Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - REVEALED: Miami Earns FIRST-PLACE Vote but ACC Gets Only 3 in AP Top 25—Is This ENOUGH?

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

ACC football shakes up the preseason landscape with just three teams—Miami, SMU, and Louisville—cracking the AP Top 25. Can the Hurricanes live up to their No. 7 billing, and which programs are most likely to rise or fall out of the rankings by season’s end? Julian Council and Kenton Gibbs break down Miami’s championship ambitions, SMU’s explosive offense with Kevin Jennings at quarterback, and Louisville’s roster depth, raising questions about sustainability and injury risks. Clemson’s surprising position just outside the Top 25 ignites debate over Dabo Swinney’s reputation and the Tigers’ playoff relevance in the NIL era. Will NC State capitalize on a favorable schedule to finally break in, or does the “Law of the Wolf” spell another letdown? The hosts dissect key matchups, coaching storylines, and how the preseason poll sets national narratives as college football’s opening weekend approaches. 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.

The preseason AP Top 25 is out and there are three ACC teams in it. We'll break it all down 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, we are breaking down the AP top 25 as the preseason poll came out on noon on Monday. And that means that football season, college football season to be exact, is right around the corner,

only 11 days away from week zero matchups here in the ACC. There were three ACC teams in the preseason top 25, Miami, SMU, and Louisville. But as we know, there are going to be teams that are ranked today that will not be ranked at season's end. So who of those three is more likely to end the season, not ranked in the top 25? There are other teams in the ACC right outside of the top 25. Clemson is the 26th team in a country based off of votes. Who from that group will be in the top 25 at seasons? And let's start off Kenton with your thoughts on the top 25.

We talked about this on Monday, Miami. Would they be a top five team? I felt like they should be, but that they would not be. and they're right outside of the top five at seven. They did receive one first place vote. SMU is at 19. I thought they would be at 20. And then Louisville, I thought they sneak in.

They couldn't have 25 because that's Missouri spot. And what do you know, Missouri is 25. So Louisville is at 24. So three ACC teams, nine from the SEC, who didn't receive a first place vote, which is actually crazy, eight from the Big 10, four from Big 12, one independent, which is, of course, Notre Dame.

and zero from the G6. Your thoughts on the top 25, in particular the ACC, getting three teams in. Death, taxes, Missouri at number 25. Kenton, lusting after Meg the Stallion. Four things you can count on in life. Four things that you can count on as sure as the sun rises on the east

and sets on the west. But no, in all seriousness, you heard me when I was talking about the ACC and what they deserve on there. I said there better be at least two. There better be at least two because if you did, to include SMU in this top 25, there was going to be problems.

And that's no disrespect to Louisville. I like Louisville a lot. I felt like if it wasn't SMU but you included Louisville, we could have a conversation. I wouldn't go be pissed at you, but we would just have a conversation about explain the rationale to me. These three being in the top 25, I think it's a good start, but we all know how this goes, right? We all know a bunch of SEC teams that are going to say, oh, we beat the ranked team and beat number 25, Missouri. They'd never be the team to finish the season with a winning record in conference. conference. They've never been the team to finish in the top 25, I don't believe.

So, yeah, there's that. But, you know, there's a little bit of respect put on these teams' names, finally. Now, here's my thing. You've got to go out there and show and prove. And that's for all these teams. That's not just for the teams that are on the cusp, because I want you to think about this. As much as the national media has sent a blitz of NC State's going to win 10 wins, NC State is going to get 10 wins this year. Do you want to know how many, do you want to know how many top 25 votes NC State got?

Zero. Settle. Correct. Not a single one. Congratulations, if you're listening to this show, you as a human being received as many votes as NC State in the top 25 this year. You've done it.

You've done it. You've done it. You're a hard-working man, brother. You've done it. So the reality is, you know, these polls, they mean something. they don't mean the world. They're enough for me to get pissed off about it.

If you disrespect the ACC too much. But it's what we expected, right? A lot of water carrying for the SEC. Oh, yeah, they're so deep. There's just going to be so many teams from there that are going to be so good. But every time they're asked to back that up, every time they're asked, hey, we're going to put you on the biggest stage. Justify it.

They said, well, we're tired from playing all the hypothetical games, you know. Everybody else just has to play one football game. we've got to play 45 hypotheticals per week. You know how many hypotheticals? Texas had to play before they played Florida. Of course they lost to Florida. Because everybody was discussing, well, when Texas gets into the playoff,

how good would they be? So, you know, we're the conference that lining it up. We have once again proven it, or we have proved it all throughout this thing in the playoff last year. Having three teams to me is not surprising. I wish we had more to be honest. But I'll take three.

Yeah, and I don't think there has been any clear omission from the ACC. I think Louisville being in is a good sign at least the writers. And I said this yesterday, the narrative of these teams get set with the preseason AP poll. Then we play the games. And for Louisville, a big one in week one on that Sunday night. Do not get blown out. Do not embarrass yourself. Do not embarrass the league against Ole Miss, which I don't think that they will.

They're going to face off against the ninth ranked team, according to the AP. You look at Louisville, sorry, SMU. They have a big game against Florida State, say what you will, about the Knowles, who of course received zero votes

in the top 25, but that will be, I think, a pretty juiced up team on Labor Day night. And then Miami, just go do your thing. Don't have any sort of slip-ups at all,

like you did last year. Granted to two solid teams in SMU and Louisville, but I look at Miami, having that first place vote, that is a positive. They're among those top seven teams heading into the season.

They're right up there, Ohio State is ranked first, Oregon, in Georgia's third, Notre Dameus, four, Texas at five, and Indiana at six. I think clearly heading into the season, those are the seven teams that we're all looking at, and then there's a tier below those teams,

and I think Miami very clearly is in that tier of those seven teams who are going to be buying for a national championship. We'll see what SMU and Louisville can do. Now, looking at the rest of the ACC, as Clint Cass Kenton mentioned, NC State, no votes, although there's been some hype about them because of their schedule, and CJ Bailey coming back

for his third season and starting quarterback, there in Raleigh, Clemson, I was surprised by this. I did not think that they would get any level respect from the riders based off of how people have talked about them, rightfully so. But overall, like, Davoswina is not seen to be well liked by the national media and just local media who votes on this across the country. But they received a 112 votes right behind Missouri, who had 117. And they're the 26th ranked team just based off a receiving vote.

So I was surprised that Clemson was that high. And I'm surprised they got that. benefit of the doubt. Pit had seven votes that they received. Virginia Tech received six, Georgia Tech four, Cal II and Virginia won. Any thoughts on that collection as far as where they sat as far as the votes they received? I mean, it makes sense. Davo is still a national championship winning coach. Like that, at the end of the day, list all the coaches that are active in the NCAA right now that have national championships, right? You go Davo, you go Kirby, you go

Kurt I was about say you go SIG and how many more we got Ryan Day Ryan Day that puts you at four so it's less than

I mean it's not even you got to count on all your hands and toes to get there because I'm sure we're missing one or two but that's a handful of guys

that's quite literally that's five five guys burgers and fries even if we missed a couple there so I mean this it's not not like there's a ton of head coaches that can say,

I've been to the mountaintop. I know what it takes to get there. I've been there. Even if it is in the old world, right? And I know that that feels crazy to say the old world when we're just talking about pre-NIL. But, you know, if we get in the post-N-I-L, that number of coaches who won national championship strengths even lower.

A lot of these guys that are at the top of the mountain now or that are said to be there, they ain't won Jack before or after. Lannick. They ain't pissed the drop nowhere. and I know that this is first head coaching job, but you get the point. Well, that's the criticism of Davo and Clemson, though, the fact that things have changed and very clearly they have slipped in the 2020s,

where prior to that, prior to, and I'm not necessarily a Davo critic. Like, I still defend what he has done and still feel like, like we'll talk about this next week. We'll have like our preview, what we think kind of ball predictions. Like, I'm still feeling Clemson heading into the season, whether that's the right thing to do or not based off a lot what they've done. But we talk about at the time and all the past,

Like you look at recent years, it's not been training in the right direction. So that's why I'm surprised and kind of goes up with a little bit what you're saying. I know that's not what you're trying to say, but kind of is the argument that people are making. And I get you. I'm not disagreeing that Davo has done nothing in the new world. I agree. I agree. I'm not.

Nobody's going to be a more hardened disagreeer or ardent agreeer of that than me and Tyler from Spartanburg. We're probably the only two that are going down that deal. But with that being saying, Even the coaches that are said to be the it guys, the hot guys, the guys who have it all going on these days, they ain't pissed to drop. What a Sart done? What a Sark done? What a Sark done? What championship is he won? Although I believe slightly more in Sarkton, Archmanning, Archmanning, still your quarterback, buddy.

I don't give a damn. You can't convince me of this. Elaine Kiffin, you can't convince me of this. Oh, yeah, he took old Mr. Hyer Heist and never been to. has he won a championship? Has he done it? Has he done it? And we talk about who's had time

and who can do what, where if you're going to tell me that Indiana can do it, but you can't, I don't want to hear what the excuses are and all that. So again, Dabo is still a national championship

winning coach. Yes, there are questions at quarterback. Yes, there are questions about cannot receive, of course, stay healthy. Yes, there are questions about who's going to help,

will help out on that defense. offensive line. That is absolutely a very valuable question. I love me some Sammy Brown. Love me some Sammy Brown. Anybody who knows me knows that guy plays linebacker the way I like my line line back is a play. He plays with his head

on fire. He plays like he's a madman. He plays like reckless of benefit for his body. He's just, I'm going to find somebody and I'm going to hit him. Love it. Love it. But, you know, there's still those questions there, but again, dabbo is still dabo to some extent.

Until he hangs up that whistle, there will always be he is a national champion, especially while he's still at the place that he has been a national champion. Now, I will tell you, one of my hottest takes of them all, if, and this is a big if, but he ties in because his team got a top 25 vote too. If Tony Elliott finds a way to win nine or ten again, Dabo is going to agree to step down and go coach somewhere else. I'm willing to bet whatever amount of money that if Tony Elliott gets nine or ten this year, Dabo's going to agree amicably to go elsewhere. And Tony is going to step into that program.

I bet dollars to your donuts. Interesting. That is one of the scenarios of the very few that I could at least entertain as far as Dabo having an amical ball parting of ways of Clemson, and allowing a former staff to come back. So that's interesting. Okay, let's take a quick pause. Let's try to figure out of the teams in the ACC that are not currently ranked,

who will be ranked at season's end as right now, cool to be in there. But we know oftentimes these teams do not stay in a top 25 all season long. So we'll talk about that here in just a moment on the lockdown 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. easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra

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diggers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer, play ball and swing for the fences on Fandle, an official partner of the MLB. Back here on locked on ACC, the preseason top 25 is out, which means we are so close to football season. Next Saturday. we have games. North Carolina's plan, NC State, Virginia, Stanford, SSU, five teams from the ACCC. You're going to be in action in Week Zero. I have all the coverage here on Locked-on ACC. Miami, SMU, Louisville. They're in the top 25. But as we know, every single year, especially with the portal and NIL and all the roster turnover that we see year to year, it's hard to really project who's going to be there at season's end. Looking at last year's preseason AP top 25, 12 of the 25 teams were not ranked at seasons in,

including Clemson who started off the year at 4 and SMU started off the year at 16. So with that being said, of the teams not currently ranked today, who will be in a pre-season or in the postseason AP Top 25? Who do you think of these teams not rank currently has the best chance to be there at season's end? In the last 50 years, NC State has been ranked in the preseason AP poll five times ever. Okay. I'm going to read off what happened in the final poll of each of those five times. And again, the last 50 years, which would mean since 76, okay? They started off at 24, ended unranked. Start off at 25, ended unranked. Start at 16th, ended

unranked. Start at 13th, ended 23rd, start off 24th, and ended unranked. However, if you look at all the times the NC State has been ranked, which has been a lot more in all my none of those where they rank coming in to the season. It is a consistent trend. It is called the law of the wolf. When you expect the most, you get the least. When you expect the least, you get the most. I was just about to say that.

Joe Gilliope coined a phrase. So I knew that was coming to the law of the wolf. My guy Joe Giulio, every time I laugh. It's the law. It's the law. And we're law Biden citizens here in Raleigh. I think that the nation is expecting not enough out of this team right now. So I think they find a way to squeak their way in because the other part of what gets teams ranked in the final poll, you have to finish out the season strong.

This NC State team, I'm going to tell you the last four games of their schedule when you're thinking about, well, wow, NC State and ending the season, how good could it possibly be if you think that they're going to be ranked to close it out? Here's the, and again, this is not what I wanted to be. this is just what the last four games of the season are. Duke at home, Syracuse at home, Florida State on the road, North Carolina on the road. That is at least three schools that could be without a coach, could be. Not saying they will be. Three schools that could be without a coach. Two schools, that I'm pretty sure either their coach is going to be fired or they're going to be dead men walking.

And then you're going to have to deal with Walker Eaget in one of the other games. That's your last four. before a bowl game. The opportunity is there. The opportunity is there. And I think NC State takes advantage of it. Haven't lost to UNC in, what, five years now. I think they make it six because this team is worse than last year.

As an NC State's team, I believe, is a little bit better. Florida State, I mean, I think that, you know, they're going to be without a coach. And how much does that really mean the NC State? Because they got beat by Virginia Tech last year who didn't have a coach. So there's that. But I can see a world where they finish off that last four, four and no, all of a sudden, you ask yourself some tough questions,

not to mention the three games leading into that four game stretch, Wake Forest, Stanford, Cal. There's a world where they finish that thing out in a way that gets them ranked. Many work. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is a good point. I have seen, at least since a playoff poll has come

around, at least in recent years. Once the first poll comes out, you start to see that the AP poll mirrors that. So if state's not in the CFP poll, which certainly they could be, like, they're going to need to get off the ground first, big game against Virginia at Vanderbilt. I think Vanity's not going to be as good, but I don't think they're going to completely fall off in this year after Diego Pavia Louisville. Obviously, I'm pretty high on them this season. Like, there are opportunities.

I just wonder with this playoff poll, because that's going to be just how the AP is, because they're going to look at it like, oh, that's how they're going to committee feels maybe we should adjust how we feel because people can't always be free thinkers. Right now they're thinking freely. Of course. Time we get to November, they're going to just fall in line what the committee is doing on Tuesday evenings. If the committee is not valuing state, I wonder if the AP will value them.

And because of just how weak the schedule is perceived to be, does not mean that's what it will end up being, but how it's perceived to be right now at this moment, will they have the quality wins to where there's enough value in what they do at the end of the season again? what you talk about could be two zombie teams against Carolina and against Florida State. Who knows what happens to Syracuse? I think they probably bounce back to be a bowl team. And then Duke, I think clearly going to have a regression there after what happened to him on the final day of the portal. So yeah, I can, I hear you.

I think your logic is sound. I just, I question it just based off of how things have kind of trended with AP poll late in the season the last couple years as it mirrors the CFP poll. For me, I'm, maybe it's an easy cop out. I'm going to say Clemson. And they're right outside of it. I'm just not high enough on Pitt this year. I think they can get the eight wins. I just don't think Pitt's going to be a top 25 team in that scenario.

Because that's what they were last year, right? They weren't a top 25 team. Virginia Tech, I think it's a year. That would probably be the second choice. I think it's a year too early. Georgia Tech maybe could sneak in at the back there. Cal. I just, I know it's easy, but I just feel like Clemson's going to be there.

I still feel like this team has. plenty of talent. I'm not worried about the quarterback position. Actually was reading Tiger Illustrated earlier today. And they were talking about how Dabba doesn't really need a name a quarterback because everybody already knows in the building that it's a Vizina. So it sounds like it's going to be him to start off the year. And if it's not him, then that means that, because I think he's going to be fine, that Tate Reynolds really emerged and ended up being a dude for them. So I'm, I'm not ready to give up on Dabo and the Tigers, especially going into the season. I think that they still have enough on that roster. So I think

Clemson after disappointing being, and this is the first time in 15 years? They've not been in the preseason top 25. I think that's going to be enough motivation for the coach who already had the motivation and now for the players to go out there and to not even earn, maybe earning respect, but to the disrespect that they were given preseason. They're going to go out there, get that respect.

So I'm going to go with Clemson, even though it's kind of a cop out as far as the team who's like right outside the top 25. I agree with you, but it ain't no disrespect. It's not disrespect. to leave you out of the top 25 when you've got a quarterback battle, when you've got a defense that could not stop a runny nose last year when Peter Woods was off the field. By the way, their defense went for one of the top run-stopping defenses in the nation to two, one of the worst because of one player being off the field.

And quick question, Julian, where is Peter Woods going to be playing his football this fall? And the National Football League. In the National Football League. So it doesn't sound like he'll be in Death Valley, South Carolina. That's a problem. it makes sense that they're outside of the top 25. By the way, the receiving court that we said was Uber Talented last year, did they produce out of Uber Talented A,

we're a world beaters type of way? Bryant-Westco before you got her, was pretty good, and T.J. Moore, after that, was pretty good. But Antonio Williams banged up all year. That's no point. For a while for their other guy, Tyler Brown, though. I haven't seen him doing anything since 2023. And that's my point.

We talk about what this team is and what we believe they could be. and yet time and time again we are stuck here saying, well, I mean almost, well, we might get, well, it's possible to get at some point in time rubber meat road. Hey, do the thing. We can't, you know, we're talking about potential, potential, potentially. If they stay healthy, they could potentially be at some point in time you need to be potenced. But with that in mind, I actually do agree with you, Julie. I don't think that it's outside the realm of possibility that Clemson gets in here,

not only because of name recognition, but they're going to have many opportunities to get those wins that secure a top 25 spot at the end of the season. Regardless of how bad South Carolina is at the end of the season for their rivalry week game, they can go ahead and easily say, oh, we beat an SEC team, we finished out the season strong,

go on, rank us, we got Florida State's coach fire. Come on, come on, guys, we did the thing, right? Rank us. And I would not be surprised if the CFP rankings were to say, we can see it. We can see it with these tigers. Yeah. And I think too for them, the two games are going to really dictate how everyone views them is against LSU and Baton Rouge in a couple weeks and then at home against Miami.

And if they go out there, win, just to quit themselves, well, don't get embarrassed on the national stage. Then people will start to think better about Clemson. and they at least gave them the benefit of the doubt. Did not think they'd have as many votes as they do. But then again, it is pretty hard to find 25 teams are ranking this top 25. So you got to figure out, okay, who do you think actually might be able to figure it out?

And these people think at least Clemson right now is 26. So Miami's in it. SMU's in it. Louisville's in it. But by all counts, as we've seen in the past, one of those three teams, if not two of them are not going to be in the top 25 at season's end. I don't think either one is to think that Miami's not going to be in there.

So SMU, Louisville, who's more likely to not be in the top 25 at seasons? And we'll talk about that here in just a moment on locked on ACC. There are more live events than ever worth seeing right now. Games, concerts, comedy shows, festivals, the hard part usually isn't deciding what you want to attend. It's actually getting the tickets between long wait times, confusing checkout processes and surprise fees. Find tickets can sometimes feel harder than it should. That's why so many fans are turning to game time. The app is built to make buying tickets simple with upfront,

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Again, three ACC teams in the preseason AP top 25, Miami at 7, SMU at 19, Louisville at 24. So which of those three is more likely to not be in the poll at seasons? And I do not see any way, even if Darien Mincea goes out, how this team with the amount of talent that they have with Luke Nicolac quarterback cannot still be a top 25 team at the end of the year. So it's either SMU or Louisville are the likeliest of these three teams to not be in the final poll. Who do you think it's it?

Who do you think it is? Can SMU or Louisville? Well, to the great people of Louisville, let me say this. Okay. I love the city. I really do. It's like home to me. It really does feel like it feels a lot like my homeland of Detroit, Michigan.

It really does. Great people, great food. And they got all that fast food money over there. They got Papa John's money. they got KFC money and all that. And something you said, you know, I was going back and forth. I was tossing and turning about this thing, Julie. I wasn't sure which team I was going to go with.

And something you said solidified the case for me. Again, love the people of Louisville, love the uniforms, love everything about them. And that's exactly why I'm going to say that they're the team that's going to stick around in the top 25. What you told me, what you just said with even if their quarterback goes down, they'll still be in the top 25 is why I'm going Louisville and, instead of SMU. While I think that the Pony Express is phenomenal, I think their express is rolling

only because they got that signal call at Mr. Jennings as the conductor. The minute he hops off that train, it's going to get bad. And mind you, we have seen Kevin Jennings succumb to some very freak injuries, some very like, wait, you got hurt. How now?

Injury. Right now, he is sitting out scrimmages because of what happened to him, Julia? His finger. How did he hurt his finger, Julia? Someone was on the other end of the door when he was opening it, and it jammed. So, yeah, things I worry about. Honestly, one of my sneaky fears is I'm going to walk into the bathroom,

and I'm going to have somebody open the door and I'm going to, like, hurt myself. So knowing that it's real, it can happen to any of us. Happily Kevin Jennings, terrified. You might not be a former ACC football player. I believe you're enough of an athlete. If the door swing open, you go, hold on now. Let's watch out. I believe in you, Julia.

But I'm telling you right now, I think that Louisville has much too complete of a team that even if something happens to Gromondock, they'll be fine. They'll be fine. And offensively, they got weapon after weapon after weapon. Even if you talk about Isaac Brown having his injury problem to say, well, you can't talk about Kevin Jennings without Isaac Brown. Well, yes, I would wholeheartedly agree there. But Isaac Brown, even gimping, was averaging six yards of touch or six yards of carry. I'm sorry, something more like eight yards per touch last year. The kid is a freak of nature.

You're talking about the quarterback whisperer Supreme in Brom and what he, I believe that he'll do with Keen-Holtz, how he does not miss on receivers all the portal, Cleb, Lubin and company relentlessly attacking quarterbacks. I think they'll be just fine regardless of quarterback situation. And so while I do think that SMU has the higher ceiling with Kevin Jennings, if I had to pick one of these teams to be out of the top 25, we know it's part of the Brown experience.

They're going to have that one game of season where you're just like, That's not the Cardinals I've been watching all year. Who the hell are they? I still think they have enough to stay in the top 25 either way. SMU, if Kevin Jennings stays healthy, I think they'll be there. But Lord knows, one bad hit, one bad tweak, one bad doorway, apparently. All of a sudden, SMU might be in some trouble. Yeah, and if you look at these two teams,

the most likely team to be out of the top 25 by September 8th would probably be Louisville, We'll be considering that they're playing against Ole Miss there, week one. But I agree that it is SMU. I look at that schedule, and I know it just said most likely to probably be out of it for the second poll would be Louisville because they're playing Ole Miss. But I could see in a world where SMU goes to Tallahassee and loses that game on that Friday night. I am not high in Florida State throughout this season. While they may start up hot like they did last year, it could all turn around if they lose the Bama, find a way to lose Virginia. Then you have that Louisville game on the road.

they have at Miami. They have the buy. Then Clemson, it could do rail. And I'm sorry, until I see that team just culture-wise stay together under Mike Norville until November again, I have a hard time believing in them just based on the schedule that's in front of them this season. But I do believe that they could win that first game on Monday night on Labor Day. And if that happens, it's then UC Davis in and at Louisville, which I think right now,

whether SMU beats Florida State or not, that could be a game that they lose. so they could be kind of out of it pretty quickly and potentially at one and two after the first three weeks. But then the rest of the schedule, it's kind of like, who are you going to beat that that's going to get you back in there? Is Boston College, Missouri State? No, Virginia, okay, depending on how they look this year. Cal could be that Syracuse. I don't think that's going to be impressive enough for anybody out there. And then TBD on Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. And I don't think they're beating Notre Dame.

I don't, even if they beat FSU beat Louis, I don't think they're beating Notre Dame. Like that's kind of a non-sard to me. So that's the thing. You got to beat teams to be able to have respect. And if you get off a bad foot, which I think is possible. I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think it's the likeliest thing that would happen. But I think it certainly could happen.

That will make it difficult for them to get back in there at season's end. So I think it's the ponies, not the cards. You're more likely to not be in the top 25 at seasons end. All right. We got something coming up for y'all for the next week here on the show. we're going to have guests on to preview all 17 teams in the ACC. Now, fortunately, we have plenty of locked on ACC host here covering Miami, SMU, Louisville, Clemson, and all those schools.

So we're going to have them on the show to preview their schools, do a segment each, be able to split it up. We're going to do it based off of where teams are fitting in on the preseason poll. So we're going to start off SMU, Miami, in Louisville on tomorrow's show, then Clemson, Georgia, Virginia, so on and so forth. So stay tuned for that. I can have ACC preview week here starting on Wednesday all the way to next Wednesday. Then we'll have a prediction show next Thursday and then next Friday.

Thank God we'll have a week zero preview as we'll get ready for those big games next Saturday. So tune in to all that here on Locked on ACC. But that's going to wrap up this edition of the Lockdown ACC podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, where your host, as always, Julian Counsel and Kenton Gibbs. Again, y'all, 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 TGIF underscore Kittenin and at Julian Council. In the meantime, be safe. Be happy, be whole.

And we'll talk to you all on Wednesday as Miami, SMU and Louisville, our first up on preview week here on Locked on Locked-on ACC.