Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - DEAD: Clemson Tigers Future in Doubt as Dabo Swinney Faces REBUILD Challenge – Can They Win Again?

Starting point is 00:00:00 A prominent national college football analyst just declared the Clemson football program dead. You are locked on ACCC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the everydayers and thank you so much for making Locked on ACC your first listen. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the number one Locked on podcast network. team every day. He is Kenton Gibbs, former NC State defensive lineman and co-host of Lockdown

Starting point is 00:00:41 Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono, host of Lockdown-Kane's, and today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Fanduel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost. Head to fanduel.com to get started. Speaking of college basketball, we're coming to you shortly after a thriller between Pittsburgh and Stanford. The ACC tournament got started on a high note. It's going to be a tough act to follow, but I'm expecting that for the next five days, games just like that. On the college football front, Miami has been called out by an anonymous ACC GM. Oh, man, there's definitely an axe to grind with this quote. But man, how about this quote on the Clemson Tigers? So ESPN college football analyst Tom

Starting point is 00:01:31 Fornelli appeared Monday on the very popular cover three podcast, which they do a sensational job covering the sport. Fernelli said something about Clemson that I wasn't expecting him to say anything this dramatic. But here's what he said about the Clemson football program. Quote, Clemson is dead. It's dead. It's not coming back.

Starting point is 00:01:55 As the offseason goes on, you will start seeing people saying, hey, maybe all Clemson, Maybe this is the year that they, nope, it's dead. All these Clemson players have been going early in the draft, and the team has not lived up to the talent level on the field in recent years. I was looking at the big board for the 27th season. There were only two Clemson players in the top 100. The talent is gone. They don't have the same kind of players that they've had all these years.

Starting point is 00:02:24 Miami is resurgent. You're seeing in the portal. Virginia Tech is now going to basically be a. another version of what Penn State was, which might not have been good enough to win the Big Ten, but guess what? Penn State was good enough to win the ACC. So if you bring that to Virginia Tech, you bring that to Blacksburg, and that's a team that's very good. Florida State, we know, is punting on the season. He said, well, we did an episode about that. They're thinking more long-term, but they're probably not going to go anywhere. I think Clemson's time as a premier

Starting point is 00:02:54 program in college football is officially done. I mean, I mean, I mean, I, I, I'm of the school of thought, Kenton, that you can never say never. Is that overly dramatic on where Clemson is? It's so tough because, well, first of all, let me quote a wonderful singer that I grew up listening to by the name of Shirley Caesar. She's a gospel singer, and the song is, he's not dead. The next verse is, he's yet alive. This Clemson team is not dead. they're not in a place where I could not see a resurgence happening amongst this Clemson team.

Starting point is 00:03:35 That is not something that I would rule out. Would I expect this to be the year? No. No, I'm not going to sit here and say, hey, this is the year where I expect Clemson to make a deep run in the playoff or something like that. I'm not going to tell you that lie. However, is it possible? I never want to rule it out with Clemson. Even if you say, well, can the high school recruiting hasn't been there.

Starting point is 00:03:56 I would say it hasn't been there according to whom? according to what? Because every time I look up, at the end of the recruiting rankings and all that, somewhere in that top 10. I see that Paul. Yeah, I don't know. I went and I went and looked at. And so recruiting analysis is subjective.

Starting point is 00:04:14 Like I can meet you in the middle on that. Like it's, you know, a lot of folks in front of spreadsheets are deciding who's recruiting class is the best. But I will say on that note, because I've looked back at Clemson's recruiting classes over the last 10 years, you go back to the point where they were winning national championships. And yeah, top five, top 10 classes every year. I think in the past three years, four years,

Starting point is 00:04:38 the best they've done is 15. So the classes have slipped a little bit. But see, and that goes to my point, right? 15, okay? You will say the best they do was 15. What was the worst they did? 25, 30, somewhere there? Yeah, about that.

Starting point is 00:04:51 Yeah. Okay. Now, this is my point. It's the same thing that I said about Miami. That's your floor in terms of talent, 25th to 30th best in the nation. Let's take a second to think about what you can do with that level of talent with the right coaching. Like that's just, it's, I'm not saying blue chip ratio doesn't matter. If you look at every national champion over the past few years with the exception of Indiana,

Starting point is 00:05:17 the blue chip ratio was through. Indiana is one of the first that didn't have that, and they had a Heisman winner. So it's like whatever deficiencies you do have at these other spots, Guess what covers that over? Same way Love Coat covers over a multitude of sins, a Heisman winner will cover over a multitude of lack of blue chip guys, i.e. Washington getting to the national championship a few years ago when they played Michigan.

Starting point is 00:05:40 Pinnock covered over a multitude of like, hey, whatever they do or don't have. So I'm saying this to say, I think this perception of Clemson is extremely harsh for a multitude of reasons. The same thing you said about Virginia Tech. applies to Clemson. You can say, hey, they may not have the talent, they may not have all the things right now

Starting point is 00:06:02 that you could drop them off in the SEC and you with a fair amount of certainty because they're going to win the SEC tomorrow. You may not be able to drop them off in the Big Ten and say, hey, I have a great degree of belief that they'll be better than Winningham in Michigan. They'll be better than the defending national champions

Starting point is 00:06:18 and Signetti at Indiana. They'll be better than Ryan Day at Ohio State. They'll be better than right now. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is when you write a program him off and say they're done, they're dead. To me, that spells out. I can't see you as a conference champion in terms of power four. Because if you are a conference champion, what do you guarantee you get?

Starting point is 00:06:36 Playoff spot. And how many times have we seen football teams get into the playoff and all of a sudden, it's like, well, wait a minute. This team wasn't supposed to be Ohio State a few years ago. After it lost to Michigan, Ryan Day was only precipice of getting fired. Right there, right up against it. And all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom, national champions. Oh, you know, this Indiana team, sure, they're one of the best, but can they really do it?

Starting point is 00:07:00 Boom, boom, boom, national champion. I'm not saying that this Clemson team expecting to be in the Natty next year. I'm not saying the team that, you know, we can predict that and say, hey, in the next four years, if they won the national championship, I'll name my first son after Fornelli. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is to write this team off and to say that they're done being an elite, I would be okay with saying there's questions. questions about whether or not they can get back into that top five territory.

Starting point is 00:07:28 I'm fine with that. I'm more than part with that. But to say they're dead, it's over. I think that's a drastic knee-jerk reaction. I think, though, it's valid to question whether they can ever get back to national, to true prominence, which for them would be winning championships, at least getting to championship games, right? Yeah. I don't know if they can do that again under Davo. I just don't, unless, unless, you know, the government oversight, because they're having meetings about saving college football unless they just decide, you know what, we're not doing paying players anymore. We're going to go back to the way it was in 2018 when Dabo was on top of the

Starting point is 00:08:05 mountain. But in this era, when you've got not just $22 million rosters, but LSU allegedly with a $40 million roster and Clemson has like a $40,000 roster, I don't think that's going to cut it. So like, I think to Fornelli, I wouldn't go as far as he went, but I do think it's valid to truly question whether or not Clemson can get back to their old standards with Dabo. And it's ironic because there were no standards there until Dabo. Like Dabo's the one who created or he set the bar that they're now falling under, but he also might be the guy who's setting them back. And so maybe if Dabo either has a complete change of heart and adopts the modern reality of college sports,

Starting point is 00:08:48 or if there is a parting of the ways after this season, after the season after that, because I do look at Clemson as a school that is willing, they're obviously willing to invest in things like facilities, but in the Dabo era, they've not been willing to invest the same sort of money in their roster as other big-time programs do. I think if they change that philosophy, I think Clemson can get back there.

Starting point is 00:09:13 I just don't know if they can get back there under Sweeney. I hear you, and I'm not disagreeing with the idea that it could be a situation where both of need a new situation of fresh. or whatever the case may be. But all I'll say is this. There is, you know, Dabo Sweeney was last in the playoffs in what year? 24. In that same year, early in the season, everybody said, all right, it's over.

Starting point is 00:09:44 This team will not be back to the ACC championship. They're not, this team just doesn't have it. They're going to need help to get in and all these things got to tilt their way for them to get in. There's no way they do it and where they end up. in the ACC championship, winning the ACC championship, getting into the playoffs. And again, you're delusional if you believe that these questions are unfounded.

Starting point is 00:10:08 If you're going to sit up here and pretend like, oh, I'll go after Fortnelly for Dabo because Dabo's done nothing wrong. He's been in the national championship every other. I'm going to tell you something. This is, we live in such a microwave society that I think people cannot tune out for just a second and realize this word is different for everybody.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Would you say that Georgia is still a perennial power? Yeah. When's the last time they won multiple playoff games in the season? Three years, four years, three years ago probably. So now we're talking about a perennial power that has not won multiple playoff games in how long. If we're saying LSU, we would agree their perennial power, right? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:10:54 When's the last time? But again, the first. For dabble, the hammer comes down as soon as he stops producing. As soon as the production stops with him, the hammer and indictments not only come down on him, but of this program as a whole, which is where I agree with you, Dono, and that maybe they go their separate ways, they get a younger coach who's more accustomed to and cut his teeth doing the whole transactional deal and like, hey, the degree, it is what it is. We don't care of nothing about that.

Starting point is 00:11:29 You care about what you can get paid. We care about what we can get out of you. Let's make this thing work. Maybe they need to get that. Maybe dabble needs to go to a place. That'll be more patient and more kind. We'll have a little bit of a different situation. But I think that this needs to be a moment where we're not only examining Clemson,

Starting point is 00:11:46 where we're re-examining what dominance looks like. Because if we look around the country, we're seeing a very different thing. We're seeing a thing where teams are really, garing up for one or two great years, as opposed to having sustained, consistent, every single year, they're back in the national championship.

Starting point is 00:12:08 It's not that way anymore. And the transfer portal, an NIL may be a part of making that happen, but we as media and folks as fans have to get used to, we will no longer see Ben McClumson in the national championship. Baner McClumson back again. Bamclimson, we're going to be here one more time. Bamclimson is part four.

Starting point is 00:12:24 How about it? You know, do that has something to do? Does that have something to do with Y, Saban is trying to roll things back to the way they were years ago. When he used to be one of the only ones paying players, now that everybody's doing it, it's not so fun anymore, Nick. I have my own thoughts about that and about the dynamics of control and how you can

Starting point is 00:12:45 kind of influence what people do or don't do when you're like, hey, we have no legal obligation to pay you. As a matter of fact, it's illegal that we're paying you. So toe the line or get gone, as opposed to when somebody says, hey, I sign on a dollar, line, baby. You owe me what you owe. Now, you're going to pay what you owe or my lords will be seeing you. I have my own beliefs on why Saban is doing that. But I will say the inability of the stockpile talent, I think that this shift in college football and what dominance looks like. I think it's throwing everybody, fans, media, players, coaches, former coaches. It's throwing all of us

Starting point is 00:13:19 through a loop that some people cannot adjust to because Saban came from an era where this was this team's era. This was that team's era, right? Like we could say, hey, this was Miami's era of being great. This four years, they lost, what, four or five games? This was USC's era. When they were at rolling like this, this is just who they were and how they were. We don't have that anymore because talent is so spread out, because parity is now apparent everywhere,

Starting point is 00:13:45 because we've seen in every Power 4 conference, there have been teams that are traditionally dormats in football that because of NIL, because of a properly top transfer to, because of acts of God in some of these instances, you have seen teams like a Virginia make a Congress tournament. You've seen an Indiana make a national championship. You've seen teams that were said to be, we don't think nothing special of them,

Starting point is 00:14:10 be elevated up to the top. And we've seen the Florida's of the world be dukeywater. Terrible. Can't keep a coach for more than a couple of years. We've seen Florida State put up tour dates, two and ten. I mean, what in the world is that? We've seen all of these teams that are traditionally powers be inverted a little bit with teams that were considered less than that. So again, it's hard for people to understand.

Starting point is 00:14:34 There's a new order and it's more fluid than it's ever been. Yeah, that's well said. Well, you know, speaking of NIL and the new era, an ACC anonymous general manager called out Miami, claiming that what Miami did with Derry and Mensa is worse than what. Ole Miss did with Luke Forelli. If you're not familiar with the Luke Forelli story, you should be if you're a college football fan. I think that was worse than Darien Mentsy.

Starting point is 00:15:03 You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. 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.

Starting point is 00:15:31 Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when the momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but I never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. 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.

Starting point is 00:15:52 Now available across the U.S. Download the Robin Hood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk, and it's not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood Derivatives LLC, a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Yeah, it's tax time. And for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot.

Starting point is 00:16:14 Trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient. Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year, you're getting a major upgrade. Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. You can meet face to face with a real tax expert, and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app right on the spot. And just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real-time notifications as you go about your day.

Starting point is 00:16:45 It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out knowing your taxes are being handled right. Head to turbotax.com slash local to find a store near you and book an appointment. Thank you so much for making locked on ACC your first listen. You've heard us talk about the Every Day or Club. We're actually having a bracket challenge that's going to be going live on the Everydayer Club where you can compete with Kenton. His ACC tournament bracket is already not looking so good after Stanford lost today. Will he do better in the big dance?

Starting point is 00:17:20 You can compete with me, all the other awesome hosts out there. Becoming Every Day or Today, you get so many great benefits. The Brackett Challenge is exclusive for Every Day or Club members. You also get Discord server access to chat with hosts and other fans of our shows, add free versions of our episodes and so much more. Go to Lockdown Podcast.com slash everydayer to become an everydayer club member today. We'll talk about the ACC tournament. All right. So here's one.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Miami was called out in a recent article by ESPN's Max Olson by an anonymous ACC GM GM. he stated that the incident where Ole Miss, you know, allegedly tampered with linebacker Luke Forelli, who had transferred and enrolled and was in class at Clemson, allegedly receiving text messages from coaches and GMs at Old Miss while he was in class. Pictures of checks were sent to him allegedly by Pete Golding, the head coach of Ole Miss.

Starting point is 00:18:24 However, this anonymous ACC GM said, that Miami, you know, taking Darien Mensa from Duke was minor. Sorry, that the Farrelli incident was minor compared to Miami swiping Darian Metsa from Duke. He said, quote, it's like they robbed a bank in broad daylight, walked out with no mask, and no alarms went off, the ACC GM said. Now, Kenton, I don't know, we have no idea which ACCGM said it because this was, you know, anonymous. That's how you get people to speak their mind. Yeah. I'm willing to venture a guess that it was North Carolina GM, Mike Lombardi,

Starting point is 00:19:03 because he hates Miami. Would not surprise me if that was him who said it. I'll double that bet, Donald. I'll double that bet and I'll bet that whoever's GM this is is within 60 miles of where I'm located right now. I mean, it could have been the Duke GM, but I feel like it would be too obvious to interview the Duke GM about that. So I'm thinking it wasn't him because that's too obvious. But if it's anonymous, Donno, it could be anybody, you know. It could be, it could be Fran Brown's GM up there in Syracuse. It could be Cowell's GM, you know, Ron Rivera, he's been known to speak his mind, you know. But I'm going to tell you something. I don't understand. And here's, here's my problem with a lot of things going on in today's world.

Starting point is 00:19:47 There are these things called objective facts. And when objective facts, we're sports guys, Donno, we have to live with an objective score. Whether or not a call was missed, whether or not there was like a, oh, that's a blatant, you know, out of bounds that didn't get called. At the end of the game, the horn goes off, the ref blows the whistle, the, you know, whatever happens to signify the game is over. And we look up at a scoreboard and we see one team has more points than the other team, which that team normally wins unless we're talking about golf, which we actually found ourselves talking about. Shout out the Tiger Woods kid, not too long ago. Right. So here's the thing. When dealing with objective fact of the situation with Mensa and the situation with the young man who's now enrolled at Ole Mitz. How can you call this one them walking into a bank and doing all of this stuff with no mass broad daylight, but not the guy?

Starting point is 00:20:45 The story that Dabo told about what happened with his linebacker is so fantastical. I would not believe it if I didn't understand that some humans are just very stupid. They're just very dumb. Because what do you mean the head coach sit pictures of a check to a player? A million dollar check, allegedly. But not only that, not only that, Dono, the player was dumb enough to tell the current head coach and say, well, no, I'm not going to give you this information until you give me more money. That this is

Starting point is 00:21:23 That violates literally every rule imaginable. Like that, he's enrolled in a new school, meaning he's not in the portal, meaning there's tempering going on on that front. Direct enticement from a member of the staff, which is illegal. Direct pay for play.

Starting point is 00:21:47 Because there was no, and maybe Daibo left these details out, there was no, hey, show up for Matthew, Matthews Motors and we'll give you a $2 million check. It was directly, come here and I will pay you $2 million. And we're sitting here and saying, oh, well, Miami taking Duke's quarterback was worse because he's a quarterback. I don't, what are the details?

Starting point is 00:22:13 And by the way, and like, and listen, I get, if I were a Duke fan, I would be pissed. Like, I'm not saying that I wouldn't be angry if the shoe was on the other foot. Of course. But Mensa did request before the deadline to enter the portal, and he was not currently in classes at Duke. He was down in Florida training. So it's a little different. And also people probably won't believe me if I say this, and it's fine.

Starting point is 00:22:38 But my understanding of the situation was I believe the quarterback's representatives reached out to Miami first. And I know people won't believe me. It's me covering from Miami. But that was something I heard about the situation. The thing is, Dono, the thing is we can only work with what we know. Everybody named Mama can speculate about everything, right? Somebody can speculate that Mario Cristobal paid me to say this.

Starting point is 00:23:01 And the reality is, anybody who knows me and Mario Cristobal, apparently there's a very big one-sided beef going on there. And it's not from the guy that doesn't make millions per year. I don't think he likes you very much. That's what I'm saying. I've never imagined me and Mario to be friends, especially when he was on TV weeks after ACC Media Day said, Some people thought we always had talent.

Starting point is 00:23:22 You know, I get it. I get it. But to what we have to work in is with the objective facts. And yes, as humans, we should be smart enough to draw inferences and all those things. But in situations like this, where we're talking about this situation had to be worse than this one. In this situation, if we use the same inferences that the facts alone are like the tip of the iceberg, they're not the worst parts of this. just the facts that we have been given. And again, I'm giving Davo the benefit of the dollar

Starting point is 00:23:55 because Clemson has lost other players in the portal and there has been no problems like this. There's been nothing along these lives. But in this particular instance, Davo thought I'm going to lie on this one young man and say that he told me all these things about what was going on and he was not willing to share the information with me

Starting point is 00:24:16 until I was extorted after we had already paid, him in essence. Four more. While he was on campus and that somehow worse, I do not deny Darian Minza leaving the last day of, you know, the portal. That sucks. For Duke, that is terrible. I'm acknowledging for our ACC football champions, that's a really tough deal. That's a really tough deal. And I agree. And I have given Duke the benefit of y'all fans have every right to feel how you feel about him leaving, it was objectively worse than what happened at Tulane because again, Tulane had time

Starting point is 00:24:55 to replace him into the next season. It was known as soon as that season was over, hey, y'all, it's been real, it's been fun. It ain't been real fun. I'm going to see y'all. I'm out. It's different than last day. But to say that that is somehow worse than a linebacker being enticed and telling

Starting point is 00:25:10 people, I can understand if Darien Minza came out and was telling Duke, hey, this is the offer from Miami, Matt's their offer. Their people reached out to me. Then I would say, oh, okay, this is, it's, it's very similar with some minor differences. That is not what is being purported by any side. And a buyout agreement has been reached as opposed to with Clemson and Ole Miss and this young man, where that's an ongoing situation that is still active. Nobody involved has said like, hey, we wash our hands of it.

Starting point is 00:25:41 We don't really want to get too involved in that. This thing is going to get dirty, ugly, being nasty. That's actually robbing a bank and walking out while people are looking at you. Oh, okay. It's that scene in the town where the cop sees them walking out and he just turns his head the other way. What a problem is, the cop ain't turning his head the other way. Everybody's looking at you, old miss. Everybody's looking at you. So, I mean, I don't understand how this could be worse. But again, when you don't deal in an objective fact, when you're mad because your quarterback is gone or you're mad because you hate Mario Cristobal getting line behind me, I'm just, joking. I don't hate Mario Cristball, everybody. I'm joking. You know, it appears that that's worse.

Starting point is 00:26:23 Yeah, but I think you get the nail on the head. It's a bigger, it's a bigger deal to people, the Mentsa thing, because he's a star quarterback and Luke Ferelli isn't. Like that, it just gets magnified. That's a sexier story to cover. It just is. Now, we had a great game. We're coming to you shortly after the conclusion of Pittsburgh and Stanford in the ACC tournament. That was pure theater. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACCC. We're certainly not done with Fandul. College basketball is nonstop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now Fandual is giving you a way to turn

Starting point is 00:27:09 that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost. You can build any college hoops parlay you want. Rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your read. You can mix the spreads, totals, and player props to match how you see the slate playing out, and then you can apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout. Go safe, go bold, ride with the team you've been following all season. It's your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it. Head to fendual.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:27:39 That's fendual.com. Fandual, play your game. Folks, this is the five-hour energy flavor draft with 18. different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy, there's something for everyone. The board is set. The flavors are ready. And I got my number one pick in the five-hour energy flavor job. This is a lot of pressure because there's so many great flavors to choose from. Folks, I recently tried the cotton candy flavor, and I was legitimately pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it. I felt like a kid again. It's the sweet side of

Starting point is 00:28:15 tasty caffeine, a throwback flavor with a boost. It's got that light, airy candy profile, nostalgic carnival-style taste. Give a try to cotton candy. You're going to be surprised. And, man, for a sleeper, strawberry banana, two classic flavors put together, that soft, mellow banana finish after the sweet strawberry up front. Guys, you can find your new favorite flavor of five-hour energy shots available online at five-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Thank you for making Lockdown ACC your first listen for your next list. Make sure you check out our other shows. Kenton Gibbs does a great job with Grayson Boone on Lockedon Wolfpack.

Starting point is 00:28:57 I host Locked on Cains. By the way, I think we'll probably revisit that Clemson topic, Kenton, on the squad for Locked on ACC. Brian Smith's going to be with us for that. I'm curious his take because Brian Smith hosts the portal pod. And also, I want to pick Brian's brain on whether the government can save college sports because it is getting a little out of hand with the amount of money that's being spent on football rosters. I will not lie to you. So we'll have that coming up later this week on the

Starting point is 00:29:28 squad. But what about college hoops, Kent? And first game of the ACC tournament absolutely delivered. I know you picked Stanford to win and you were really close because Stanford, you know, with, what was it, like 20, 25 seconds left took a one point lead off an and won, Ibuka, Corey, up and won to give Stanford the lead. And then Pittsburgh has the final possession. And it was really clunky, but then an offensive rebound. And DeMarco Minor hits the game winning layup. Stanford tried an inbound that was completely botched. And they weren't sure of their point four seconds left on the clock. After review, there were zero seconds left on the clock. So it turned out to be a buzzer beater by Minor for Pittsburgh. So Stanford's out, like there's no way they have an ACC

Starting point is 00:30:18 turn it. They have an NCAA tournament resume now. They would have needed to get multiple wins in the ACC tournament. Pittsburgh, they wouldn't be in the NCAA tournament, but they can be if they can make a big run and maybe win the ACC tournament. So they're still alive for that. And they're going to face your Wolfpack next. You know, you said that Brian Smith from the portal was going to be on later. So congratulations everybody.

Starting point is 00:30:43 You got Kenton Gibbs of the Dark Portal on right now. The Dark Portal. Abuka Okere, if you can hear the sound of my voice, please know you'd look good in Wolfpack, red and white. You would look great. I am not a representative of the university, therefore this is not tampering, nor is this worse than stealing a linebacker

Starting point is 00:31:05 after he's already in classes. I don't know who that gentleman was. We don't need to have him on it anymore. I never seen it before in my life. I don't know what that dark portal business was. But, you know, that was a heck of a game, man. And did not tell you before this thing even started, we're going to see a lot of these higher rated seeds pulling off some upsets

Starting point is 00:31:24 because of how deep the ACC is this year because of how good the ACC is. You know, we talked about the fact that Capel has one foot out the door, right? It's the old when Mama says, my crew, let's go, and everybody's putting their jackets on. That's where Capel was in terms of being fired. And he pulls off a magnificent upset here. Like you said, double game winners, I guess. but whoever gets the last game winner is the actual game winner situation with this Stanford game.

Starting point is 00:31:52 You know, it was a heck of a game, and I'm going to tell you, it's the first one of the day now. It's the first one of the tournament. That's what sets the pace. How are y'all going to have to follow it up? What's going on for the rest of today to follow it up? Because I'm telling you, Syracuse and SMU right now are back and forth. It's 20 to 19 at the point of recording this, and everybody thought Syracuse is done, all three is out, everything's over there, and yet we can see a team that's actually

Starting point is 00:32:21 potentially getting in the tournament being taken to the wire by Syracuse. And if SMU, and like you said, that game at the time, some of you guys hear this, that game may be over, so we apologize, but we're on during that game. I mean, Kenton, SMU is, they've been considered in, but on the bubble. I mean, if SMU loses, is there a chance they don't get into the tournament? So here's the thing. I've been, I know, I've been studying bracket. all these past two weeks.

Starting point is 00:32:48 And last weekend, every team that was on a bubble lost, every single team that was on a bubble except one or two that did not play, lost. So SMU has been given a lot of grace. This is a softer bubble. SMU just has to win one or two games. One or two games is all they need. But if you lose the Syracuse, everything's off the table. Everything's off the table at that point.

Starting point is 00:33:10 And at that point, you're praying and hoping and wishing that you get another very soft bubble week where everybody on the bubble loses in their tournaments, I doubt that happens. I doubt that happens. I doubt it too. The statistical probability of literally every team that was in the last four-in, first four-out last week lost. If it happens, again, this will be an anomaly such that whoever predicted that

Starting point is 00:33:33 needs to go buy a bunch of lottery tickets because that mega-means is falling your way. So SMU has to get this game done, but what a way to start the conference tournament. Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. it's another game where one team is looking like he may be on the outs in Forbes and another team in Virginia Tech that yes they're on the second four out but there's a tournament shot

Starting point is 00:33:56 there's a tournament shot for so this is the beauty of ACC basketball right now even our first day teams there's a chance for some of y'all to get into the tournament depending on how you act for the rest of the tournament this is a great time this is madness

Starting point is 00:34:12 this is March Yeah, and as soon as we're done with this show, I'm right back to the couch, my friends. I appreciate Kenton Gibbs, as always. Follow him on X at TJF underscore Kenton. Check him out on Lockdown Wolfpack. Check me out on Locked on Cains and follow me at Alex Dono. And we'll talk to you again next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We are part of the number one Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - DEAD: Clemson Tigers Future in Doubt as Dabo Swinney Faces REBUILD Challenge – Can They Win Again?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.