Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - CONTROVERSY: Christopher Vizzina DOMINATES Clemson Scrimmage as Dabo Swinney Stalls on Naming QB

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Clemson Tigers quarterback battle heats up as Christopher Vizzina and freshman TaIT Reynolds fight for the starting role ahead of a high-stakes matchup against LSU. Will Dabo Swinney’s reluctance to name a starter pay off, or spell trouble for Clemson’s talented receiving corps on opening weekend? Julian Council and Kenton Gibbs analyze scrimmage insights from across the ACC, spotlighting standout performances and revealing new concerns for top programs. Louisville manages star RB Isaac Brown’s workload before facing Ole Miss, SMU monitors Kevin Jennings’ recovery, and Georgia Tech builds confidence with transfer wide receiver Isaiah Furhmann and a revitalized defense. The hosts weigh Pitt’s offensive resurgence and Boston College’s troubling offensive line issues as the AP Top 25 approaches. Which ACC teams deserve the spotlight—and will Miami crack the top 5? Find out as preseason narratives take shape across the Atlantic Coast Conference. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. . The Game Don't miss this chance to celebrate 40 years of The Game with 40% off your entire order. Visit https://TheGameCaps.com and use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout. 5-Hour ENERGY Bring on the sweetness with Cotton Candy 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots—available online now at https:/5hourENERGY.com or on Amazon. Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. 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.

It was another weekend of scrimmages as ACC programs countdown. Today is the football season. We'll give you the latest intel right here on Locked on ACC. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to another edition of the Locked on ACC podcast. I am Julian Counsel, and he is former NC State Football Letterman Kenton Gibbs. And today's episode of Lockdown ACC is brought to you by Fandall.

Join all the action at fandle.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this MLB season. Monday noon, Eastern time. The Associated Press top 25 is coming out for the first time ahead of this 2026 season. How many ACC teams will be in the poll? Back in the coaches poll, technically the SID poll because the coaches don't actually vote in it. Three ACC teams made it. how many will make it on Monday afternoon. But we have plenty of scrimmage buzz across the ACC,

Boston College, Pitt, Georgia Tech, SMU, Louisville. But let's start off with the Clemson Tigers as they had a very important scrimmage inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday where no Ipte, no boosters, former players only could lay their eyes on Davo's version of the 2026 Tigers. as he tries to figure out who's going to lead them out of the tunnel there in Baton Rouge on Labor Day weekend. Will it be Christopher Vizina or will it be Tate Reynolds, a three-star freshman who has wowed people early on since the spring? Let me ask you this, Kenton. Who do you think perform better on Saturday without knowing Vizina or Reynolds?

I'm 90% certain by the fact that they have not named Vizina the starter yet. it was probably tape. It was probably tape. Because if Vizina had done anything defended to this point, they'd say, oh yeah, he's been on campus three years. He finally looks like it. All right. This is our guy. Let's roll it. So what have you heard out of Clemson, South Carolina? From what I've read, the latest intel from Tiger Illustrated on 3's website, Larry Williams, from the sources he spoke to,

some think that Christopher Vizina had the better day and significantly so. Others, though, weren't so sure. So apparently, Tate Reynolds did throw a pick six to Drew Watt as on Saturday, but a source still said that number two was pretty dang good. He had a really beautiful throw, apparently to Bryant Westcoe on a post route. But overall, it was according to at least a few sources, Vizina, who was the better quarterback and by a significant margin, and the freshmen still showed off a lot of the traits that have led Dabo to this point

to keep this quarterback competition open. Now, I was watching ACC Network. They have the AC road trip going on right now. Zina was up there speaking to Roddy. He was speaking to Taylor as well. So it seems like he is being presented at least to the ACC Network into a lot of us as being one leaders on this team and being the quarterback right now. But this was interesting. The source said, I don't think, and speaking of Reynolds, I don't think he's going to win the job out of camp, but you can see it with him as far as how talented he is.

So it's not over, but it seems like we're getting closer to what I think has always been the likely outcome. And that's Christopher Vizina being the quarterback when they go to Baton Rouge. Now, we'll be the quarterback later on this season. That still is to be determined. That's nasty business. It's nasty business. Dabo put this thing away. And I know that some people are saying, well, from a competitive standpoint, you don't want to let your opponents know.

You got a game plan for both guys. it's week one of the season. Week one of the season, teams generally are not honed in on, hey, this is their best player, this is how they do it, especially not on that offense. Everybody knows what Clemson's wide receiver

of course bringing. Everybody knows when healthy, which these last couple years hadn't been often, but when healthy, everybody knows that wide receiving room go up against anybody in the country. The problem is you need somebody to deliver the ball to them. Yes.

The fact is, We're still sitting here saying quarterback battle, it's less than two weeks away. This episode is dropping on the seven damn teeth. The first game in the ACC is an ACC ballgame. It's on the 29th. It's 12 days. 29th. And you're telling me, oh, we're thinking, we're debating, we're not sure.

Even if that boy is saying, hey, I'm just playing the close to my chest, just to mess with you. You don't think the LSU knows that. me and Julie get paid a decent amount to do this. We ain't getting paid as much of Lane Kiffin. I can tell you that much right now. No, we're not. You can stack us up over the years, and we ain't getting paid as much of Lane Kiffin

probably next month. So the reality is I'm deeply concerned about there still being a quarterback battle. The fact that Vazina has looked better by a mile or looked better by a mile in this scrimmage according to sources, but he's still not named the starter. And even amongst the people who are saying

he looked better by a mile, They're like, well, he's the starter for now. Now, listen, Julian is a wonderful, handsome, kind, married man. Imagine if you would say, yeah, this is my current wife. How would your old lady feel about that? How do you think she feel? Probably not great. Yeah, this is my wife at the moment.

Probably not great. But we could see it with Jessica from down the street. I beg your damn pardon. I beg your damn. Again, I'm deeply concerned about their quarterback situation. And I could be wrong. I wanted to leave that possibility open. I could be wrong.

And Tate Reynolds could be the next breakout star. That's like, oh, he outperformed his stars by a mile. He's that guy. We just, all of the recruiting sites got it wrong. That's possible. But what is more likely is there is something troubling going on in that Clemson quarterback room. I don't think it really is like that. Think about all the things Davos been saying recently.

Last week when he spoke to the media, just about his team. He said, we got a bunch of nobodies. After last season, when everyone talked about how Peter Woods and how T.J. Parker and K. Clubnick and Blake Miller and all these guys can be first round picks. Now, Miller ended up being a first round pick.

They all bought into their own press clippings. They all bought into all the money that they were given to come back to Clemson and they weren't focused on the ultimate prize, which is winning a championship, being a national championship team, being the first 10-0 team that that would talk about them wanting to be. So he has been not very, very willing to be very open about how great these guys are. He's not praising a ton of guys.

I think it comes down to he wants guys to go out there and earn these jobs. None of these jobs are going to be given. Even though Christopher Verzina has probably won the job by now, he wants him to continue to put his foot on the gas to go out there to work and know that he's going to have a guy right there on his tail. It's where if he slips up, he may not be that guy who's leading him out for that first drive in Baton Rouge. Now, I will say this too.

I was looking back at last season, another guy who's been a long time. at a premier program waiting for his opportunity. Ty Simpson. How many people this time last year thought Ty Simpson was going to go on and be a first-round pick was going to go on and lead Bama into the playoff? I don't know. Probably not that many. And he was in a quarterback battle as well with a true freshman in Keel and Russell,

who was the number one quarterback recruit. And also Austin Mack, who was following that staff there at Alabama, he had a lot of success. Now, I'm not saying Christopher Vizina is going to be Ty Simpson. I just know that when looking back and when he got named a quarterback, it was after their first scrimmage a few days after that. This was Clemson's first scrimmage. So maybe, and if Utah, day's time, maybe by Tuesday, maybe by Wednesday,

Davy decides to finally say, all right, Bezina is the guy. So I've seen enough from Bezina from last year, and I've heard enough about Reynolds over the course to the last couple of months not really be that concerned about what Clemson has a quarterback. If anything, the one thing that does stay not to me on Saturday is how Dabo felt really good about their offensive line. They lost a ton of guys. That's a unit that's been banged up.

There's a lot of questions there. the first team unit had success. Now that would make you think, all right, what about the defensive line? Because that's the second thing. Because quarterback really not my top concern. It's been O-line, it's been D-tackle. Right now it sounds like they have three defensive tackles

who they feel good about. Amari Adams, sophomore. He was a five-star last year. Marcus Strong coming over from Oklahoma and then this juco transfer, Andy Berberia. Apparently have three. They're going to need at least two more guys. And Vic Burley, guess what, Clemson fans?

He's injured again, paying him a ton of money to never play football. So that was two things I looked at that made way more, not made more, way more sense, but like stood out to me more than what they're saying about Reynolds, what they're saying about Vizina. It's the fact that the offensive line looked good and that they got at least a trio defensive tackles

that they're feeling good about a couple weeks away from that opening kickoff down in Baton Rouge. I cannot believe that your point of proof, your proof of concept for like, hey, everything's okay here, is Ty Simpson. Not a fan? Ty Simpson, a first round developmental quarterback, that's the one that you're like, oh, everything's fine here. Here's the thing.

Just making a point. He waited his turn. He came in. He had success. How many people back on August 16th last year were thinking Ty Simpson was going to go out and look as good as he did? Who was Ty Simpson waiting behind? Whom? Jail and Miller.

Who was Ty Simpson waiting behind? Jalen Milro, who was also, what, a third round pick? Kay Clubbing was a fourth round pick. So, like, the guy who's been behind was not really not, or the guy that Vizino was sitting behind. Jalen Milro actually showed the potential and the hype. He showed the flash, oh, yeah, this could be the guy. But that's neither here nor there.

I'm going to tell you this. Like, like Clayton, Jailen Milrow will never get a real opportunity to be a quarterback in the NFL, but sure. I own and I hope that I could be wrong. I start off this segment by saying I could be wrong. and everything could be fine there. I'm just deeply concerned. There are a lot of places you can play this.

Everything's a competition. There are no, nobody's in the front seat game. Quarterback is not one of them. One of the worst possible things you could ever. And when I say ever, I mean ever due to a quarterback is make him think he's on a short leash. Because now I'm out there thinking. And for those of you who don't know,

there's a phrase for football. It's paralysis by a now. Or if you're out there thinking, you're out there stinking. You have to be able to just go. Trust your preparation. Trust the reason that you've been given and go. It's hard for guys to do that. When everybody's saying, well, that guy over your shoulder, you know, he's going, he's coming.

The train is coming down the tracks, brother. We're not facing the trolley problem. The question is, how fast the train going to hawk your ass down? that to me is one of the worst things you can do to a quarterback, especially a first-time starter. Now here's the thing. Again, Ty Simpson, interesting case study, very interesting case study, but sure, we'll go with him as proof of concept.

For every Ty Simpson, though, there have been multiple other guys who waited for forever, and then they became the guy, and then everybody realized a few games in a, that young kid that was competing with him, let's just go with him. Because if we're going to lose, we need to lose with a new regime. We need to take lumps with a young boy who don't know what he don't know yet. And he needs to learn it now. So in a few years, we'll be ready to roll.

Again, I'm deeply concerned about this quarterback situation. You telling me that, hey, Dabo may just be playing it close to the vest for a quarterback. In 2026, that ain't the time, Davo. This ain't what it used to be. This is another sign of him being a relic of the past. you cannot play like that with today's kids. Today's college players, they're different. And this, oh, yeah, all the reporters are saying that the next guy up is really the next guy up.

He's right there on you. He's breathing down your neck. You're going to create an environment where every pass your quarterback throws, he's pressing. He's thinking too much. He's aiming everything instead of just letting it fly and throwing it. And next thing you know, you're going to walk up out, limp up out of Death Valley with a very bad L in game one. We're waiting for Davo to give us the answer, and we'll get, I'm sure, soon enough as far as he's going to be a starting quarterback, either Vizina or the true freshman Tate Reynolds. Some other ACCC scrimmage news, we'll go over that in just a moment here on Locked-on ACC.

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It's just a small portable shot I can grab whenever I need a little pick me up. It's become my go-to when I want something sweet without going overboard. Bring on the sweetness of cotton candy five-hour energy shots. available online Dow at 5Hour Energy.com or on Amazon. Back here on a locked on ACC, taking a look across the ACC after a weekend of scrimmages. Clemson scrimmage on Saturday. So did Louisville on Saturday morning. And the big news came out next to you on Friday. Isaac Brown, who has been limited at practice, was full go during the media viewing session on Friday. But he was not a full participant on Saturday for

their scrimmage. A few things that stood out from. Jeff Brom, Lincoln Keenholz, was a standout offensively. So was the tight-in room. And some news, too, we talked about the court case out there in Colorado. Apparently Louisville is also bringing back to players. Linebacker, Caleb Perry and quarterback Jabari Mack are also back for another season at this point in time. And I'm assuming that they'll, if this whole thing gets taken away, they'll just go to a local court and they'll be able to play. So any of these guys coming back are likely going to play this season.

So assume that until proven otherwise. But the big news, though, Ken Isaac Brown, looks like he's good. to go even though they're going to try to still monitor him until they get to that massive game on that Sunday night of Labor Day weekend in Nashville against Ole Miss. I mean, you don't make your Lamborghini your daily driver. He's one of the baddest boys in the nation. We know what Isaac Brown can do. We've seen it. We've seen it. There's no reason. There is no reason to risk him getting hurt for the sake of, well, he's got to get in reps before real game time starts. He's got in his reps. He's gotten plenty of touches in college. He is what he is. We know he is lightning in the bottle. I make this comparison all the time, and people say, and some people call me crazy for it,

but I think he's the closest thing we've seen to Chris Johnson since Chris Johnson. I don't think that we've seen a runner with his type of instant burst, change of direction, contact balance, and the ability to cast the ball out of backfield. We have not seen a guy with the combination of those four at his level in quite some time. So I don't, I don't really, if I was a coach, Hey, brother, we're going to make sure you go through the drills. We're going to make sure that you live for a little bit, for enough.

I can't where you get a little something on. You get a little tread on those tires just so you get hit a little bit. So you know what it feels like if you're ready. But I'm not, I wouldn't be overly exuberant to get him banged up and hitting up against other guys. We know what's going on there. And Keenholz, I mean, the thing about Keenholz is he's with the quarterback whisper.

And if the quarterback whispered for you, Braum has such a reputation with me. It's like how I saw Tony Gibson with linebackers a few years ago. Tony Gibson, who is now the head coach at Marshall, used to be the defense coordinator at NC State.

And he was taking linebackers, the people were like, oh, his only other division one offer is ODU. And then he turned that guy in the all conference. And it was like, well, you can't argue with the results. You could give him a sentient Roomba and he'll turn him into an all-ACC linebacker. I feel the same way about Brom.

You could get that man a Swiffer with a mind, and that Swiffer may throw for 2,500 yards. It just may do it. So Keenholz, I'm sure, you know, Brahm is going to find what his strengths are, what his superpowers are, and he's going to exacerbate him. He's going to put them on display

to where it's hard to avoid them in his offense. I love that for. Just 20 days away from finding out what's going to happen in that game in Nashville between Louis and against Ole Miss. SMU, Kevin Jennings, did not participate this weekend, but apparently, according to Brett McMurphy of On 3, he's ahead of schedule with that finger injury. I'm thinking he's going to be good to go.

Wret lastly said it's more preventative, and they don't want to reproachshare, and they're not wanting them out there too much. They're starting right guard Addison Nichols was also held out this past weekend. No great updates here as far as how things played out. Kindergapel, Dremiko, Green, are going to be their top running backs.

Those guys weren't even participants on Saturday because they know what they have in them. the defense did answer the bell by being more physical, which is what they were looking for when they went to the portal and brought some guys in. So Jennings, that is the big news at SMU that he didn't participate, but apparently he's head of schedule as they are only 21 days away from Labor Day night and going on the road with Tallahassee.

If you are talking about taking away your offense is starting quarterback and top two running backs, my defense better look damn physical. You better look good. You better. Brother, if you can't look good against the, The B squad, the backups, you can't look good against the guys that are, you know, we'll find it. We'll find it on the depth chart.

We have serious problems. But in all seriousness, you know, when I heard about the Kevin Jennings injury, I said, oh, no, that's a weird freak injury type of thing. But like I said, when it happened, I don't think that's something that's going to hinder them all year, kind of like the leg situation did last year. So, you know, we're all hoping that he gets well enough and that those are. backs again. With Kenji Raphael's running style, you don't need him practicing all the time running through people's faces. You don't need it. It's unnecessary. Too much of that. And he's going to get hurt.

And some of the defenders going to get hurt. Okay. You just go ahead and let them do their thing. But, you know, SMU, I mean, I'm not surprised by this update at all. Yeah, I think it's actually kind of a, not positive, but it is good for them to see what they have. And Ty Hawkins, who's the backup, potentially could be the starting quarterback next year. And That's thing. SMU with Kevin Jennings. If he deals of an injury again this season like he did last year of the ankle, you want to have somebody who knows the system, who can step in, keep the bowl rolling, and that potentially could have to be Ty Hawkins, depending on how things play out as far as that goes.

But it seems like he is right on track. The other schools, Georgia Tech had their scrimmage 100 plays that they had inside of Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday, which is a lot in that Georgia heat. Apparently, Jason Seymour, the new defensive coordinator, his defense looks strong early on, getting three straight, three and outs. But then the offense started to figure things out. I'm really interested about the wide receiver core, Isaiah Furman, the Elon transfer wide receiver, big six four frame,

had a really good week, had a really good scrimmage as well. And just looking at this Georgia Tech team, Kelly Quinn, Quinnlin, of Jackets Online from On 3 Network, was just talking about Brent Key. Apparently Key is very confident that he has a good team this upcoming season. The only thing is the schedule and opponents are a big variable. and of course they have an unproven quarterback in Alberto Mendoza who looked apart again on Saturday.

So the jacket's looking like a team that maybe could surprise people with all the losses that they had. Big questions that why receiver, big questions defensively, seems like that's heading the right direction after this Saturday again. Y'all see how he started off with the Elon shout out. He wanted to give his fellow Phoenix a little bit of a shot. Well, he's not a Phoenix anymore. We got one at Louisville who left us as well.

Our quarterback decided to go be the third string and batting Root. so that's fine. Good luck, guys. You see how he doing. You see how I do it. But in all seriousness, this Georgia Tech squad is one that's very intriguing because I love me some Coach Keith.

I really do. I love his demeanor. I love how physical his teams are on both sides of the ball. And granted, a lot of people, the interesting thing about Georgia Tech last year, as bad as they were at stopping and run, it wasn't because of a lack of physicality. It was a lack of run fits.

It was a lack. I mean, it was just sheer, Like there's a saying in football that if you are out of your gap, the ball will find it. And boy, the ball was a gap seeking missile against Georgia Tech last year. Because the guys were just stacked up behind each other. And when you get that as a defense, when you see another one of your hats in front of you, your heart start beating real fast because you know this is not going in well at the power four level. But, you know, Georgia Tech, they are who they are.

We're expecting physicality. We're expecting them to come out there and want to punch you in the mouth. And even if you win the game, you're going to be a little bruised up. You're going to be a little lumped up. You're going to feel like Fabo after he was done singing tied it up for the first time. You know what I mean? You're going to be a little bit more out there. That's what you're expecting out of playing Georgia Tech.

And I think that this update from the scrimmage is just reaffirming that, that, hey, we are coming downhill, no frills, and we are going to be beating up on people all over again. This time, we'll just do it with a little bit more strategic. ability in terms of our alignment assignment with run fits defensively. Yeah, Dionne and Colorado are going to get choked out in Atlanta, come back Thursday night in a couple weeks, and I just don't even make the trip.

Pitt, Boston College, last two schools to look at Pitt. Apparently, offense won the day during their scrimmage over the weekend. Mason Hintchul connected on a big 40-yard touchdown to Catarius Hicks, as they have a rebuilt wide receiver unit there at Pitt. Apparently, though the offense came out on top of the defense, still had a solid outing according to sources. A big play from the defense was sophomore Sean Lee, who was ACC, honorable mention at corner last year as a true freshman, did intercept Heinzsche.

And in Boston College, our own A.J. Black of locked on B.C. also covers B.C. for their 247 site Eagle Insider. There was apparently an emphasis on running the ball on Saturday during their scrimmage. And a defensive line really held up well. Offens the line had a struggle as far as the day goes, bad snaps throughout it. Didn't see a ton for Mason McKenzie as far as throwing the ball, although he had a few good throws, according to AJ. So BC D-line, good, O-line, bad, what seems to be not great for a rebuilt unit through the portal,

going to be protecting a D2 quarterback while Pitt, Mason Hineshiel seems to be up to his old self, but also defensively making some plays. Pitts is one of the teams we haven't really talked a lot about. I think they can be an 8 and 14, can be a Thorne and people's side again this season, while I am very much concerned about Boston College heading into this season, Kent. I'm a K. Bell believer. K Bell is the offensive coordinator at Pitt. I'm a huge belief.

I am a big K Bell guy. I believe that he's going to get this offense rolling where they should be. The question for Pitt, do you have the horses in the stable? Every year they get ransacked in the portal for their best couple of players. This time it was vows and company and, you know, kind of getting out of Dodge. He was one of the best linebacks in the nation. There's a reason everybody named Mama was knocking on this door. Hey, man, come on.

We want you. you know, do you have the horses in the stable to maintain it? I think that the K-Bell and the hind-shell combination can do some special things, but at some point in time, the rubber's going to meet the road, and you're going to need the personnel to get a stop. Pat Narduzzi's system is by and large based on the idea that the sharks, also known as the linebackers, can go hunt. They're given a ton of freedom in his defense because they've had some damn good ones

between Bows and Kyle Louis and company and even going back before them. It's just been linebacker after linebacker after linebacker. Who's next in line? Who are the next guys up to fill that definitively? Right now, that's a question that remains to be seen. In Boston College, operational stuff going wrong.

We can't have operations going wrong. Not this close. Not this close. You cannot tell me that we're messing up snaps 17 days away from game one. You can't tell me that. Unfortunately, I am. And you know what?

Here's the thing. It's not unfortunate for me because I don't wish for nobody to lose their job. I don't never hope that anybody loses their job. But Bill O'Brien is one of those cases. I cannot say that Boston College is serious about winning football games if they retain him next year. I don't think he's a serious coach. I don't think that he deserves that job. I know that it was a situation where, you know,

their last coach kind of left him in the lurch before he jetted to Green Bay. Yuck. What type of man wants to go to Green Bay, right? Well, he's now in Miami, so it worked out for him because he was just going to get fired at BC anyways. My point, exactly. Look at Halfley.

Just jumping everywhere. That boy don't know what he's doing. He's just giving it out. So with that being said, I'm looking at this situation. I understand why they hired O'Brien. You have to get serious about winning. You can't be serious about winning and have O'Brien at the helm in 2026.

Those two are mutually exclusive thoughts. You can have one or the other. You can have them at the helm or you can be serious at winning. You cannot have BOP at the helm and be serious about winning. Yeah, a lot of hard questions going to have to probably be asked after the season in Chestnut Hill. And speaking of linebackers at Pitt, Braylon Lovelace, hoping to be the next in a long line of great or strong pit linebackers under Pat and Arduzzi. this upcoming season. There is an update from several teams in the ACC. How many ACC teams will be in the AP top 25 noon on Monday? We'll try to project that here in just a moment on Locked-on ACC. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today, Fandle is giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers.

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And while you're probably saying, who cares? Polls don't matter anymore. Only poll that matters to the committee poll. The only poll that matters is the final committee poll. So please, when we get to November and the committee is out here trolling you every single week, can we not get upset about polls that don't matter? The only one that matters is the final committee poll. But the AP poll does still have influence as that sets the narrative for everybody out there,

including the human beings who are on the committee as far as who's supposed to be good this upcoming season. A few weeks ago, the coaches poll, which is voted by the Associated or the A.Ds rather, not the 80s, the, well, maybe some of the 80s vote, but the SIDs, the sports information directors. That came out, had three ACCC teams, Miami at 7, SMU at 20, and Clemson at 23,

while Louisville was the first team outside the top 25 receiving votes. Virginia was the next closest behind them. I think it's pretty spare to assume that Miami will be a top 10 team, Kenton. Where do they land? And do you think anybody else ends up being in the top 25?

I'm going to quote their, head coach Mario Cristobald and saying Miami being outside of the top five is disrespectful to the game of football. It just is. Did he say that? Well, he said that, he said that in response

to a guy asking, is it important to get the young guys in when you all play fam you? He said that question is respectful to the, disrespectful to the game of football. So I'm just twisting that a little bit to say Miami being outside of top five is disrespectful to the game of football. However, when it comes to the ACC, all disrespect apparently will fly.

Here's the deal. You know, you said the polls don't matter, Julian. But then you said the polls do matter because they influence who the people think are supposed to be good. And you're absolutely right. That's the sick part of it all. That's the sick joke. What I'm trying to tell people, yes, I did say that. What I'm trying to tell people is don't care about where anybody's ranked until the final rankings come out.

But there still is some influence as far as just setting the narrow. So that's what I'm just like. So I know you just I want to clear it up for all the people out there. Don't get upset until the final committee poll comes out. But yes, this poll will matter as far as narratives. Continue on. Exactly. The poll will matter as far as narrative. It will set, oh, this team beat this top 25 team. You know how certain conferences get when they say, oh, we beat the top 25 team when they were really only in the top 25 for the first week of the season. Then all of a sudden, they were never top 25 again. Yeah. At the time does not matter. Where are you at the end? Huh? But you get what I'm saying. So, you know, this is a situation where I think that we're looking at at least, at least three to four teams should be considered in top 25 talks in the ACC. And there are a lot of teams around the country I look at that are perpetually in top 25 conversations.

Or I'm like, I don't believe you. You need more people. Because again, y'all keep telling us, we're the best, we're the best, we're the best. but then when you're asked to go up against the other best, you're getting your backs kicked in. Conferences that ain't been to the championship in game in three years, ACC cannot relate. Telling me, oh, well, we got the most drive picks,

so we're the best team. Well, Clemson have more drive picks than a lot of teams last year in the ACC. Did they finish above all those teams? I don't believe so. I don't believe so. I think. I don't know. Maybe I'm insane, but maybe me thinks

that what people do on the field should matter. And I think that the ACC has proven itself enough to have four teams in the preseason poll. And obviously it's one of those things that Julian is a much more calm, measured guy than me. I know when he played football, he wasn't a defensive lineman. I know he wasn't.

Because us, we're just very seaball, get ball type of guys. Julian is much more McAvellian. He sees the grand scheme. He sees the big picture of everything. And we're not saying McAvellian in a pejorative here, even though it is normally in a pejorative. We're not saying it in that way. He's just much more thoughtful. He thinks ahead. He has a foresight that I lack at times. But I'm going to get a little pissed off if I don't see at least two.

If I don't see at least two ACC teams there, oh, it's going to be some custom. We might lose our clean rating on Tuesday. So stay tuned. There will at least be two. I think Miami and SMU are going to very clearly get in based off of, well, look, all the talent Miami has, what they did last season. I look at the coaches poll. Ohio State, sorry, the Ohio State University was number one. I could see that happening. Oregon with Dante Moore back.

Like Julian saying, it's Dante Moore back to the best quarterbacks from last season, both returning. I mean, Georgia was third, Texas was fourth, Notre Dame was fifth. Honestly, like, Georgia being up there is fine with me because I know what Kirby is going to put out there as far as a product goes. Steve Sarkesian's Texas team went nine and three last year. I know they bought the best team money. can buy this off season.

But they were ranked number one last year, and they went nine and three, didn't make the playoff. I would be putting Miami there in the top five. I would have Indiana in the top five. They were at six. I mean, Kirk Signetti just turned her Indiana around to a national champion and killed in the portal yet again.

And now they're starting to get high school recruits. So to me, I'm kind of like, I need to see it from Texas. I need to see, I mean, Notre Dame is going to be a good team this year, but I just need to see it from those two teams before I'm putting them ahead of Ohio state, Oregon, Georgia, Indiana. That's the thing. So Miami should be, they'll be in the top 10. I'm guessing they won't be in the top five just based off of how that played out.

And I think just how the writers are probably going to be in some of the other way too early top 25s up seeing. I think SMU probably falls in the 20s. And it may be Louisville sneaks in. Virginia won't get any love. I don't think Clemson, certainly from the writers. It's not going to be voted in after last year. and just the way people feel about Davos Sweeney at this point in time

and how they felt flat on their face last season. So, yeah, I don't see Clemson receiving that many votes to begin with. They'll probably receive a few. But it will certainly, I think, be less in Virginia. So I would think that's going to be Louisville, maybe at 25. No, sorry, that's Missouri spots. Maybe Louisville at 24. And then it would be probably SMU like 20,

where they're sitting at coaches bowl and in Miami, probably right outside the top five. That's my guess as far as the AP top 25 goes on Monday. Hey, listen, I'm not sure if we can see the coaches voters and who they voted for. AP, we can see y'all, y'all. We know exactly who you are. And this year, I'm coming with receipts. I will be waiting on some of y'all outside.

Come outside. We're not going to jump you. We just want to know why you put Missouri in the top 25 again. Come outside. Come talk, friend. Because that's going to need to happen at some point in time. We are not going to keep giving it. the conference the benefit of the doubt that when they are put in a position to put that doubt

to bed they get their asses kicked up out the playoff first thing smoking they get embarrassed every single time if they're not playing each other or too lame that's it that's what they got if they ain't doing that all of a sudden everybody can't win a damn game and we're going to continue to oh it just means more oh it just means more over there again they got too many propagandists on the air. They got too many, but don't worry. They got spears and they got, what's the one, fire bomb with the sides left off.

Don't worry. We got a former athlete, and we got some bald brothers over here ready to do some propagandizing for the ACC. So don't worry, we're coming. We're coming, because we ain't about to let you all keep disrespecting us in the name of him. I'm an Eli Dreeperick-Wistand.

This is an Eli-Driek of Stand account. I love the guy. I love the guy as a human being. When he was at NC State, great guy to talk. too. Always a great interview. You're not going to tell me he's a top 25 coach every single damn year. You're not going to do it.

Now, I'm not going to defend rank. You're certainly not going to find me being doing that after all the things I had to listen to at State Adap and even now, Missouri. I have nothing to say about him in positive way. So I'm going to follow the golden rule and keep my mouth shut up. But that's going to wrap up with this edition of the ACC podcast, the Lockdown ACC podcast, As far of lockdown podcast network, where your host is always Julian Council

and Kenton Gibbs again, subscribe and follow the show for free over on YouTube. And wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and be sure to follow us over on Twitter at Julian Council and at TGIF underscore Kenton. And in the meantime, be safe, be happy, be whole. And we'll talk to you all on Tuesday where we were react to where the ACC

lands in the AP top 25 and so much more as we continue to count down the days to the 26 college football season.