Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - Which ACC Teams will find the most success in 2025?

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

ACC football fans, are you ready for a shake-up? The Atlantic Coast Conference is buzzing with overreactions to spring football performances, and the spotlight is on Boston College's quarterback shuff...le. With Thomas Castellanos heading to Florida State, AJ Black weighs in on the Eagles' future. Meanwhile, the creation of a CEO position for college sports enforcement is stirring debate. Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs discuss the implications for the NCAA and the need for a collective bargaining agreement. Plus, the ACC's record revenue distribution has Clemson and Florida State eyeing the SEC and Big Ten's bigger payouts.Join Alex Donno, Kenton Gibbs, and AJ Black as they break down these game-changing developments. Don't miss out on the insider analysis and expert opinions that could redefine the ACC landscape. Listen now for a deep dive into the future of college football! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Spring football is over, and we all have hope in front of us, and everyone's undefeated. This is the time of year where lies will be told. What are the biggest ACC overreactions? You're talking ball with the ACC squad, sponsored by game time. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami, and from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, bringing you. boops, 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.
Starting point is 00:00:41 Squad up, you're part of the ACC squad. Shout out to the everydayers, and thank you so much for making the ACC squad your first listen. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Right now, new customers can get $200. and bonus bets when your first $5
Starting point is 00:01:02 bet wins. And on this ACC squad, we'll talk about a record, $45 million average to each school distributed by the ACC 2020, 23, 2024 academic year. What it means and why, it's a bit of a mirage. Speaking of
Starting point is 00:01:20 mirages, so college sports is going to appoint a CEO after the House versus NCAA settlement, which will supposedly solve all of the problems in college athletics. We're not buying it. Let's talk about overreactions.
Starting point is 00:01:36 Now, inspired by CBSSports.com put out an overreaction for every ACC football program after spring ball. Some of them are kind of weak. But I thought the Boston college one was interesting. So we're going to let AJ Black from Lockdown Boston College. By the way, we also have Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. And I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Keynes. But so AJ, the overreaction for Boston College, and I'd love to hear you speak on this, the Eagles are better off without quarterback Thomas Costellanos to transferred to Florida State.
Starting point is 00:02:12 Agree or disagree? I agree because it's, and I've, I've moved past the what ended, the end of last season, because it was, it was a mess for him. It was just like the way it ended with Boston College. I just think in terms of for him and for Boston College, a fresh start is best. He gets to go play for Gus Melzon, a offense that is much more tailored to what his skill set is. I think he could be much more successful as long as he stays healthy. And for Boston College, you know, you got Bill O'Brien, you've got this offense.
Starting point is 00:02:47 It's much more pro-style that doesn't do a lot of what he does, what Thomas Castellanos did. It was kind of, you know, jamming a round paid through a. square hole. You know, I think you have Grayson James or Dylan Lonigan, the transfer from Alabama. One of those two, and I honestly at this point couldn't even tell you who's going to start even watching practice. I thought both look pretty good. I think they're going to be a better fit for what Bill O'Brien wants to do, which is to really manage and put together an offense that can throw the ball. So I think, you know, without Thomas Castellanos, and I know he was explosive. I know he made big plays in 2023. I mean, even to start 2024,
Starting point is 00:03:26 that game against the Seminoles, which I'm sure opened their eyes to, you know, for the second straight year, what he can do. I think BC just they needed someone different to do what they needed to do. Well, in that case, that sounds like, like you said, both parties are better, but I want to, in particular, look at Thomas Caslamos is better without Bill O'Brien. I have said this a million times, and I'm going to keep saying it here today, even to AJ's face because AJ knows I love him and I'd never throw a rock and hide my hand. What type of terrible coach is forcing a square peg through a round hole? We saw Nick Sabin adapt what his system was from when he had Brody Proil up through when he had two and tug of my lower. All of a sudden, those offenses look
Starting point is 00:04:18 unrecognizable. And why? Because a coach who wins national change. championships and does good things says, well, wait a minute. My talent ain't for this. My talent can't do this, which is why I've always had doubts about Bill O'Brien as a coach. And I'll never stop having those doubts until he proved me wrong. And by proved me wrong, I mean, I need a nine-win season, 10-win season from, because again, I just don't believe in them at all. Is it? Okay, hold that a second.
Starting point is 00:04:45 So I have to defend Bill here. Thomas Castellanos wasn't supposed to start at all last year. He was supposed to be benched. He was going to be benched at the end of summer camp, and Grace and James got hurt. He did something with his chest, and he didn't play again until that Syracuse game. So, you know, I agree with you. You probably should have, what Jeff Hathley did the year before was much more tailored to what Thomas Gastelanos could do. You then tried, they really, really wanted to make him a pocket quarterback, and it was not going to work.
Starting point is 00:05:19 It just wasn't going to work. And so, yeah, you know, it goes back to what you said. I get that a little bit. But I think Bill is that kind of coach where he's just going to get his type of guy. And whether you agree with him or not, Kenton, that's what he does. And as you said, maybe it's going to hold them back. But, you know, it's a year two. We'll have to wait to see what they do.
Starting point is 00:05:41 Well, and guys, I'm super intrigued to see how Costalanos does at Florida State. Because AJ Black, you mentioned the Gus Malzon factor. I mean, that's who he started his career with at UCF. Malzano, with his head coach at the time. It's going to be an offense that's more friendly to his attributes. But then at the same time, for what it's worth, I heard some, you know, kind of negative reporting coming out of Florida State and spring in terms of how Costalanos was doing. But even that in itself is difficult because Florida State had their spring football so locked down. Like they didn't want anybody to see what was going on down there in Tallahasse or up there from where I sit.
Starting point is 00:06:20 in Tallahassee maybe down there for you guys. It's hard to know what's real and what's BS coming out of that. But yeah, I mean, for a Florida state team that is looking to, you know, they went two and ten last year, which seemed like a complete anomaly. And now their fan duel over under is seven and a half wins for this year. So they're expecting, you know, at least a five to six game improvement in wins this year to see how Costalanos fits there. I'm super intrigued to see it. starting the season off against Bama that's going to be sorry you're getting to go ahead.
Starting point is 00:06:53 Oh, no, no, no, no, about this. Go ahead. No, I was just saying starting the season off against Alabama, that's going to be, that's going to be a test in itself. And can you get out of that game? Like, we saw what Florida State's offensive line look like last year. Obviously, they built, rebuilt, Norville rebuilt it all. And so the hope is that that's going to be much better. And if the offensive line's good, Castellanos can cook, you're playing Bama, though.
Starting point is 00:07:17 Are they going to be able, is he going to be able to, is he going to be able to run that offense that start that beginning game you know that's going to be a real real big test for him i absolutely agree a thousand percent and that's that to me is why i look at this and i'm like i wish that i could say this year will be indicative of who thomas costalanos is because i'm a big thomas costalanos believer i think that that guy is fantastic i think that he's going to be really good but you're still looking at a situation where florida state has rebuilt not just our offensive line everything receiver core rebuilt tight Room Rebuilt, running back.
Starting point is 00:07:50 There is not a single position where you're seeing a very high amount of continuity from last year to this year. And you're looking at a new coordinator. So you're looking at all these new parts. And we're saying, hey, figure it out in one spring. Jell it together in one spring, which is never the ideal situation for a quarterback. Yep. Yeah, so going on to their overreaction on Miami, you know, Kenton and I had a little fun with this
Starting point is 00:08:14 last week on Locked on ACC. You're not exactly going out of. on a limb here when they say no ACC team will be better in the trenches. Now, I mean, obviously, I expect Clemson to have really good trench play. Louisville's offensive line is really good. But when you're talking about a Mario Cristobal coach team, possibly having really good offensive line play, I mean, is that an overreaction? To me, that's a reaction at best.
Starting point is 00:08:43 Yeah, I mean, I look at Clemson. I mean, that is, they're going to be the best. I mean, like right on paper, you look at what Clemson has and that defensive line is going to be special. Like, they have so much there in the offensive line. I mean, this is the year it feels like Dobbo's got it clicking. And so for me, like I look at the trenches as a piece of what makes a really good team, right? And Clemson has it. Like, Clemson has the, I think to me, they're the best in the ACC for that.
Starting point is 00:09:13 I mean, if I'm talking about Clemson and Miami, they're close. They're really close. but I would say the difference is I think Clemson has more depth on the defensive line that that kind of separates them from Miami because if we're talking about defensive line top in Ruben Bain, Ruben Hurricane Bain can keep up with anybody. He can't, right? Him and Parker, that's a watch. But then you say, okay, who do we have behind you?
Starting point is 00:09:35 And if he's hurt again or, you know, whatever the case of the beat, knock on wood, because I hope he has a wonderful, successful, healthy season. But if you're saying, hey, after the first guys stop playing because, you know, all of us no ball, I play defensive line, you can only get. those guys for 50 snaps a game, absolute tops. So what happens for the rest of those snaps? That's where I would believe an advantage would come in for Clemson defensively. Offensively, though, I do think that Miami is right there neck and neck with them.
Starting point is 00:10:02 I would say slight edge to Clemson because of depth defensive line-wise. But again, fantastic trench play on either one of these teams. I don't think that either one of these teams would be looking up having a Florida state situation from last year. you know someone who had the a real overreaction on miami was danny cannell on the cover three podcast we'll talk about that plus we've got to talk about college sports's new plan on enforcement you want to keep it locked right here i'm alex dono from locked on kane's we got kenton gibbs from locked on wolf pack a j black from locked on boston college we're not done yet on this brand new episode of the squad you want to keep it locked my friends stanley cup playoffs going on, NBA playoffs going on, and it's getting better and better as we get closer to the championship round. Every night in the NBA delivers highlight worthy performances, major momentum shifts and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player,
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Starting point is 00:12:00 I host Locked on Cains. So, you know, Kenton, when we talk about overreactions and bold predictions, Danny Connell, who is my sworn enemy, he actually offered to buy me a mask to hide my face if his prediction comes true that Miami is going to go two and three in their first five games, which would mean they would have to lose to all of Notre Dame at home, which could happen. Miami could lose that game. Florida at home, which I guess could happen. And Florida State on the road, which I think Miami wins that game. So he's got Miami starting two and three on the year and finishing five and seven. Now, I think Miami's floor is probably six or
Starting point is 00:12:43 seven wins. If they're winning five games this coming season, heads are going to roll. All the entire staff would probably be fired after that. I think Christabal would need to be fired too. Five wins at Miami. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You cannot have it. And even beyond that, this is a year where something catastrophic would have to go wrong for them to only have migrants.
Starting point is 00:13:06 You look at their schedule. After that first five games or so, it's not exactly a murderous role. It's not exactly a schedule. I'm looking at saying, this is unmanageable. You can't do nothing with these. these teams. The reality for Miami, I am a guy that does not believe in Carson Bank. I don't believe that Miami will be in contention for an ACC Championship. But to say that you believe that this team is a five-win team, brother, I think there's a very wide margin between 10 wins last year,
Starting point is 00:13:38 where a couple of bad players away from being in the ACC championship and a five-win team this year absolutely not. Yeah. You look at, Kenton, you brought up a good point. You look at their schedule. Once you get past Florida, you have Louisville and SMU, those are going to be tough games too. But you end the season with four straight games against Syracuse.
Starting point is 00:14:00 I don't buy in. I'm not buying on Syracuse at all this year. NC State, Virginia Tech, and Pitt. That's four games that the hurricane should be big favorites in. And you've gone out. you've got a transfer portal class that's one of the best in the country. You have one of the best, you know, depending on what Kenton's saying, like, Carson Beck is supposed to be one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, whether he is or not,
Starting point is 00:14:28 it remains to be seen. But, yeah, but, man, that would be an absolute catastrophe if Mario Crystal Ball cannot win more than five games. Like, this team should be playoff caliber. They should be ACC championship caliber on paper. when you're looking at it. And if they don't hit that, that's going to be a gigantic disappointment. I mean, I mean,
Starting point is 00:14:49 I would say 9-10 wins should be more what they're, what I'm assuming what the goal is going to be for the hurricanes. That when you spend that kind of money to bring Carson back in here, you've got to be able to win those kind of games. And you obviously brought a lot of talent around them too. By the way, they can't get the mighty Stanford card. Yeah. Oh, go ahead.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Go ahead. Go ahead. I was going to say that the Kenton gives Carson Beck hate for as much as I'm a Miami guy. The primary reason why I want Carson Beck to play well this year is so I can text Kenton during every Miami game. Because if the opposite happens, if Beck struggles this year, I'm going to be getting those texts from KG. Kenton, I told you so.
Starting point is 00:15:31 You guys bought a lemon. Dono is a liar. He would not be receiving a text week. He would receive FaceTime calls mid-game. Say, what was that three? Alex Aquaminious Donald. What was that read? Explain it to me like I'm in fifth grade.
Starting point is 00:15:46 I'm not a text. But no, I will say this. I will say this. You talk about the schedule and what's tough and what's not and all that good stuff. I look at these games and I see five that I would say these are like can't lose games. You can't lose to Bethune.
Starting point is 00:16:02 You can't lose to South Florida. Arguably you can't lose to Florida State right now, but I'll even give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. You cannot lose to St. Stanford. And Syracuse, by that time, because of the way their schedule is set up, because of how many playoffs teams they have to play, that team will be beaten, battered, and bewildered by that point. So you're looking at, what did I just say? Four or five games right there where you're like, hey, I can't lose those. And Virginia Tech and Pitt, I highly doubt both of those teams are good
Starting point is 00:16:31 and competitive at the end of the year as well. So you're absolutely looking at a bunch of games that you can't lose. And I'm being very generous to my office. I'm a modernity state because while I believe that that offense is going to light it up and CJ Bailey in year two is going to be fantastic, Hollywood Smothers in Year 2 is going to be fantastic. That defense, you know, we may hope they're opportunistic, as the analysts say, about bad defenses that get turnovers every now and then. But, you know, it's a very, very light schedule down the stretch. If they can stick together as a team and kind of withstand that early, been in the schedule. I think that'll be just fine. Now, moving in, guys, to the big picture
Starting point is 00:17:14 in college sports, this was an underreported part of the House versus NCAA settlement. I'm just starting to kind of catch wind of this this week. ESPN wrote a big article about it. Now, we're all, we're expecting the House settlement to pass. I know they've been kind of haggling with the judge over terms like the scholarship limits, but the House settlement is going to pass. And, Guys, shortly after it passes, they, they being the Power 4 conferences are going to collaborate on making this hire. They're going to hire a CEO of college sports. Now, this is going to bring in a historic change because for the last how many decades, the NCAA has been in charge of enforcing their own rules to mixed results. Like I remember when the NCAA used to have teeth, and that's not necessarily a positive thing,
Starting point is 00:18:09 because sometimes the punishments they would dole out or, I mean, I'm a Miami guy, so I have to complain. Sometimes the punishments they doled out in the past would be ridiculous. But, you know, for the past close to a decade, the NCAA has had no teeth because every time they've tried to pass any sort of discipline, they get sued into oblivion because all the state laws are different and antitrust violations come up. So the NCAA after the House settlement, they will no longer be in charge of enforcing rules. They're going to look at things like eligibility and more administrative stuff. So you're going to have a college sports CEO, which they say is going to be someone from outside sports that sports fans are not necessarily familiar with, that's going to have enforcement power. This is part of the ESPN article.
Starting point is 00:18:56 While sources caution the documents that have been circulated are still in draft stage, sources say the draft includes language that the CEO will make, quote, final factual findings and determinations on violations of rules. The CEO will also impose such fines, penalties, or other sanctions as appropriate. Now, they imply that the schools will have no choice but to accept these penalties, saying that they will have to accept these rulings as final, with the exception being if a school, or athlete wants to challenge the discipline, they'd be required per sources to engage in the arbitration process. Per sources, when cases do end up in arbitration, under the procedures that govern arbitration, subpoena power is a potential option via the discovery process, an authority that was not available during NCAA investigation. So, guys, the question in my mind is, this all sounds, I guess, you know, straightforward, but is the CEO going to have
Starting point is 00:19:55 the same obstacles that the NCAA had in enforcing their rules. In fact, they go on to say that congressional oversight would still be needed to help create a legal framework in a new system. So, I mean, AJ, do you want to buy the first round on this one? Do you think this is really going to change? Or is the CEO going to have the same problems enforcing rules that the NCAA is going to have? I feel like we're just kind of like circle in the wagons here. You know, like, I mean, like this seems like it's the same thing.
Starting point is 00:20:25 thing over and over again. You know, we're going to put in a CEO. And then, you know, we'll have a few rulings and then someone's going to get upset and we're going to have a lawsuit. And then the, you know, all of this is going to get blown up again or there's going to be a team or a conference that gets upset by something that happens that gets ruled against them. Then they're going to, then we're going to get to that point where we keep talking about,
Starting point is 00:20:48 where they're going to break away from the NCAA, have this whole new thing. And then all of this is going to be moved. It sounds great on paper. you need some sort of like obviously there needs to be some sort of they've got to put their ducks more in a row than where it is right now this is why we're in the situation that we're in right now i just i'm skeptical of all this stuff like the house settlement all this all these things that are coming up the salary cap that they keep talking about i don't know i feel like we're in a new age and it's not a bad thing for some of it because the the athletes deserve to have the rights that they're getting now I just feel like the new age also brings that we're going to be having more lawsuits that are just going to challenge all this stuff. And we're just going to keep going to keep repeating itself. This is why Donald and I have been screaming for the longest. There needs to be a CBA.
Starting point is 00:21:44 There needs to be unionization. There needs to be everybody sit down at a table and let's agree the terms here. The NIL rabbit is out of the box. okay this is something that we've opened peddores box i don't think we'll ever be able to close that fully i don't think we'll ever i think with rev sharing there may be a cap on like hey doesn't matter how much revenue you get only so much can go to players but nil is individual citizens and companies deciding how much they're going to pay nobody who can control that if tomorrow uh we all got a call from david locke saying hey you all shows are so great we're going to
Starting point is 00:22:22 make sure all of you start making $100,000 per month. Who could come in and say that's not the case? They're not providing that level of value to you. That's just what it is. You can't really do anything about that. But everything else in between the legislation and the rulings and the enforcement of the rules, that can be bought in in a meaningful way where it's like, hey, these are the hard and fast rules. Hey, you can provide this, this and that in the third. You cannot provide this as the institution. Now it's just like the tempering thing that Donald and I've talked about a lot. There are certain back channels that you'll always hear about where it's like you can't provide things that I want to keep our clean ratings. So let's say the Patino package to a player. You can't
Starting point is 00:23:07 provide that to a player or or anybody coming to campus. There will be some shady third party business that like loosely connected. It's like oh yeah, come on now. We'll show you the greatest time you ever had 16 year old young man that we want bad. lead to come here? Like that's, certain things are unavoidable. But again, the things that are avoidable could be avoided by saying, hey, we need to sit out, we need a collective bargaining agreement,
Starting point is 00:23:31 we need unionization. We need to have very clear parameters for what is and is not legal. Yeah, well, a couple of things I'm thinking about, and I'm just thinking out loud here. Like on the one hand, I wonder since, you know, a lot of times the NCAA, you felt
Starting point is 00:23:47 like they were working against the universities in this, like, weird antagonistic way. The fact that it's going to be the power four conferences who appoint the CEO, it'll maybe feels like this person will be kind of a puppet that maybe, you know, runs it in a more logical way that's not like working against the university. So that that's more of a positive thought that I have, but more of a negative thought that I have. And, you know, we all cover ACC schools and we know that the ACC doesn't exactly get treated fairly these days. Well, we have these college football playoff talks and the ACC is probably
Starting point is 00:24:25 going to get two auto bids and the SEC and the SEC and the Big Ten get four auto bids apiece. Now, I'm wondering when this CEO is appointed, you know, yeah, the power four conferences will have input, but you can't tell me that the SEC and the Big Ten won't have more input in picking this CEO. And maybe the CEO will be more favorable to them than they are to the Big 12 in the ACC. see so that is a concern that I have you know if like you know my speaking purely hypothetically here if Miami and Wisconsin have a have a tampering dispute maybe the CEO might be more likely to look towards the big it's purely hypothetical the CEO might look more towards the big 10 school than the ACC school exactly even if a player were to do something like circumvent the
Starting point is 00:25:11 portal entirely and just like unenroll from Wisconsin hypothetically if we're all hypothetical and just enroll in Miami, what will we do at this point? But that is a legitimate concern. I think that we all come in with our biases for different things and all like this stuff. No matter who you are, you're going to have a bias because even we're speaking as ACC guys. Did y'all know there's a locked on sunbelt? That guy's probably like, well, if the power four pick them, what is he going to do to the sun? What is he going to, you know? So regardless of how you cut it, how you slice it. There's going to be an argument for bias here. I think that the goal should be to get somebody who is as objective playing it as Donald Middle, playing it as, I don't have a
Starting point is 00:25:54 vested interest in anybody as possible, as opposed to somebody who's coming in, like a, let's say, you know, many people float around Nick Sabin being the CEO of this thing. And it's like, for obvious reasons, that would be, exactly, that would just not be good. We love him and Miss Terry on TV. there's reasons that folks like him and none of our old coaches should be it. We shouldn't see, you know, a Mark Rick or Adazio or Matt Brown. None of those guys should be doing it. By the way, I love me some Adazio. But anyway, none of those guys should be the CEO even.
Starting point is 00:26:31 It should be somebody who, again, is refined in the legal side of things to talk to legalese as opposed to somebody who is very in-depth and entrenched in the sports side. Coming up next, the ACC for the academic year 2324 distributed a record amount of revenue to their member institutions. And that number is probably going to be even higher for the next fiscal year. What does it mean? How good is it? Is it a mirage? You want to keep it locked right here.
Starting point is 00:27:03 We're not done yet on the ACC squad. So I, AJ, I was pleasantly surprised when that 45. average 45, a few schools earned even more than 45 million, average of 45 distributed to the 14 long-term members of the ACC, which was only about 8 million less than what the SEC schools earned for that fiscal year. So maybe that gap, at least, you know, recently was not as wide as people thought. I think the gap is going to widen year after year, but the ACC, I think, closer than people thought. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's it, what the third in the power power conferences. So that's a positive. But you, I mean, let's be real. You know that Clemson, Florida State, they're looking at
Starting point is 00:27:57 that going, hey, it's still $10 million less than what we, you know, than the big 10 in the SEC you're making. So I look at that and I say, you know what? They've got a good point. And I think this again goes back to the health of the conference. I also wonder how much more they'd make each, each team, if we'd have to have all those legal costs because I heard that was also a big expense as well. We could have settled a whole bunch of lawsuits made by a certain couple teams. So that was also a piece too, but I'm just, I'm just busting here. So, you know, it's good. It's good to see that it's improving.
Starting point is 00:28:35 I know that's a big thing with Jim Phillips, like to continue to find, you know, he's finding those pennies in the couch. That feels like what he's doing for every little new thing that he has is like, There's a couple, you know, you find a couple quarters here, a couple quarters there. It's still not making, the gap is still going to just be bigger and bigger every year. And we know it's coming. And we're just waiting for that title wave to hit. And right now it's, it's a small little wave, but it's going to get bigger and bigger.
Starting point is 00:29:01 But Donald, can we do the math on this real quick? How much are the Big Ten and SEC paying out this year? It's 53 for Big Ten, I think. It was 53, I think, for the SEC. and then even higher for the Big Ten, but they're both like, so the SEC, they're just in the infancy of their new TV deal, so the money is going to keep going up. They also brought in, you know, a couple new teams last year, Oklahoma and Texas, but yeah. Now, now, with that being said, everybody makes 45, right?
Starting point is 00:29:34 That's the average, right? That's just about the average. This is how much everybody's getting. How much are Clemson, how much is Clemson set to make in this year with 45, plus success initiative plus ratings initiative you are not like while the gap may be widening and while it may be so wide at a point that you're like not necessarily ahead of the big 10 and SEC right now they objectively are a team like Clemson did the deal they did their part of the thing and won the original success initiative was created to say we will give you the right to earn more
Starting point is 00:30:13 and then somebody went and shot a tour date. Somebody wouldn't put up a James Hard playoff performance, a 2-10 on us. We can't help that. We can't help that. Clemson, who did their part, went to the playoff, won the ACC, did all the things. They made money.
Starting point is 00:30:31 SMU, who was not even supposed to make anything. As a part of a success initiative, don't they get paid or is it automatic zero, even if they go to a conference championship? Ooh, that's a good, I don't know. That's a great question. I feel like they should for the initiative. I know they're technically making zero revenue,
Starting point is 00:30:47 but they should get something for the initiative. But you get what I'm saying here. If you show up and you win, you be the teams, you're supposed to be, you be the heavy hitter, you're supposed to be, you would be right there with them
Starting point is 00:31:02 or ahead right now. Because Clemson is. The money says they're ahead right. Or at least even with those teams. Florida State, you're not there because you didn't win. you didn't win. And you could make the argument of long term is,
Starting point is 00:31:17 you know, we need to do things and that's different, which is fine. But again, I'm saying if we're looking at the short term and immediate, the top dogs in the ACC are not being hurt in the way that they're purporting themselves to be where it's like, oh, God, how do we keep up with everybody else? They've got all this money and we're so poor and lowly. Indiana went to the playoff after one year with mostly James Madison transfers.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Okay. If you got ballplayers and you got a good coach, you can make it happen. But for whatever reason, we keep this idea that you need a $20 million roster, you need a lazy river in your facility, you need a barbershop and 12 different Xbox in your facility, which we've seen from Oregon, it doesn't win national championships. We'll leave it on that note. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes.
Starting point is 00:32:12 We got A.J. Black from Lockdown Boston College. College. Always a good time on the squad. Even with a slim roster, we still have a good time on the squad. And make sure for your next listen, you check out the portal show. Brian Smith has the latest rumors, portal entries, NIL rumors, recruiting, and signings. Be the most informed fan on the rapid changes to the college football landscape. Find the portal on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. For AJ and Kenton, I am Donna. We'll talk to you guys next time on another episode of Locked on ACC on the squad. right here on the awesome lockdown podcast network your team every day

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