Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - PRESSURE: Miami Hurricanes and These Other ACC Teams Must DELIVER in 2026 or Face Fallout

Starting point is 00:00:00 These are the ACC football teams with the most pressure for the 2026 season. One of these is obvious. The others, not as much. You are Locked-on ACC, 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.

Starting point is 00:00:34 We're part of the number one Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. He is Kenton Gibbs, former NC State defensive linemen and co-host of Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono, host of Lockdown Cains, and today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. The winter games are on, and there's no better way to follow them than with a bet on Fandual. Fan Duel, play your game. On this episode, we'll talk ACCC hoops, and don't worry, Kenton. We can slander the North Carolina tar heels today. My Miami Hurricanes handed them an L last night in Coral Gables, and it was a great crowd, which is always nice to see for Miami Hoops.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Florida State has landed the top 2027 recruit, and Mike Norvell had nothing to do with this one. But let's talk some football before we go a little off the map in the later segments. All right, so Kent, in terms of ACC football teams with the most pressure for next year. Now, I would say by and large, when I look across the 17 teams in the conference, a lot of them I kind of feel like are playing with House Money in 2027, or sorry, 2026 with a few exceptions. An obvious exception is the team that I cover in Miami. You just landed Derry and Mensa to be your quarterback for next year.

Starting point is 00:01:56 you stole him from a conference rival in order to do that. That creates pressure. Coming off a national runner-up season with the expectation to compete for that again. And, oh, by the way, Miami's going to be favored to win the ACC, despite the fact that they've never won the ACC before. So there's a ton of pressure in Coral Gables, but who else do you put in that category? Well, there's a team that nobody seems to be talking, excuse me, there's a team that nobody seems to be talking about in terms of pressure,

Starting point is 00:02:24 because people think they're playing with house money. But one thing I tell people all the time is when folks put in actual money, it's never house's money anymore. Virginia Tech has more pressure than people realize. They have a lot more pressure to perform than people realize. I want you to think about every first year head coaching the ACC right now. If Stanford goes four wins, are people like, what the hell is going on?

Starting point is 00:02:50 We got to get rid of this guy right now. Yeah, four wins sounds about right for them in the first year. J.K.S. and company, if they go four to six wins, are people like, we need to hire, fire him immediately. This first time head coach needs to go. Yeah, they're going to give some grace to Poy there, for sure. Okay. So then you say to yourself, Brett Lashley, just read up last year, this offseason, actually. He's not going anywhere. He's not going anywhere. And so then you say, well, the team's at the top of the conference last year, Mario, as much as people love to say Miami has the most pressure in the conference,

Starting point is 00:03:26 what Mario did with Miami during that playoff run alleviated a ton of that, in my opinion. Because don't get me wrong. Miami fans are always going to be a little insane. They can be coming off a national championship if people would be looking at it. Do it again. Do it. Do it again. But in terms of everybody sitting here and saying like, okay, you need to be above,

Starting point is 00:03:47 definitively above the level you were last year. I think that Virginia Tech is by far. The only team that I would say, the expectation is like, dude, from where you were last year, you better get better or else. All these other schools, for the most part, they don't really care about football like that or they got new coaches. Nobody's really looking at them in that way. But in Blacksburg, they love the Hokies. That's all there is for miles. And so it's tough for me to say somebody has more pressure, especially as a first year,

Starting point is 00:04:20 coach and James Franklin. I just don't think that the pressure there is going to really hit the first year. I think that they were, they were bad enough during, uh, the Brent Pry era that it's like it lowered the bar so much that I, I think the pressure cooker is really going to start simmering for Franklin second or third year. But now, like for me, I'm actually surprised you didn't go in this direction. I've got to think there's a ton of pressure for Clemson because. Like, Dabo can't keep coasting, right?

Starting point is 00:04:54 I mean, they're coming off a seven and six year. Like that, that should be unacceptable for the standard that he built there. Now, seven and six last year, it doesn't get Dabo Sweeney fired because he did so much for that program. One, two national championships, like made, made that program relevant in a way they had never been before. But it's like at a certain point, like you can't keep coasting and winning seven, eight games. Like there's got to be the expectation there for him to get. And I say this even though they kind of backed their way into a conference championship two years ago. So it's not like they've been bad for multiple years.

Starting point is 00:05:32 But, you know, this is like the past four years since the NIL and transfer portal era have ramped up. Dabo seems to be getting left behind. I don't think a lot of people realize this. Dabo has, and a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one. And I, until I see evidence to the contrary, I'll start. and tent toes down on this. Dabo has reached living legend lifetimer status.

Starting point is 00:05:56 He has. You think so? He has. Quick question, Dono. Before, okay, who has more national championships? Clemson Post Daubo Sweeney's hiring? Clemson Free Davos Sweeney's hiring.

Starting point is 00:06:08 Post. I mean, we're talking about a down year. Two years ago, they were in ACC championship, made the playoff game, threw more touchdowns against Texas, then their entire regular season schedule did. So don't get me wrong.

Starting point is 00:06:24 I'm not denying that there is pressure in Death Valley. But if I'm talking about the pressure that puts your job under either your fired or instant scrutiny, obviously Florida State is a different situation. That's a lame duck coach. Nobody wants them there. You know, it's clearly going to be the end of the line there. But when I look around and say, who has the pressure of they're going to be fired right the way, if they don't do this job well and the expectations are high there, I don't see

Starting point is 00:06:52 that many, that many schools popping out. I don't either. But when you look at what Virginia Tech has historically been and the historic investment that just came, that's the other part of it. That's the biggest part of it for me where I say, okay, they kind of are that school. NC State, my alma mater has not put in more money than we've ever seen and said, hey, Dave Norton, you've got all of the resources now. You're up, you're resourced up there with the best of them.

Starting point is 00:07:19 Go figure it out. No, he's still, brother, we, we got $3 for you. Figure it out. You know what I mean? Like that's, your budget is your budget. Figure it out. So ultimately, I look around the conference and I say at the top, you've got Miami, who I think crystal ball lowered, although, you know, externally people say there's a lot

Starting point is 00:07:39 of pressure, I highly doubt the AD looks at making any type of move regardless of the You know what? You're 100% right about that because like there's nothing, you know, coming off a runner up finish. There's nothing Christabal could do in 2026 to make anyone in the administration say, oh, we need to fire this guy. Like there's nothing. Like, you know, had Miami gone, you know, eight and four last year and not had a meaningful postseason, then yeah, like the seat would have gotten a little hotter bit. But like he bought himself a ton of grace and he earned the season last year. Exactly. He bought himself some grace. Dabo, I think, is at the point where he's going to retire from there.

Starting point is 00:08:18 He's going to leave. I don't think they're going to fire him. I think if anything, worst case scenario in a couple of years, he says, I'm not the guy for the job anymore. And they have a mutual separation type deal. But I think at minimum, Dabo has earned that benefit of the doubt to where it's a situation that the other part of why nobody is expecting too much out of Dabo. Last year was the year. The pressure was on this year, this past year. This year, who are your stars defensively that you're like, hey, this guy's going

Starting point is 00:08:50 to be early, first round drive pick? Who are your stars that are to that level? Offensively, do you have a Heisman candidate? No. The wide receiver room was exposed to be, man, had a lot of injury problems. Guys couldn't stay on the field and all that. I don't think that the Clemson fan base is expecting a traditional, you know, Deshaun Watson A walk through that door.

Starting point is 00:09:11 Lawrence ain't walking through the hell Kelly Bryant ain't walking through that door with all due respect you know so I think that Clemson fans are kind of giving this year much more of a like obviously we're still Clemson we still want to win at a high level but in this new era there's more parity there's more teams fluctuating up and down than ever I think they'll they'll be willing to give a little bit of grace and here's the thing when I talk about Virginia tech in this way people are going to look at me and say well can you jane's franklin didn't get fired after year one I absolutely agree, but I'm saying in terms of pressure relative to what's expected for where you are, there is no other first year head coach that people are going to look at and say,

Starting point is 00:09:52 wait a minute, you could get to a bowl game? Oh, no, oh no, there's a problem here except him. He's the only one that I think people will be looking at in that way. I mean, who else, Dono, what other first year head coach would you say they're going to be tasked with at minimum, get to a bowl game at their new spot? First year, none, but I want to run one by you when we come back of a second year coach and program that surprisingly enough neither of us brought up in the first 10 minutes. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC.

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Starting point is 00:12:34 Thank you for making Lockdown ACC your first listen. And if you're an everydayer, make it official. by joining the Everydayer Club. When you join the Everydayer Club, you get exclusive, ad-free versions of our episodes, Discord, chat, access, other exclusive perks,

Starting point is 00:12:50 and you can pick the shows you want. Locked on ACC, locked on Wolfpack, Locked on Cains, and all the other awesome shows. Go to Lockedonpodcast.com slash everydayer and join the Everydayer Club today. You know, Kent,

Starting point is 00:13:05 and all the talking we did for, you know, 10 minutes about various teams. Neither of us brought up Bill Belichick and the North Carolina tar heels. Like is this, is this like a, you know, win some more games or go home and ride into the sunset type of situation or maybe they kind of force you out if you don't, you know, have better than like a four or five win season? Like I don't even know what the expectation is because by and large, they started playing

Starting point is 00:13:34 slightly better ball late in the year, but by and large, 2025 was a train wreck. for the tar heels and Bill Belichick. You're talking about a, you know, he's not a Hall of Famer yet because they're punishing him, the Hall of Fame voters, but he's going to be a pro football Hall of Famer. He's the winningest,

Starting point is 00:13:50 in terms of Super Bowls, the winningest coach in NFL history. Like, I don't know, man. How many games should North Carolina be expected to win this year? North Carolina is in the same boat as Florida State. They just don't realize it. People are not willing to say it out loud. They're in the exact same bowl.

Starting point is 00:14:06 I tried to warn everybody, and people thought I was being a hater. I tried to warn. Even I thought you were being a hater, and then I realized Kenton knows things. I tried to warn everybody. Last time we saw him coaching, the game looked like it passed by. He never coached in college. All of his moves as a GM in his last job were all. Cole Strange was a first round draft pick because of him.

Starting point is 00:14:33 Every other team was the Rams literally. Sean McVay, literally, live in real time, laughed and said, didn't we have like a fourth round grade on that guy? And Bill Belichick took him in the first. I did not know. I felt like I was in a bizarre world because I'm like, okay, there's a problem here. But I think the rest of the nation realizes it. I think the rest of the nation is now accepting of the fact this was an experiment that was doomed to fail from the beginning. And then you add on the additional layer of off the field stuff that's.

Starting point is 00:15:06 been going on since he touched down on campus. And it seems very clear to me, there is no redeeming this. There is no saving this. And don't worry, C.J. Sadler, you're my boy. We got a space for you at NC State when that team goes up in smoke. We got a space for you, man. You can play both ways here. I'm sure Dorda let you play corner and receiver. You got the goods to do both. You know, it's not tampering. I'm not affiliated with the university. But yeah, it just, it seems to me to be that, you know, UNC is in that same position that many people are accepting it. If this was a situation where people had expectations for Bill Belichick, like people in mass still believed after last year, I would say it's different.

Starting point is 00:15:50 But for me, this feels like saying Bill O'Brien has pressure. No. Nobody expects anything. It's just, oh, yeah. If UNC wins and gets to a bowl game, good for them. But I highly doubt it would happen. All right, we're about to make history on Locked on ACC because this is the first time. I would assume, now I haven't done this show for the whole, for the full history of it,

Starting point is 00:16:14 but I would assume this is the first time ever on Locked on ACC that we're about to talk college golf. Do you think that's fair, Kenton? Yeah, yeah. Now, if there ever was a day to talk some ACC golf, this is the day. And it might not be the last because the Florida State Seminoles. Now, I know Mike Norvell has struck out, you know, more than his share of times on the recruiting trail. But whoever the Florida State golf coach is, I probably should have looked up that name before we started this, landed a big fish, okay? The Florida State Seminoles today, Wednesday, landed a commitment in the class of 2027 from Charlie Woods.

Starting point is 00:16:57 And yeah, that's the Woods family. Tiger Woods's younger son, Charlie Woods, who's going to enroll at Florida State in 2027. And, you know, as you would imagine, he's an excellent golfer. I've seen his stats, you know, high school golf in the various tournaments he's done. The apple didn't fall far from the tree on that one. Charlie is a very good golfer. And like Kenton, the significance of this is really massive. Now, you know, obviously when you carry the Woods name, there's always gravitas to that, right?

Starting point is 00:17:29 But if this were to have happened like before the NIL era, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, hell even six or seven years ago, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. But I'm looking at some of the business reports. And Charlie Woods is projected to become not surprisingly the most marketable college golfer of all time. And he's going to, I'm sure, have the largest golf NIL of any player that's stepped foot on a college camp. as before. So like this is truly massive for Florida State. Like in this era of marketability and name image and likeness to have a hot shot like Charlie Woods playing for your golf team, you know, we, the big story dropped about a week and a half ago about how Florida State's athletic department is $437 million in debt leading the entire nation in athletic debt.

Starting point is 00:18:24 I'm not saying Charlie's fully going to pull them out of it, but being able to have Tiger Woods his son selling merchandise for him. It's a nice start. This is going to help Florida State balance those books a little bit. It surely should. And here's one of the worst parts about it. His dad is an ACC legend. His dad is a Stanford Cardinal.

Starting point is 00:18:49 Right. What happened to the original plot of the movie? Stanford lost their juice. This was a layup. Like you can't get the son of your most legendary college golfer. You can't get him to go there? I would make the argument that he's their most legendary athlete, period. I think he beats out Elway.

Starting point is 00:19:10 Yeah. I think he beats out Elway is their most legendary. Beets out Elway, beats out Andrew Luck. Oh, Luck's not even in the conversation with all due respect. Love you, Luck. But he's not in the conversation of guys who were seen at like, hey, you're the best of what you do in the world for a significant period of time. It's a very interesting thing because, you know, NIL is now being passed at the high school level as well in multiple states. And so we're seeing this professionalization of sports at younger and younger ages, but not only that, we're seeing more and more marketing ploys being sent out for different sports.

Starting point is 00:19:46 And Charlie Woods is a perfect example of that. We are talking about golf. If somebody came up to me today and said, Kenton, what is your hand? Handicap, I would say, actually, I don't need any type of assistance or accommodations based on any type of being this differently able. And yet, like, very seriously, Donald, if somebody told me like, hey, what does handicapped mean? I would have to guess, like, oh, I would assume that means, like, you're bad. So you get, like, extra strokes that, like, don't count. That's what I would assume it means, because that's how it's generally used.

Starting point is 00:20:20 Because of the context school, I know nothing about golf. But I know that Charlie Woods is going to be a young man that the name, image, and likeness literally is going to be worth a lot more than a lot of guys who play sports that are a lot more useful. If I was put in a time machine and, you know, push forward just a few years to where I was coming out as a football player, don't get me wrong. I was pretty good. I still have the sack record at Cass Tech. It's safe. It is very safe from what I hear these days. And guess what?

Starting point is 00:20:52 For you. Guess what? I wouldn't be nowhere near as valuable as Charlie Woods. Okay. Nobody would look at me and say, well, he's from a football powerhouse and he's the sack record. They would look at me and say, so wait, you, who Gibbs?

Starting point is 00:21:05 Are you related to Joe Gibbs? Are you, what's going on here? Which clearly, no relation to Joe Gibbs, everybody. But, yeah, no way, shape, form, or fashion would I ever compete with Charlie Wood. So I think that this story is about a very good golfer, but it's also about the ways in which NIL is changing the entire landscape of what's possible for a lot of these athletes. By the way, I found the name of Florida State's golf coach.

Starting point is 00:21:29 Trey Jones. Trey Jones. Yeah. So how did you, you looked it up or you just knew? I looked it up. Okay, okay. I was going to say, when we were talking about this pre-show, I said, I know nothing about golf.

Starting point is 00:21:40 Let me find out something. And then I had to re-look it up. You know, you remember a couple years ago, when, when Mike Norvell after the two and 10 season, like he took some of his salary and put it into the the NIL coffers. Like this year, Mike Norvel should take a couple of mill from his salary and just give it to Trey Jones. Because I can't imagine Trey is making anywhere near what Norvel is making.

Starting point is 00:22:05 But he's out recruiting Norvel. Mike Norvel, don't you listen to Dono. You are about to be in an unemployment line, brother. Hey, man. You are about to be collecting them little two-week checks that it's supposed to be a third of your salary. It's not going to be that. It's not going to be that.

Starting point is 00:22:21 Okay. Don't you listen to Donna. keep that money. You save that money, okay? Donno is telling you that as a Miami fan. I'm telling you as your boy, if you want to throw me a couple of duckets as your financial advisor, don't you get no money to golf. They go get the money they need, okay? You just worry about, you know, hey, again, we have a spot for you, Norville. As soon as everything goes downhill, officially there, we need a coach. Everybody says you need a media guy, a former player, a former coach. We got two-thirds of the equation, Donald.

Starting point is 00:22:53 We got two-thirds of the equation. Norvelle, you will complete us. Valentine's Day, let's get you the hearts. You complete us, Norville. Come on. But don't you listen to Donnell. You save your money. Well, I know we're never going to get Tray Jones,

Starting point is 00:23:08 because I think he's going to get a lifetime extension there. Like, he's never going to be available to locked on. Trey Jones just did more for Florida State this week than Mike Norvelle has done in six years. Well, let's be fair to Norvelle. You know, there was the snow. year. That was a great year for Florida State football up until it wasn't. But, you know, I will say, aside from that year, that year aside, yes, Trey Jones has done more for Florida State Athletics, especially considering what Florida State's football standards were. And I looked it up. The golf,

Starting point is 00:23:40 the golf team, Florida State's golf team, I think it was 2024. They were the national runners up. So like Mike Norville was never a national runner up. So Ray Jones, that's the guy. Yeah, yeah, well, you know, we're going to find out if Tray Jones can get them over the hump to a national championship here. We'll be talking college golf for the second time ever on Locked on ACC as Charlie raises the cup. And, you know, Donald might even wear Florida State gear. I'm joking. I'm joking. It's like crazy. But I will, you know what, I'm going to say it'll probably go unread, but I am going to send Charlie Woods a direct message and see if he wants to join us on Locked on Lockedney.

Starting point is 00:24:19 I'm probably going to get bounced into his spam folder. But I will reach out. I will reach out to Charlie. And I'll reach out to Trey Jones, too. And listen, the thing is, if y'all probably don't know this, but us locked on ACC guys, we try for the big fish. I have talked. I have talked to our commissioner, Jim Phillips, in person. Yeah, we got to open that one again, because I think I may have fumbled that with the assistant, but we got to try to open that one up again. See, now I'm finding out don't know fumble. See, I think I've fumbled it. That's the beauty. We go go for the big fish.

Starting point is 00:24:52 and we will follow up on communication this time. And hopefully we can get our boy, Trey Joles, our boy Charlie Woods, our boy Jim Phillips on the show to talk about what's going on. Well, I'll tell you what's going on. Miami Hurricanes may have solidified entrance into the NCAA tournament last night.

Starting point is 00:25:11 And Kenton, Kenton was all about the you last night based on Miami's opponent. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. I'm Kahlia Butler, host of locked on women's basketball. And this is Mazda's women's basketball snapshot. Celebrating the work no highlight reel can ever capture. Don Staley and South Carolina remain on top of the SEC standings after handing Tennessee their worst defeat in program history with a final score of 93 to 40. In the 43 point win, South Carolina shot 69 percent from the field. Tessa Johnson had a perfect shooting night scoring 24 points, shooting four.

Starting point is 00:25:54 for four from the floor, including two threes, and made all four of her free throws. And UCLA remains undefeated in Big Ten play topping Michigan 69 to 66 as player of the year contender Lauren Betts put up a double double scoring 16 points, collecting 16 rebounds, and adding five assists and three blocks. 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 defined the moment, putting in the work, that defines you. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Thank you so much for making Locked on ACC your first listen for your next listen. Make sure you check out

Starting point is 00:26:44 our other shows. Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone talk all things NC State on Locked on Wolfpack. I talk all things Miami on Locked on Cains. I had a big win to break down last night, Ken. And it was a must win. And I, I give Jay Lucas so much credit, Miami's men's basketball coach, you know, former top assistant for John Shire at Duke. It's a first time head coach. And when he got to Miami, Kenton, last April, Jay Lucas had zero players on his roster. Like there were, there were no holdovers from the Jim Laranaga era, had to get all transfers, true freshmen, including a blue chipper, Shelton Henderson that he flipped from Duke, you know, a guy like Malik Renew, who transferred in from Indiana, has been Miami's leading scorer and best player for most of the season.

Starting point is 00:27:33 And in certain ways, like I kind of feel like we pick up where we left off from the good days of the Jim Laranega era, where, you know, heading into a tough game like last night against UNC, it really was a must win because Miami needed a quad one win in the worst way. And I was really confident even before the game that Miami was going to get it. And then in the game, Kenton, you know, they had a couple of big leads that slipped down to one point leads and a tie in the second half. But Miami never trailed in the game. They played lights out defense to hold UNC to 66 points when they average almost 85 points per game. Like that was a tremendous performance. And it's probably exactly what Miami needed, Kenton, for a team that was on the bubble. I think they're no longer on the bubble after that one.

Starting point is 00:28:21 You know, people think that I'm so excited about this win for Miami because I'm an NC state guy. And, you know, they beat UNC, of course. But that's not why, Donald. That's not why it's a little bit of why. I'm not going to lie to you all. And I don't blame you. But here's the other part of it. Miami securing and locking up what is like, hey, you're on the inside now.

Starting point is 00:28:44 You're in the club now. Just don't fall on your face for the rest of the season. And you will get home to a, you know, appearance in the big dance, especially in year one of, of, you know, the J. Lucas era, that's a hell of a way to start this thing off. And so ultimately, when we talk about the number of ACC teams in and how many are in, how many are out, North Carolina didn't get knocked out by that loss, period, right? Like the seating might get knocked down a little bit if the tournament started tomorrow, sure. But the actual, if we're talking, are they in, are they out? Where's

Starting point is 00:29:19 North Carolina, they're still firmly in. So I'm always going to be on the side of, hey, we need more teams firmly in. And I know, some people are going to say, well, Kenon, that's going to be put to the test in a major way because Miami's going to NC State next. And what if they beat you all? We got to do an extra episode for that, for sure. Hey, listen, I'm more than happy to do so. And I will be wearing my slob or wolf as well, because this is, this is a wonderful sweater. It's a wonderful sweater. It really, it truly is. But, you know, I really am excited for the fact that ACC play from top to bottom. I mean, what a fool I looked like after yesterday saying, man, these teams,

Starting point is 00:29:57 these are probably going to be blowouts and da-da-da-da-da. And lo and behold, this is not what happens. But also, this is what I've worn teams of yesterday. You got to put these teams away. Miami had a wonderful crowd and they fed off the crowd's energy. It was clear that UNC had a little bit of a malaise from beating, you know, Duke. in Chapel Hill. It was clear that this was one of those moments of Miami, right place, right time, show up,

Starting point is 00:30:25 do the work, and you will get the reward. And that's ultimately what happened here. So shout out to Miami. Again, I'm all for a lot of these teams that are on the bubble and all that, pulling off these big upsets and whatnot, because I love to see more ACC teams in. And this is the deepest and the best the ACC has been in quite some time. Yeah, you're right. it was a great crowd, which I always love to see in Miami basketball.

Starting point is 00:30:50 And it's like, you know, Miami sports, no matter what team it is, it's the same thing. If you put a winning product on the field or on the court, you're going to sell out your building, right? We see that when the football team is playing big games. The Miami Heat had one of the longest sellout streaks in the NBA when they were at their peak. Like, people will always show up when you're good and when you're playing a big game. You know, the Watsco Center was standing room only. It's not a big building, about 8,000, but they had to. a tremendous crowd. And so after the game, Kenton, there was a court storming. But it was like,

Starting point is 00:31:22 it was the respectful kind of court storming where I, because I haven't seen anything today about Miami getting the $50,000 fine. Because like when UNC stormed the court after beating Duke last weekend, it was like within 24 hours, it was like the top story on theaccc.com. We have fined UNC $50,000 for our, you know, our game safety policy. I think Miami had such a respectful court storming. I think they might have given UNC enough time to get off the court that they may have avoided the fine, which is like some people might say, hey, that's kind of a weak court storming, but hey, if you can have your cake and eat it too and not get fine 50 grand, I'm all for it.

Starting point is 00:32:06 I'm always going to be okay with courtstorming, field storming, all that. I just, I strongly believe that there should be escorts for the. players and the coaches off the field. You know, like if you know whatever the situation is, you get dominant, just leave. Just leave, you know, have those escorts and get off the court, get off the field, whatever the case may be. But again, I'm glad that the court storming did not detract from this game. And I must give UNC credit.

Starting point is 00:32:33 My heart heard a little bit saying that, but I must give UNC credit for the fact that there was no complaining. There was no alleged staffer who had a busted lip and a black guy and they had. had a lacerated liver and their ankle was crushed and trampled. You know, there's there's no video evidence of that ever happening for Duke. And yet that is a thing being reported. And let me also say, we all know that even in 2026, everything is not caught on camera all the time, but it just seems like a very frivolous thing to kind of pop out with to

Starting point is 00:33:07 detract from that, you know, what was a heck of a game and a heck of an ending. And I'm glad that that didn't happen with me. Miami and UNC. I'm glad that it stayed with on the court. And the story of the game was Jay Lucas's game plan. The story of the game was Miami's resilience to continue. Every time UNC

Starting point is 00:33:25 battle back, they said, all right, it's okay. We're going to take the punch. We're going to get up off the mat. We're going to get up off the mat and we're going to keep rolling. So shout out to the hurricanes here. Like Donald said, last night, I was all about you, baby. I was all about the game.

Starting point is 00:33:41 Well, another thing, like you talked about you, UNC not complaining about, like, you know, the court storming. I also, I give Hubert Davis a lot of credit because I watched a little bit of his postgame presser, and he didn't make any excuses. Like, he wasn't like, oh, well, you know what? We lost because of this and we were sluggish. No, like, he gave Miami full credit for showing up and playing a tremendous basketball game. And I always love that because I, you know, I've been on both sides of that, Kent. And I remember, you know, after, you know, month. a month or so ago when Miami beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl,

Starting point is 00:34:18 and then I hear Ohio State players after the game saying, well, if we played 10 times, you know who wins nine of those? Like, knock off the nonsense. Take your L like a man. And Hubert Davis did that last night. A huge thank you and shout out to all the everydayers. Make sure you check out the Everydayer Club. You can hit the link in the show notes below.

Starting point is 00:34:38 And make sure you follow Kenton at TGIF underscore Kenton on X. And on Locked on Wolfpack, you can hear me on Locked on Canes 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. The love affair ends on Valentine's Day, Dono.

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