Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - Rumors Claim FSU Could Announce ACC Exit THIS MONTH? | Cal, Stanford and SMU Join ACC Officially

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

Could Florida State officially declare their exit from the ACC this month? There have been hints dropped from college football reporters and analysts, including Josh Pate from 247Sports, that something big could happen this month within the ACC. Another CFB personality claims Florida State could make some sort of move on July 13th. But what can really happen this month? The ACC and FSU seem nowhere near a settlement or a court ruling. It seems impossible that FSU could announce they are accepting a bid to a different conference without confirming tampering. Could something this big happen so quickly?Hosts Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs discuss the latest on the rumor mill. The guys also talk about SMU, Cal, and Stanford officially joining the conference as of July 1st. Kenton takes a victory lap at the rumors claiming the ACC would collapse by June 30th. That date came and went! The guys break down which of the new schools brings the most value. Kenton explains why SMU is the clear choice despite a rich history from Stanford and Cal.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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.

Well, it's officially July. And the ACC is still together, but maybe not for much longer. You are locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. And by the way, the ACC is officially expanded. On this episode, we will talk about the three new members. We're going to talk about some of the rumors that are still out there circulating with conference realignment.

And thank you so much to the everydayers for making Lockdown ACC your first listen and your first watch today. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel.

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Visit Fanduel. com slash locked on to get started. Now, remember, something we talked about a lot, Kenton and I here on Lockdown ACC, was that prediction, which gained a lot of traction on social media months ago, that the ACC would completely implode by June 30th of 2024.

Well, Kenton, it's now July 2nd, 2024. At least for now, we still have a conference. How are you? Let me tell you so. I'm great as always, Donald. I got my hennie, hen for the winning, win, win, baby. You know, this is the sweet taste of being right. Mmm.

Mm. Let me get that down. Let me get that down. Because, you know, when we said it, we were madmen. We were Utah fans. We were deniers of reality that this conference was going to be over and that Florida State and Clemson that played their last game here. And by the way, by the way,

I don't want to hear anybody coming into the comments today saying, oh, well, you know, I never said that. It is not for you. You can go back to our comments when we originally said there's no way that the conference implodes by July 1st. Go talk to those friends. Go talk to them because they called us everything but children of God, Donald. They did. They surely did. And we got receipts.

Dono's a better man to me because I wanted to go one by one for every one of y'all. Dono said that would take up too much in the show. So with that in mind, for those who did say that, for those who were so adamant, you know, hey, y'all team said you said your team was leaving and looks like you're still right here with us. Looks like the ACC is still allowed to fight another day. Well, because the way that theory went, and we covered it a little bit more detail a couple months ago, But the idea was that before the three new teams officially came in, which they're now, they're now in as of July 1st, that before Stanford, Cal and SMU, we'll talk about all them on this episode, by the way, that before they got in, that there could be a chance. Because everyone says, and I probably agree with it, that the reason why the ACC added those teams in the first place was, you know, to make sure you've got members to replace Clemson and FSU down the road.

but maybe before they came in, there were reports about there's going to be this behind the scenes vote where more than half the ACC teams were going to vote to just disband the conference and play as independence next year, that the conference would literally collapse before Calford and SMU came in. And obviously that didn't happen. Now, Kent, I don't want to, I don't want to completely rein on your victory lap here. But I don't know how long this victory lap is going to be because there are new rumors that are out. that maybe at some point this month, not saying the conference will implode, the ACC will be together in its current form for at least one more calendar year, at least one more full year, right?

But there are, there are reports now. And any time, he was very vague about it. But I take Josh Pate from 24-7 sports and CBS sports pretty seriously, right? He's good at what he does, good reputation. He's a reliable source of information. He's not like some random Twitter avatar or some bird. Like, he's not. He's not. He's good at what he's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. He's good. He's not a burner account. Like Josh paid is pretty reliable. And on a recent episode of the late kick, again, he was very vague about it, but he was saying he's hearing some buzz that something dramatic could happen within the ACC during this month of July. And he even said, which was kind of frustrating, he's more concerned with, I guess he said he's more concerned with the when

than the how, meaning he doesn't know how it's going to happen, but it may happen at some point. So a lot of folks are speculating that before this month is over, Florida State and maybe also Clemson will make some sort of declaration, official declaration, that they're leaving the conference. You know, Dono, I don't know if you've ever ghosted somebody or been ghosted. I have. Both. I've been ghosted. I've ghosted. Yeah. Maybe that girl who ghosted you, your freshman year also needs to call you up and announce that you two are no longer together. Forget the fact that you got a wife and kid, you know, forget the fact that you got a mom and mortgage. You got big kid stuff going on over there. Forget that. She needs to call to tell you.

Why am I saying that, Dono? Duh, they're leaving. That's not new. That's not a shock or surprise to anyone. These declarations, if that is the announcement, it's a non, I mean, it's a non thing, I guess. It's a, it's a, okay, I guess. I mean, I don't really know how much more we need. to see or we need to do in terms of understanding, hey, these teams have made it very clear they're going to leave the conference. Suing your conference as to whether or not they have your TV rights, if and when you leave, very clear indicator you're planning on leaving. You know, if Josh Payte has some moves, I'm excited for it. I wouldn't be surprised if he does have a potential third team to enter these lawsuits. Wouldn't be too serious.

surprised by that. But what I think is happening here is it's the middle of summer and we have to make non-story stories. Because let's just be honest. Donnell, if Clemson and Florida State both came out and said, we're leaving this conference

as soon as possible, what does that actually change? What does it change anything? It doesn't change a single thing. And I'm so glad you brought that up because, you know, obviously because at this point, yes, the board of, I'm not sure who the plaintiff exactly is for Clemson, but for Florida, for Florida State, it's the board of trustees that's suing the ACC. I would assume it's

probably the same thing for Clemson. So like the actual administration of those schools has not made any official declaration for out. Like that we're missing that. But if that were to come, Kenton, you raise a great point. I don't imagine that outside of just like making it really official that, hey, we're getting our butts out of here as soon as we can. I don't know what that really changes in terms of the timeline, okay? Because you still, we're not, unless some magical settlement happens in the middle of this month, we're still not there yet in terms of a settlement. And also, if they do officially announce that they're leaving, they definitely can't say where they're going, because if they were to come out and say, oh, by the way, we've got a bid to the big 10,

like a lot of people say, which could very well be true behind the scenes, but they can't come out and say, oh, we're going to the big 10. Because if they come out and say that, that's very, clear tampering. I mean, we can argue about how ironclad or not ironclad the grant of rights is, but I can definitely tell you if they come out and say we have officially accepted a bid to join the Big Ten or the SEC, that's definitely tampering. There's no black and white. It's all black and white. There's no shades of gray with that. Well, you know, that is, as we are seeing with these current cases, apparently there's shades of gray with everything. But again, I want to reiterate one final time, because I know that there's going to be some very smart person in our comments saying,

oh, Kent's celebrating a dying conference. I am specifically celebrating that Dono and I told people the reason that we got the hinting for the win is specifically because we said July 1st, this conference will still exist. Now, if we are talking about the different conversation of how soon these teams leave, that's a different conversation. And I have never said, I'm 100% sure. going to shake out this way or that way. I did say I was 100% sure the conference wasn't going to collapse by July 1st. I did say that and I own that. I stand on that. I stand by that. I support

that all day long, which look at that. We're past the date and the conference has not collapsed yet. But as far as the cases going on and what ends up being the situation, how soon these teams leave, I have a suspicion. I have an inkling as we get closer to those dates, I will gain more confidence or less confidence, depending on how the cases are going. But again, this is, this to me, with all the respect to pay, with all the respect to a lot of people, including our listeners, because let me make this clear. Just because I make fun of you for being wrong doesn't mean I don't respect and like you. I make fun of my brothers for being wrong.

My blood brother and my frat brothers, I make fun of them for being loud and wrong when they're that way. And they do the same to me. But please note that this is not a love lost or Donna and I hate you thing. This is a people said. Specifically, your conference was going to implode before July, and lo and behold, looks like the fireworks are going to go off before the conference. That's so interesting.

Well, and I'm going to be seeing you. We'll finally get to do some shows in person at the end of July, because we're going to be at the ACC Media Day. Now, will Florida State and Clemson still be in the conference when we do those shows? I have a very sneaky suspicion. The answer is yes. Right. Well, and it's going to be like, it's going to be like,

it's going to be like the ACC spring meetings going back a couple months ago where, obviously they don't want to be there, but they've got to show up. And the ACC is going to have to pretend. We still love you. Like they're going to have to pretend they love each other. Yeah. Yeah, it's an ugly situation. This is a nasty divorce.

But like I said, this is what do you expect, right? We've seen much. We have seen this type of deal happen anytime you're looking at two teams that we're going to have to pay half a billion dollars. what do you expect to go down in a billion dollar three-way divorce? What do you expect? Right? Like there's going to be mud slinging.

There's going to be, you did this wrong, you did this wrong, you didn't abide by these rules. You were tampered with by this, this kind of. That's the nature of the beast. But again, I am looking at this thing as objectively as possible. And I'm not seeing a path to where anybody is officially leaving before then this month. May there be an announcement? Sure. May there be a new loss?

Sure, possibly. Is there a definitive, hey, we have played our last game as a member of the ACC? Absolutely not. So again, more on the reports, rumors, and speculation of what Florida State may or may not do this month. Somebody did throw out a potential date. I want to run that one by Kenton. And, hey, the ACC, people were talking about losing teams. They've actually, they've gained three schools within the past 24 hours.

So the conference is getting bigger before it gets smaller. So we'll talk about the new members and who brings what to the table. Folks, you want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ACCC. We're only getting started on Fandual. I know the sports are not sporting the way you like them to in July because the NBA playoffs just wrapped up the Stanley Cup finals. Congratulations to my Florida Panthers for getting it done. I'm still celebrating for the past week since they got that done.

But guys, I'm still, I'm placing away. on international soccer, UFC fights. There's still a ton going on. And guys, sports, they may not be sporting as much as you like them to, but Fandual lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, Fandual is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right.

There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to Fandual.com slash locked on and start making the most out of your summer. fan dual official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Thank you so much for making this episode of Lockdown, ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. So, you know, Kenton, again, people, the rumors and the reports, the speculation going crazy on Florida State. One of the things that got people going was a couple days ago,

Florida State's athletic director Michael Alford, just with no context whatsoever on his ex account, put out the spear emoji, which is actually a shish kebab. but they Florida State adopted that as a spear. It's a kebab, but they adopted that as a spear emoji. And so the athletic, no context, just put out the emoji. I don't exactly know what he was referring to. Maybe he is referring to some, you know, big milestone that gets them closer to leaving the ACC.

But apparently Florida State that day had agreed to a contract extension with their baseball coach, who's really good at his job. So that's good on them. That may be what the emoji was about, but the emoji got people talking. Greg Swame is a reporter personality who has covered realignment a lot. And he claims he thinks something in terms of Florida State leaving or settling or something, that something could come down July 13th. So I guess we got another date circle on the calendar, Kent.

And we had June 30th. The rapture didn't happen on June 30th. Will the rapture happen on July 13th? That's the next date to watch. There is always going to be somebody standing outside saying that the world is ending, saying that it's all over, saying that this is the day, like you said, the day that the rap shop is the day that the grand thing happened. So long as we keep having people standing outside with the sign saying today is the day, somebody's eventually going to be right.

Somebody is going to be standing outside on that day where somebody's going to be standing outside on that day where it finally is over. Is July 13th the day that again, they have officially left or that something major breaks, I don't foresee that being the case. I could see, you know, them potentially hitting something really big in the case or officially announcing, hey, we intend to leave on this date. I'm fine with that. I can see that coming. And actually, it's not even about what I'm fine with.

It's more about what I anticipate happening. And that's something I can anticipate happening. But again, what does it tangibly change? Because we know that the argument is going to be, we're leaving on this date, given the court case goes away X, Y, or Z. Because Lord knows, if they lose in court, where could you go? Who wants you without your home? How do you define losing, though?

Because, like, losing would be, we can still leave. It's just going to be a lot more expensive. And we're going to have to find, you know, private equity or some creative accounting to pay a bigger buy. They're going to leave no matter what. It's just a question of how expensive is it going to be. Right. So to me, a loss is it's the most expensive.

offensive outcome possible. The half billion is what I would consider a loss, right? Anything beyond that, really anything from like 350 to that half billion, maybe even 300. Anything under that, I think the Florida State has done well for itself, all things considered, which I expect to be the case. I don't expect them to get the wheels whipped off and lose. I really don't. But if that does happen, again, you can make every definitive statement you want in the world, right? It's like, you know, I could tell my nieces and nephews, hey, uncle's going to take you to Disney World as soon as I get a million bucks. Well, I need to get the million bucks first. I can't just magically warp us into Disneyland with fast passes so we don't have to wait in line.

That's not how it works. I have to have something to get us there first. So, you know, whatever announcement comes, whatever that is, it's fine with me. None of it really matters except what happens in court. None of it. By the way, I've been to Disney World recently, and you're not far off on your pricing estimates. Well, listen, I've never been. At the end of my mind, it's one of those things that's like, hey, because you've never been,

it's as expensive as your mind makes it up to be. But that's the point here with Florida State. It's the exact same thing. You can say all day and night, we are officially leaving the conference. We'll leave in 2026. Okay, great. And what if the court says, sure, you can leave. You just got to pay, you know, not in perpetuity, but you have to pay this half a billion.

You have to pay $400 million. You have to pay, you know, $350. Then what, right? Like at that point, they already have debts that they're going to be paying off to $244. A debt, a new debt of $300 million or so, like, that's going to put you basically in debt in perpetuity. You're going to be paying for what seems at least to be in perpetuity. Because it's going to be forever in a day before you're done paying that deal all. Well, the ACC

officially welcomed on their ex account. It's still like weird seeing this. I know we've known for almost a year that this was happening. It was last September we've known. So over over half a year, but they officially welcomed SMU, Cal and Stanford. Now, SMU is officially officially in. I think for like Cal and Stanford,

like they're not officially, I guess, officially official until August, but they're still going to be at the media days coming up. So I don't know how all that works, but they're in. SMU is fully officially in now. I want to talk about who brings the most value, if any, to the ACC. We'll get to that when we come back. Keep it locked up right here.

He's Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown-Kaines right here on a brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. We love this Lockdown network, and Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. Now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channel. App. Locked-on Sports Today is here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Lockdown Plus are national shows covering every league. Find Locked-on Sports Today now available on the free Fire TV channels app. So, you know, a lot of people will quickly jump to saying SMU brings the most value to the conference and maybe they're right.

But I don't know, man. I think there's definitely some recency bias with Cal and Stanford. like recency bias in the negative because Stanford, for example, on all sports, they have more national championships than any other program in the country. So there's history there. Cal and Stanford, of course, have history with one another. We get to see their rivalry play out annually under the ACC's conference banner. And the band will not be on the field going forward. Right.

Maybe they will. Yeah, so Stanford is a rich history. Like, wasn't that long ago they had a pretty good team. I mean, you know, Jim Harbaugh was there before, before he went to the NFL, came back to Michigan, and they had some good records even for a few years after Harbaugh, you know, Cal, Aaron Rogers went to Cal. They've got history there. Marshawn Lynch, Deshawn Jackson. Yeah, Marshawn Lynch.

Yeah. And Cal is a gigantic enrollment of 42,000 students. The other schools are smaller. But then obviously, SMU, you know, they've got their history, including their checkered history. but recent history just crushed it in the AAC last year, double-digit wins conference championship. It's a program that's on the rise. And as we talked about, what was it last week, two weeks ago, Kenton, we covered all the money that they've raised for athletics in the past year.

Like their boosters and their oil money is fully mobilized now. So is the easy answer, does SMU bring the most? Or could you make an argument for Cal or Stanford? You know, Donna, when I was learning how to do math, I would sometimes, tell my mom like the answer can't be that easy it can't be you know i would often look at problems and say mom this is this is supposed to be like ahead of my grade level it can't be that easy and she says sometimes son the easiest answer is the right answer and that's what i look at in this situation smu is clearly the most valuable because like you and i have talked about a lot realignment is

definitely not driven by the country club sports with all due respect to stanford and all of their teams that do well in all of these different ways. It's no disrespect there. Cows finances are just terrible. In terms of their athletic department, their finances are like so bad. I'm wondering how they're not coming in at a full rate and can still stomach. I'm very confused by that. Don't you kind of feel like from the ACC's point of view, it's like you married somebody

and then you realize that their credit is like 300 and you're like, oh my God. like this is going to rub off on us as well. Yeah, and that's kind of how I feel about Cal. And then you're left with SMU as the obvious choice. Like you said, it's a program on the rise, you know. Again, everybody knows. Anybody who knows me knows. I love pony excess.

Shout out the shirt with Blunting Company. T-shirts on the way. But in all seriousness, you know, that's the easy answer for a reason. If we're talking about what's driving realignment, what sport is that? Football. Football is keen. That is what's bringing in the cash. Cash is king.

So if so facto, football is king. Who has the biggest or best fundraising efforts in football right now? SMU. You know, this isn't about Red Lashlin what he is or is not. This isn't about SMU's football team in terms of the players that are currently there right now, what we believe they are or not. It's a very simple matter of. There are three of y'all in the room and two of you are irrelevant.

it. That's just the reality of what this is, even though, and let me not disrespect Cal and Stanford, because they very much so could have saved the ACC from Doom and Gloom. They very much so could have done that. I don't believe that was the case. Again, I believe that ESPN has such a sweetheart deal with the ACC to where they have you over the coast. Why would they get rid of you? It literally just doesn't make sense. But if ESPN were to do that, you know, you're looking at a situation where the addishes of these teams save the ACC from that fate. So this is no disrespect to any of those teams. But if I have to say, who's the prettiest girl at the ball? It's the dancing beauty out of Dallas right now, SMU.

Yeah. I want to take a moment to appreciate the irony of this whole situation. And I'm not even saying this. Like, I'm not saying this as someone who's like standing up for Florida State and Clemson. We all understand why they want out. And I'm not standing up for the ACC, either. But it's interesting the contrast because I've been reading a lot of articles the last couple days about now that Stanford Cal and SMU are officially in the ACC. I've been reading articles, you know, local articles by their insiders and stuff, the way that they're reacting to joining the conference. And it's, it's funny how like you've got Florida State and Clemson and maybe others who like want out so badly that this conference is the worst thing in the world. And to them it is.

But then for Cal and Stanford, joining this conference is a lifeline after what happened to the PAC 12. And for SMU, it's an opportunity, right? Because it's not the Big Ten or the SEC, but it's bigger than any conference they've been in before. So it's amazing, like how appreciative. And again, I'm not injecting any sort of bias or editorial. I just, like, when I was reading some of these articles, I'm just thinking about the irony. It just take it at face value, how happy those schools are to be joined. this conference and none of them are getting a full rate by the way.

They're so happy to join the ACC while multiple schools are so eager and so bitter and want to get out. The irony is amazing how, you know, I guess beauty really is in the eyes of the beholder. Absolutely. You know, Donnell, there was a fellow Detroiter by the name of Jalen Rose who said something about faithfulness that will stay with me forever. He said, most people are only as faithful as their options are. And the reality is both the ACC and SMU and Cal and Stanford were each other's best option.

And that's how this thing worked out. Like you said, that's not to denigrate anybody. That's not to praise anybody else. That was legitimately what was in the best interest of all parties involved. This is a symbiotic relationship. Nobody's being a parasite to the other. Everybody's getting what they desire out of this deal. Stanford and Cal get to stay in the group of five or group of four.

or Power 4 actually now. Our 4. Yeah. Stefan and Kyle get to stay in the power 4 and SMU gets to jump out of the group of 5. That's just how the cookie crumbles. And again, was the ACC in an extremely strong standing before they got here? No.

But would these teams have joined in if they said this is a lateral or below move for us? No. Right. Yeah. And obviously the most valuable thing the ACC has right now, and they've got it for at least the next several years, is that automatic tie-in to the college football playoff. That your teams don't have to fight strictly for at-large bids

like the group of five does, that you, same thing with the Big 12, obviously the SEC and the Big Ten. You've got your conference winner gets an automatic bid. So that right now, we'll see how long that lasts because at some point they can renegotiate that TV deal. But for the next several years, the ACC still has that. The automatic college football playoff tie-in. So, yeah, where would you look forward to most seeing a game?

I haven't spent much time in the Bay Area where Cal and Stanford are. Dallas is a cool place. I've been to Dallas before. But I would like to catch some games, though, in Palo Alto or at Berkeley. So I am looking forward to maybe adding that to my itinerary this year. Everybody says that SMU has a terribly small stadium, but I'm like, listen, if this is a trip to Dallas? By the way, David Locking Company,

Zach Blackerby, if y'all want to come on and make sure that me and Dono get a ticket, you know what I mean? You want to make sure that we got a room. I'll go every day and twice on Sunday, okay? Dallas ain't a bad place to be. I've been worse. I've been much worse places to cover some mall, so let's do it. Yeah, no, absolutely.

So, yeah, we have new members in the ACC. We'll talk more about some of the terrible things that might happen at this conference. Remember later on this month, Kent and I will be at Charlotte for the ACC kickoff. So we'll have more content for you this week on another episode of Lockdown ACC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.