Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - BETRAYAL: NC State's Will Wade SHOCKS Fans With Potential LSU Exit—Fallout ROCKS Wolfpack Nation

Episode Date: March 25, 2026

NC State faces a shocking coaching crisis as LSU targets Will Wade, igniting turmoil in ACC basketball. Is this a turning point in NCAA power dynamics—where even a program’s boldest moves fall short against wealthy rivals? Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs break down how NC State’s aggressive bid for Wade suddenly unravels, with LSU poised to pay for multiple high-profile coaches. UNC’s search for Hubert Davis’s replacement heats up, with Billy Donovan emerging as a top candidate—could he restore the Tar Heels as a national powerhouse? Miami stands alone among ACC squads in college football’s top 10 roster rankings, sparking debate on the importance of talent vs. experience in the trenches. Kenton Gibbs spotlights SMU’s rise, Kevin Jennings’ impact, and PJ Williams’ elite play, while projecting big implications for Florida State, Clemson, and NC State. The hosts explore the future of recruiting, NIL-driven transfers, and whether ACC programs can stay competitive in this new era. Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub     Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Mazda Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Highlights make the reel. But the work behind them makes it count.
The all-new Mazda CX-5. More to move every side of you. Coast Right now, Coast Pay is offering our listeners up to $2,000 credit when you get started at https://coastpay.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Term Apply. The Coast Visa®️ Commercial Credit Card is issued by Celtic Bank. All card accounts are subject to credit approval. TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. SupplyHouse Visit https://SupplyHouse.com/tm to learn more about becoming a Trade Master. Use promo code S-H Five College for 5% off your first order at https://supplyhouse.com.  SupplyHouse. Real people. Real service.  Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast   Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. During the tournament FanDuel is offering$300 back in Bonus Bets every day for ten days. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started — Play Your Game.   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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Imagine if I told you Hubert Davis was fired, but that's not the biggest coaching story in the triangle right now. The Carousel moves on. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Alex Dono from Locked on Cains. He is Kenton Gibbs from Locked on Wolfpack, and I predict Kenton's going to have some things to say today. We will talk some football on this episode because our guy, Smitty, Brian Smith, has made his top 10 college football rosters list.

Miami makes the cut. Does anyone else from the ACC make the cut? Yeah, we'll talk about North Carolina firing Hubert Davis and what's next because the odds are now popping up for their next head coach. But the seismic story today, and this is all surrounding Kenton Gibbs, the seismic story in ACC basketball coaching is smoke that's, started to intensify on Tuesday night into today into Wednesday morning that LSU is looking to hire and I guess you would say rehire because he was there up until a few years ago.

NC State basketball coach Will Wade. LSU wants to make a sensational swoop and steal Will Wade back to win to manage their program. Kenton, is there real smoke behind this? What's the talk been in Raleigh? Smoke. There's smoke. There's stack. There's soot.

There's all the things behind this one. Because this is a situation unlike anything I've ever seen in college athletics, Donald. This is unprecedented. And I'm going to get on my phone here to read off some quotes, direct quotes, from sources inside the university that are very high ranking. And this is why, you know, some people, say, well, Kenyon, on Locked on Wolfpack, you said that there was nothing to worry about here. From the university side, there was nothing, and now there's a whole lot of something to be

worried about. So basically, what has happened here is Will Wade, LSU, that, whatever is going on there, LSU hired the athletic director from McNeese State, who hired Will Wade there. And there's a push to get Will Wade back at LSU. Now, as I was told from this source, and I quote, we asked Will to address the rumors publicly, and he did. Shortly following that, we had what we thought was a complete conversation about what he needs for year two. So we're all blindsided here. So there are, you know, many people giving out many different timelines about when he and Boo Corrigan, the athletic director. at NC State last spoke.

Some people are saying it was eight days ago. Some people saying it was five days ago. The last source I reached out through that was high level that told me there's nothing to worry about here was five days ago. So I'm inclined to believe that it was five days ago as opposed to the eight. But I was told everything was good and then nothing's good. And today, those same sources from multiple sources I've heard that there's a meeting today with Will Wade regarding his status as the coach at NC State and regarding, you know,

matching an offer or exceeding an offer from LSU. And I'm just going to say this. People always wonder why, on Lockedong Wolfpack, why I don't, you know, denigrate guys, talk about them negatively, call them everything but a child of God when they leave NC State. Why I didn't do that for Kevin Concepcion, why I didn't do that for Hollywood smothers,

why I didn't do that for Noah Rogers, Terrell Anderson, none of the guys, MJ Morris, you name. Stuff like this is why. Stuff like this is why. this man and and this is this is me being as honest as I can be donno because you know me I'm a straight shooter if I feel away I'm a tell you I may censor it I may tone down the intensity of it but I'm always going to tell you how I feel and the way I and the way I see this how do you tell the university and this is from every source from the university side people who have

nothing to gain. If anything, the university would be incentivized to lie and say, we knew about this a while ago and we were already ahead of this and starting our coaching sector. Multiple resources or multiple sources from the university, from the booster side of things, every single side of this, and I'm not going to lie and say I have people inside of Wade's camp, I don't. So I'm not going to lie and tell you, hey, I know and we'll wait now and we're great friends and we talk every weekend. But how do you tell a young man, you're a bad person for doing what's best for you. When this coach literally sat here in his boss's office and donor meetings and everything,

he said, we're going to win and we're going to win being here. You recreated pictures of a man who is known, who is synonymous. Jim Valvano is synonymous with NC State basketball. Point of way, period. If somebody was to say head coach in NC State, most iconic, who do you go with? nobody's going to say, oh, well, I'm thinking Sloan. Oh, I'm thinking Abe. Nobody's going to say that.

Jimmy V. And so, you know, to have that happen and then be potentially out the door and then to have the university trying to match after year one, after the conversation was already had, and there was no discussion of, hey, I got another offer on the table, y'all need to match it. Until very recently, the most recent, that conversation could have possibly been had according to every source that I've talked to from a university to the boost and et cetera is at longest eight days ago, eight days ago.

This situation has become a mess at a high level, and this is why I will never judge a player for doing what's best for him, because these coaches, for as long as I can remember, have been doing what's best for them. And even in the NIL world, where we talked about Washington's quarterback because he said, oh, I'm running it back and then he said he was leaving. How was this not worse? How was this not the exact same thing? You know, so it's a...

I'm just going to say personally, I'm with you on not judging players because usually people only know the tip of the iceberg of why a player leaves to find a better situation, a better situation for them, right? So I'm with you on not judging players, but I will say this. if people are going to continue judging players for doing that, to your point, I want them to keep that same energy for coaches. I don't want people to treat players differently when they move, when you're seeing what Wade is reportedly about to do. And also, Kenton, why is it that LSU always seems to be the common denominator in these controversial coaching moves? I mean, it's like they had the Lane Kiffin thing happen a couple months ago.

Now it's like they're telling themselves, hold my beer, we're going to do it again. with Will Wade. It always seems to be LSU lately at the center of these controversies. And the worst part about it, the worst part about this whole thing is it's one of the greatest, most outlandish, outsized examples of why people are not rooting or caring about college sports anymore at a high level.

Because to say it's the haves and the have-nots is on a whole other level now, right? LSU is signing up for paying, four coaches in the two most expensive sports. You're paying Brian Kelly. You're paying Lane Kiffin. You're going to have to pay McMahon. You're going to be paying Will Wade. And you're telling me that some schools have the money to pay for four of the most expensive coaches in all of college sports while other schools are stuck.

And mind you, other schools in the power four, we're not talking about two lane. We're not talking about App State. We're not talking about Troy. We're not talking about, you know, a San Jose State. We're talking about a power for school that is hearing. Hey, man, you don't got it because this school has enough money to pay four coaches at once. Four. It's, it is, it is to a point of absurdity where, you know, guys like you and me, Donnell,

and a lot of people watching this. We're all sports maniacs, and we're going to watch regardless. We're going to do that regardless because that's who we are, right? And then you got some of those degenerates that are going to do it for the bet nods, right? You're going, you know, and some people like watching the games they bet on. I think you're the sickest of the sickles, people who do that. I really do because I put a couple of beds on a couple games when I was told like, hey, we're going to give you free money to bet.

I did that like one time and I was all right, that's it for me. But, you know, you have people who root for their alma mater and all that good stuff. but how do you expect people to continue with this as the current model of college sports? How do you expect that to continue? How do you expect boosters to continue to give when it's like, hey, one year and that's it? You can see players go at any time, you can see coaches going anytime. And mind you, NC State, while it's not a huge national brand, is not exactly, you know, something to just scoff at.

If you were to look at their finances against all of the NCAA tournament field, they'd be in probably the upper half, probably, or somewhere in the middle, somewhere in a median third if you were to break it down that way. This is, you know, it's unfortunate. And the biggest thing that I haven't said yet that I want to make clear, normally I tell people all the time, I'm a route for you to have success wherever you go. Again, I did that for all the players for MJ Morris, Hollywood Brown,

you know, Noah Rogers, Terrell Anderson, all the guys have transferred out of NC State, Lending Cooper, all of them. I said, I wish you success wherever you go. This is the one time where it's like, I can't in good consciousness say, I wish you success after, because had he said,

hey, I got to do what's best for me and my family. I'm not sure if there'll be a year two and Robbie. It sucks, but I would be like, you know what? Hey, that's a man's man. He'll say what it is, what it ain't what it could be and what it can't, as opposed to allegedly shedding, down rumors after being instructed to do so and saying, hey, I'm going to be here back for

year two, to his boss, to the boosters, to the fans, and then going back door and I might be here for year two. Ain't no such thing as a guarantee. You know, I got to put me first, Lucius. That's crazy. That's legitimately like, why are we doing this? So ultimately, if this is a situation that happens, this is a bad look all the way around. This is a bad look for NC State. This is a bad look for Will Wade. This is a bad look for LSU. But ultimately, this would be a backbreaking moment,

one of the bigger dominoes to fall that I think would lead to the destruction of the NCAA because it's clear tampering. It's clear. You can't have a situation where it's like, oh, the details are already done. If I was NC State's admin, the first thing I would do once you leave, hey let's get a FOIA request on all the everybody in that legislative department anything related to will wait because i need to know if they were tempering beforehand hey you can have the coach but you're going to pay the full buyout for before when you started talking to it you're not going to pay a buyout based on oh when this is and if if the comeback is what you start talking to it while he was at mcnees sure we'll pay the buyout for mcnees sure pay it take it out take it out of that payment from lSU we'll pay you out and then go from there but this is this is just a sad, sad day for college sports in general. Awful. Yeah, I really feel for you.

But, you know, I would assume if this does happen to NC State, and listen, maybe you talk about they're having a Hail Mary meeting here on Wednesday, you know, maybe they can diffuse the situation, but assuming they can't, I feel pretty confident from where I sit, that for NC State to find his replacement, they will be as aggressive as they can possibly be. because, you know, they were aggressive to go land will wait in the first place because he, you know, he had to do his time after the little scandal at LSU.

He worked his way back up at McNeese, hot name in the coaching field. So they went out there, cut the check that was necessary. They're going to do that again, right? Like, NC State is going to go big or go home for his replacement. This puts us in scary territory, Donnell, because this was NC State's big swing. You said NC State's going to be aggressive and found the next coach because they were aggressive and finding this one. This is the problem.

If NC State was conservative and said, hey, we're going to get whoever we think is a good fit and whoever likes us and we like them back and we'll go from there. I could understand more of this and this wouldn't be as like as ridiculous of a situation. But this is NC State's big swing. So I want you to think about a world, Dono, where even amongst the power four, even amongst the power four, a team that's in the middle of the pack just about in power four territory can take their biggest swing. and throw everything at it that they got. And then one of the upper tier, one of the richer teams of the Power 4 could say, actually we got so much money,

we could pay to fire our current coach and beat out your biggest swing. So Dono, if you really think about the ramifications of this, not just for NC State, not just for the ACC, but for all of college sports, you're looking at the top, you know, you're looking at a situation where the Power 4 is the top of the top.

And you've got a school that's in the middle of that pack that's taking their big swing that's given everything they got to it. And then one of the richer schools comes along and says, actually, we can afford to pay a former coach one of the higher salaries and telling him to not be here anymore. And we can beat out your big swing. That is a very scary place for college sports to be here. Great breakdown.

And NC State might be about to join North Carolina among ACC schools with coaching vacancy. So how is UNC going to replace Hubert Davis? We'll also talk about top 10 football rosters. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. I'm Clea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's Basketball. And this is Mazda's Women's Basketball Snapshot,

celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. All four number one seeds, Yukon, UCLA, Texas, and South Carolina have completely dominated the opening rounds of the NCAA. tournament. Yukon rolled with a 98 to 45 victory over Syracuse behind AZ Fudd, who had a 34-point explosion, while South Carolina has been led by Joyce Edwards coming up a 23-point game. UCLA leaned on Lauren Vats with a 35-point performance in an 87-68 win over Oklahoma State, and Texas advanced comfortably with a 40-point show from Madison Booker. And now we're headed to the Sweet 16.

These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on. The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time. Mazda puts the same drive into every detail. Wins define the moment, putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. The tournament is in full swing and it's one of the best times of the year. Brackets, buzzer beaters, upsets, it's nonstop action from tip to final cutdown. And right now, Fanduil is giving new customers a way to stay in the action all tournament long.

Here's the best part. You get up to $300 back at bonus bets every day for 10 days. That means 10 chances to stay involved throughout the entire tournament. You can mix it up however you want, game picks, futures, even same game parlies for bigger potential payouts. It's perfect for the tournament because every day there's something new, different matchups, new storylines, more ways to get involved as the bracket unfolds. So visit Fandual.com to sign up today. That's Fandual.com to get into the action.

Speaking of getting into the action, have you joined the Everydayer Club yet? Folks, you can get a free month of the Everydayer Club by using our code March. So if you want exclusive ad-free episodes of our shows, exclusive Discord, chat access with our hosts, exclusive content, you want to go to locked on acc.com or locked on wolfpack.com, locked on haines.com. Use our code March to get a free month of the everydayer club today. Thank you for locked on ACC your first listen. All right. So, you know, I would imagine whatever happens with this Will Wade situation.

We'll be looking at possible odds pretty soon for NC States. next head football coach in the meantime, or head basketball coach, I should say. In the meantime, Kenton, I'm looking at some odds on who's going to be the next UNC head coach. And the leader in the clubhouse right now at plus 250 is Billy Donovan with the Chicago Bowls.

I remember him all too well when he was at Florida, went in championships a while back. Second highest odds at plus 400 for T.J. Otslberger from Iowa State. Nate Oates from Alabama at plus 700. Mark Buyington of Vanderbilt at plus 900. And if I scroll a little farther down, this is not a more likely candidate.

But they even have Florida's Todd Golden on the list at plus $8,000. I can't, like I mean, I guess you make the call, but Golden who just won a national title last year. I know they were eliminated unceremoniously this year in the round of 32. But I can't imagine Florida would let a guy who just want a title there go, or that he would want to make that jump right now. I don't know. Are you feeling Billy Donovan?

You think he could end up being the guy at UNC? A big splash, you would think, after the Hubert Davis thing, which was not that big of a splash, didn't work out for them. Yeah, I, like most of the ACC, like most of the nation should be, am absolutely terrified of their next time, okay? Yeah. Because Billy Donovan at UNC would spell out trouble for not just the ACC, but the nation in terms of the cachet of that brand,

in terms of how much they're willing to invest in basketball in terms of a ton of things like, you know, that you can't even account for, like the fact that North Carolina is known as the Hoop State. It's one of the greatest producers of high school basketball talent in America, right? So even if you're not talking transfer portal recruiting, even if you're talking high school recruiting, that is, I mean, it's a tough, it's a tough sale to beat.

Imagine pulling up on your recruiting business at C. Michael Jordan. You cannot deny that as a basketball player. That's a whole other, you know, kind of ballgame. You get a competent coach in there. You get a Billy Donovan in there. That's scary. And I'm going to tell you, look at what's going on with Billy Donovan in the NBA right now.

You know, last time I looked up that the boys just signed their 15th guard. So now they're going to be trotting out all five guard lineups from now through the end of the season. You know, those guys have absolutely no size whatsoever. and he can't do anything about that. What is he supposed to do as a coach? So this is a situation where lots of people are like, oh, man, because with all due respect to Hubert Davis, I don't think that he was, you know,

I don't think that he maximized and got everything he could out of these UNC teams and all that good stuff. So ultimately, this is a situation where there's a world where this hire puts USC not just quote unquote back on the map but this puts them back there in the upper echelon of not just college basketball teams but the college sports teams in general. And Billy Donovan certainly has the cachet, the experience, and we know he can recruit because we've seen it before. It might have been a different era of basketball, but I'm sure he can do it in this era as well. So we'll see if that ends up being the guy.

switch it over to football, Kenton, our good friend of the show, Brian Smith, he hosts the portal podcast on Lockdown and he hosts Lockdown Seminoles. So he put out his top 10 college football rosters, Notre Dame at number one, Ohio State, second, Texas, third, Miami, fourth, Georgia, LSU, Old Miss, 7th, Oregon at 8th, Oklahoma, and Indiana finish out that top 10. I was at Miami's first spring practice yesterday, and it looks like a top five, top 10 roster to me with all the depth and all the size that they have watching Darien Mensa sling it for the first time. So do you feel Miami at number four? I don't necessarily agree with all the teams that are ranked above them and behind them, but I think four is about right for Miami. Do you think that's too high or too low? you know i'm i'm big in the i'm big in the trenches i'm a god is big in the trenches and i think

that this list doesn't appropriately rate and this ain't just about miami i think in general didn't really rate you know returning guys in the trenches uh highly enough but i do think miami is in the top 10 i do think that that four range that's a good spot that's a good spot i don't see that as a slight to my i don't see that as a slight to anybody else i i i do think that you know if we were considering uh you know what is happening in different teams, offensive and defensive line rooms a little bit more, that that list would have looked a little different. But again, I think that Smitty did a great job with that list.

I think Miami at four makes a lot of sense. Yeah, you know, obviously Miami, they're losing Akeemezidore and Rubin Bain from the defensive line. But I will point out, like, there's more former five-star recruits on their defensive line than I think I can count. You know, Damon Wilson just transferred in from Missouri was a five-star out of Venice High School in Florida. a powerhouse school outside of Tampa. Marquise Lightfoot at defensive end out of Chicago as a former five-star recruit. Justin Scott in the interior, five-star guy, one of the top two defensive linemen in his class.

Hayden Lowe on the edge was a five-star recruit in the class of 2025 out of Southern California. So it's like, you know, there's some unproven. Obviously, Damon Wilson is proven. Some of the other guys are less proven, but the talent is there. I'm like, I get less and less worried about the offensive line, although I will say there is a chance, Kent, and a pretty good chance that Jackson Cantwell, who's a true freshman, is going to start at left tackle. But I also try not to over think that because even, even as a true freshman, you'd probably take Jackson Cantwell's size and talent over the majority of offensive tackles at the country. If you can get a guy who's got great pedigree and experience, that's great. Jackson Cantwell has the pedigree.

He's got to build the experience. Yeah, and that's why I said at the end of the day, even counting in offensive and defensive line and what is or is not there, I think Miami fits. I really think they do because I don't think that the offensive line is such a concern where, you know, let me not say I don't think it's such a concern, but I will say this. I think that it's a boom or bust situation and I'm leaning more towards boom.

I think the infrastructure is there coaching wise. And I think the talent is there. when you combine that infrastructure with the talent, you can make up for a lack of chemistry. You can make up for, hey, these guys are new and all that, because again, you have the talent, you have the infrastructure. So those two things kind of blending together, I think, will mask over some of the lack of experience. But again, that lack of experience gives high bus potential. It gives high potential for if this season does not turn out the way that Miami wants it to,

we will look back at this offensive line and say, you were the culprit. You were the guys. And you were the reason. I highly doubt it will be a receiver room with Tony and Barcate. I highly doubt that, right? I highly doubt it will be a running back room that is just big as all get out. I mean, they got some absolute thorough branch in that backfield in terms of size and power and all those things. And I doubt that, like you said, the defensive line, number one, you don't need that same level of chemistry.

But number two, five star, five star, five star, everywhere you look up. another five-star in that huddle, you know, I don't think it'll be anywhere else if things go wrong, but I do see a situation where, you know, there are things that can cover over a multitude of sins that may be caused by a lack of experience of front. We come back. Who was borderline on that top 10 list from the ACC? Because only Miami gets the nod in the top 10. Who could be there or knocking on the door?

You want to keep it locked right here. not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Hey, what if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter.

Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but I never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. but now I can actually take part live in a market powered by people. You're no longer just a spectator. Play-by-play, you decide. Trade every play with Robin Hood.

Now available across the U.S. Download the Robin Hood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood, derivatives LLC, a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill is still sitting open.

When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsor jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's the staff that says it all.

In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours just made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates to check all your boxes with Indeed, sponsored jobs. And listen to this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium

status it deserves at indeed.com slash podcast. Just to indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about us on locked on ACC. Indy.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for sponsored jobs. So, Kenton, after Brian Smith put out his list of top 10 Rockers in college football. Miami was the only ACC team that made his top 10. But I asked him who

the next would be from the conference. He said the next one, it's just a little outside of that top 10 is SMU. That's who he went with after. And he told me after SMU would be Clemson or Florida State. And then he even said it maybe after that NC State, although he doesn't love your defense. He loves your offense. But I mean, I think we're in agreement.

SMU, especially with Kevin Jennings back, they've got a receiver core, they've got a good team. I do think SMU has the second best roster in the ACC. I talk about offensive line play a lot. I talk about defensive line play a lot. And let me tell you something, PJ Williams is a special, special dude. I mean, the guy is 6'5, he's bendy, he's long. He can scratch his knee standing up, for Christ's sake. The guy, he's got arms that just go on for forever and ever, and he knows how to use his hands.

Obviously, you're looking at a situation where that offensive line was pretty good in protection last year, giving up under 20 sacks, which is like the rare number that teams want to accomplish in college football. They did a really good job of that. Kevin Jennings obviously helped with that to some degree. But I'm telling you right now, aside from the fact that they have to replenish, a lot of production defensively, I think that they're in a very, very good position. And if anybody's shown the ability to replenish a team where we're like, what's going on? What are they going to do?

I think it's been SMU at a very high level. We wonder, how are they going to handle the step up? They did so spectacularly, getting to the ACC championship. We said, well, now the tape's not on it. You had the bencher starter. You go with the other guy. There wasn't a lot of tape on the other guy. How's the other guy played now that there is tape out on them?

One drive away, one drive away from an ACC championship appearance. And if we follow the logic of, well, hey, if Duke could beat UVA, that team was definitely going to be. That team was going to probably get themselves their first ACC championship. So you're looking at a situation where I could definitely see it. It definitely makes sense. And you want to talk about upgrades in the backfield, Kendrick Raphael is one, hell of an upgrade. He's one hell of an upgrade. Man, he's lit the ACC on fire going from NC State to Cal and now keeping it in the ACC family.

The whole tour, in years of eligibility does he have left? Where is he going to play after next year? You know, he might go to Miami. Watch out. He's already at Miami West. He might want to fall Miami experience. So, you know, there's a lot to be said in terms of that is a very good team from a lot of different angles. But I also understand what they were left out. Yeah, well, it's going to be a fun continuation of this week. We'll talk to you guys again tomorrow. Maybe we'll have more clarity on the Will Wade situation. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack and at TGIF underscore Kenton on X.

You can follow me at Alex Dono and on Lockdown Canes. And we'll talk to you next time on another episode of LockdowneACC. We are part of the number one Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.