh, no wait, they suck. I'm looking at the standings right now. I was trying to find them. I can't. It's only sole possession of 17th place. You got to keep scrolling. Jackson. I'm sorry, but I looked on my phone just now at the standings and North Carolina's last. We are now the title of 17th. Thank you. Somebody's got to be there, Isaac. Thank you.

We're going to be there for us. Yeah. I think it's. But very seriously, Jackson, what's your take on this? Miami, Clemson, go. Right now, it's Miami and Clemson and then nobody else. But check back with me in a couple of weeks. There could be a team that gets hot. That's all I'll say. And you need someone to win or to only lose one game. That's how it works. Or someone else to go undefeated besides Miami and Clemson. I know Syracuse fans that are watching this are going to want me to raise my hand and say Syracuse has a chance. Well, maybe they do have a chance.

You know, you beat NC State, right? So hopefully you beat NC State. You're 5 and 1. Then you got hit. Maybe that is the game where we find out if there is another team that maybe could creep into the conversation. But in all likelihood, the ACC's hope for representation in the playoff lies with two teams. It's Clemson and Miami, and you've got to check back with me in a few weeks on other teams. And here's part of the hope.

These two teams do not play each other. So they could both continue to roll. Let me give you their remaining schedules. And boys, I want us all three to pick. If only one of these two makes the playoff, who will it be? For Clemson remaining at Wake Forest, hosting Virginia, hosting Louisville, at Virginia Tech, at Pitt, at home. against Citadel, home against South Carolina. So they still have two more non-con games to play, do the Tigers. As for Miami at Louisville versus Florida State versus Duke, there you go, JJ,

at Georgia Tech, hosting Wake, and then closing out the season, the regular season, Jackson, Holzer up in Syracuse, New York. I got to be honest, neither of those schedules feel like a gauntlet to me. And it feels like they probably should both go undefeated the rest of the way. all due respect and apologies to you, my friend, Jackson. What's going to happen? Give me one. It just one makes it. Who's it going to be?

It's going to be the winner of the ACC championship game. Let me tell you, that's what it's really going to be. I think Miami is going to slip at least once. I think Miami has the best shot to slip at least one time. When I, again, with Clemson, tell me where their losses. Yeah. Tell me. Yeah.

Who's their toughest game is at pit. But honestly, I think Clemson's, is going to be favored in that game. At some point when you put yourself in these positions, like you're going to slip. And I think Miami has been more susceptible so far this season. Clemson kind of got it out of the way in week one against Georgia in that game. But what's so interesting to me why I wanted us to be able to go into this conversation,

Isaac is just we've got to train our brains how to view this 12 team college football player. One loss did not eliminate you anymore. You know, I was thinking watching that Miami game the past couple of weeks, oh, no, this is it. This is, they're done. following a loss. But then we see results this past weekend, right? Bama loses to Vandy. Tennessee slips up against Arkansas. The whole picture is totally different. And we don't know how to view all of this because we've never been here before with 12 teams. That's why here today,

I still feel very confident that both Clemson and Miami can be a part of the college football playoff picture. That's what I'm wondering. I'm with you guys. I think Miami is more susceptible to Jackson's kind of riding the fence. Whoever wins the ACC championship, sure, yes. But because it's not as imperative to win every game, let's say Clemson loses at Pitt, which is the best game left on either of their schedules. No, no, no.

So if they lose at Pitt, they have to win the conference or else they're done. Right. And that's what I'm saying, though. If they lose at Pitt but then beat Miami and the ACC Championship, there's a world in which both of these teams could get in. Yes, they would both get in if Miami's undefeated. If Miami is undefeated and they lose to Clemson in the ACC title game, which they can.

That can happen. Then both are getting in. Now, the question is, if both of those teams enter with a loss, right? Let's say that those teams enter with a loss. Obviously, the winner is in no matter what. Is that two-loss team going to get in? because this is the conversation. Is it a two loss ACC versus, I don't know, maybe three loss SEC?

Yeah. Now that's the conversation. That's going to be a lot of fun. I'm just going to eat popcorn. You know the committee's not going to favor us in those scenarios. No, absolutely not. That's where style points come into play. You got to look pretty.

Here's another factor. We have not yet had, and we're still a month away from, the actual CFP rankings, which don't come out until November 5th for the first time. And so that could also alter things based on where teams are ranked when we start to see that more official ranking. And as you guys have said, man, this whole new 12 team situation and format, we got to wrap our heads around. So we'll start to do that more and more the further we get into this season. We've got a slate again of just six games this weekend. Nothing jumping off the page in the ACC. But you know wackiness is bound to still happen. So we'll be watching for that.

Hey, Jackson, you got to go to Raleigh and take care of these Wolfpack guys. All right. Can you do that? I hope so. All right. I'm picking them to win. I'm picking them to win. Of course, we're going to be here unpacking that next week.

Folks, thank you so much for joining us here today on the ACCC squad. For JJ Jackson of Locked on Blue Devils and Jackson, Holzer of locked on Syracuse. Once again, our thoughts go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Milton in Florida and especially our guy, Dono, as he is hunkering down elsewhere. for the rest of the ACC squad. And of course, our guy Jarvis behind the scenes, we are so glad to have been with you today. Keep it locked right here. We'll be right back with you next week.

If you haven't already, smash the like button, subscribe to our show on both audio and video. All of these shows, and of course locked on ACC, hosted by Dono and our guy, Kenton Gibbs. May your weekend be full of chilly and touchdowns. We'll talk to you again next week on the ACC squad right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network.

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