Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOCKER: Surprise ACC Football Contender vs Teams with NO SHOT | Kirby NIL Hypocrisy

Starting point is 00:00:00 How many teams can truly compete for an ACC championship in 2025? Here's some that have high boom or bust potential. 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 and your first watch. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team,

Starting point is 00:00:36 every day. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes. Today's episode is brought to you by Game Time, the only ticket app that we use. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code Lockdown College for $20 off your first purchase. On this loaded episode of Lockdown ACC, we'll talk about an SEC coach complaining about NIL. The timing is interesting. But let's talk about the ACC championship picture, Kenton. As we headed to a 2025 season where we know the Clemson Tigers are favored, like how many teams would you consider in addition to Clemson to be like legitimate? I can see these teams as contenders.

Starting point is 00:01:20 How many others and which ones? Outside of obviously Clemson, I think you've got a few teams that you can look at there. Obviously your team, Dono, you know, you're bringing back an offensive line that's very deep, very experienced, all like that stuff. Your run game is going to be there. The only question that you have is about the, you know, the back end of the defense more than anything else because we all know Hurricane Bain is going to be healthier and better than he was last year. You look at SMU as a team that can potentially repeat and say, you know, we're back. We are a team that can reload and we don't have to rebuild.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Louisville is a team that I think, again, you talk about what travels, run game travels. They can go anywhere with that run game. in the ball game and i'm going to tell you addition by subtraction tyler shuck being out off that team helps them out i'm sorry to say it i know people don't want to hear it but it really and truly does so i think those teams are the top end like hey they definitely have the potential georgia tech if everything falls right is another one that i look at and i say hey you could end up there you could end up in that in that uh big game there and i think that those are the only teams that I would say, like, I wouldn't be shot to see them in the

Starting point is 00:02:36 ACC championship. If I was to see a Virginia Tech there, I'd be shot. I'm not going to lie to you. If I was to see an NC state and UNC there, I'd be shot. If I was to see the Boston College, Eagles there, I would want somebody to wake me up because I'd have to be dead. I would have to be in the lowest circle of hell in order for that to happen. But in all seriousness, you know, I think that those are the teams that realistically have a shot at. Yeah, and the odds back up what you're saying. You know, Clemson have a nine and a half win total over under, according to Fandul, which leads the ACC. But then some of the other teams you mentioned, Miami, Louisville, and SMU are all at eight and a half, which are the next highest.

Starting point is 00:03:16 And I believe Georgia Tech, I'll double check this, but I believe Georgia Tech is seven and a half. And I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think Georgia Tech can be, yeah, seven and a half for them. I think that they can be a dark horse because they have a lot of the ingredients, including the quarterback, who I can't believe still has eligibility left. Haynes King is like, is he Cam McCormick 2.0? Is he six, seventh year guy at this point? But that experience could take them a long way.

Starting point is 00:03:41 And on the flip side of that, you mentioned a couple, like, who would you say are the teams where, like, hell would have to freeze over before they win an ACC championship? You mentioned if you, I'll throw in Stanford as another one. And I'll throw Cal in there as well, but Stanford even more so. Three and a half wins over under. They've got an interim coach who knows he's not going to be there for more than a year. It's a mess.

Starting point is 00:04:04 If Stanford ends up in the ACC championship game, you have my word right now. I will personally buy an Andrew Luck jersey and tweet out at least once a day, every day leading up to the ACC championship the week before, a new great fact about Andrew Luck. And the last day will be Andrew Luck is my biological father. I will not hear any arguments about this. I will think that every single day, followed by that the Friday or the game day, actually, of the ACCC Championship. Because there's no way that happened.

Starting point is 00:04:41 They don't have the talent. They don't have the coaching. They don't have the infrastructure. They don't have the excitement. There is literally nothing that they have. But I'm going to tell you another team that is in a similar category, and they're not going to want to hear this. They're not going to want to believe me. But I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:04:56 I'm not doing Groundhogs Day no more. I feel like Bill Murray waking up every year said, oh, Kyle Rine drones going to do it this year. Oh, yeah. It's pretty good this year. The Virginia Tech Hokies would need an act of God to get to the ACC championship. They're not doing it. It's not happening.

Starting point is 00:05:13 Yeah, both Virginia teams, UVA and Virginia Tech are six and a half over unders. I feel like at least one of them is going to go under the six and a half. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm not sure which. I don't think they're both going to win more than six games this year to hit that over six and a half. I want to get to, and I was actually inspired. I want to give credit where credit is due because I go deep when it comes to my ACC research. And I was on Fighting Gobbler.com, which, as you can imagine, is a website that covers Virginia Tech.

Starting point is 00:05:45 And they brought up an interesting scenario here on teams that can potentially win the ACC if everything goes right. them, right? Not talking about the favorites, not talking about your Clemsons and your miamys, but teams that are in that meaty part of the bell curve, where if a couple of player acquisitions work out for them, maybe a couple of, a couple of referee calls go their way, a couple of close games that they can actually contend. Where do the Florida State Seminoles fall on that list? You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Lockdowne-ECC. These days, the days are literally getting longer. The weather's warming up and people are spending more time outside, which means it's the perfect

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Starting point is 00:07:36 North Carolina State. I cover everything Miami on Locked-on Cains. So, all right, tell me, Kenton, if you agree, we can do a few of these at a time. The Fighting Gobbler considers these six to be teams that they have a chance of winning the conference, but everything has to go right for them. And I would say there's a lot of volatility with these teams. There is boom or bust potential. the first one that they list are the Florida State Seminoles.

Starting point is 00:08:04 They say, does anyone really think the Seminoles are going to finish at the bottom of the standings again? Highly unlikely, and it would be shocking if FSU did not even become Bull eligible. Boston College Transfer quarterback Thomas Castellanos has been brought in to lead the offense. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in there. A strong start to the season is a must for Florida State to get the brutal taste of 2024 out of their system. And Kenton, I agree, they're not going two and ten again. And they're over under is, you know, considering how bad they were last year, it's probably, you would say, shockingly high at over under seven and a half,

Starting point is 00:08:41 which has them in the third highest group in the conference. I don't think that people think through things like this seriously. That Florida State team could quadruple their win total from last year and still not be close to making the ACC championship game. No. No. Norville has shown us. When it comes to him and his teams, it is a process.

Starting point is 00:09:01 It is a build. Things need to take time and go right. And that's not a knock against Norville because no coach has instantly turned teams around like crazy without massive help through the portal. And by massive help, I mean mainly guys from his old school. Shout out to old coach Sig up there at Indiana. Everywhere else, you need to have a process, especially if you've been there for some time. This team will be better. Yes, they're not going to go two and ten again.

Starting point is 00:09:29 No, that's not happening. But they're not going to be ACC championship contenders. That's just not happening. Now, one of the other teams that they listed, and you already made your case on this one, is Virginia Tech. So that's a no from you. And it's a no from me as well. They're not going to win the ACC championship.

Starting point is 00:09:47 They throw a Boston college in there, which is interesting. That's a no for me. That's a hard no. But what about, I'll give you a few more. Duke, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina State, your alma mater. Do you give any of them a legit shot? Duke is the actual wild card that I would say has a legit shot. That's the one team that I would say I omitted from the, if everything breaks right for them,

Starting point is 00:10:13 they could end up there. They should have been in that category for me. So I apologize to the Blue Devil Nation for that. All 10 of their football fans, congratulations. I'm sorry. Now, but seriously, you know, they are. team that could end up their things break right for them. With all sincerity, though, their fans do need to show up at a higher clip. I remember going to see their game against

Starting point is 00:10:36 Clemson a couple years ago, season opening game here. And it was like that stadium was still half empty. And it's like, dude, y'all are, y'all are a good team. Y'all are a really good team. What is happening? Then when they played Notre Dame later that season, a few weeks after they had just knocked off Clemson and were undefeated, the stadium still was happening. empty. And it's just like, what are you doing, man? You've got to be better in terms of fan support. But Duke has the talent. They have the coaching. I think Diaz, the second time around, he's probably ready. I think he gets it done. I think it's possible that they get it done. Let me add this. I think Duke's over under is six and a half wins. I think they're undervalued.

Starting point is 00:11:18 And I, you know, they probably, they overachieved a little bit at nine wins last year. I think they benefited from a really good start and a relatively easy schedule. But their schedule doesn't look that tough this year either, Kenton. And I think they made a great move at quarterback with Darian Mensa. So let me go through their schedule real quick. You know, they open up the season against Elon. That should be a win, right? They play Illinois.

Starting point is 00:11:44 I wouldn't be shocked if they can beat Illinois. And that's a home game. Actually, no, it's in, yeah, it is a home game for them. that one's in Durham. They play Tulane on the road, which is that that's the Dary and Mensa bull because they just stole Tulane's quarterback. Then they go play Tulane on the road. I don't, what do you make of Tulane this year?

Starting point is 00:12:04 Because like Tulane is always good, but then they always lose like all of their good players every year into the transfer portal, but then they seem to reload pretty well. I don't know. I'm going to say Duke can beat Tulane. Hey, listen, if my team was going to fire their head coach sometime soon, I would be in the the athletic director's office, go get summer off. You understand? Don't you call nobody else.

Starting point is 00:12:28 You pick up that phone. You say, hey, I'm coming down in New Orleans. I ain't leaving until I get three bignades and a head coach. But in all seriousness, I think that I think Tulane is going to be a good team this year. Because like you said, they're always good despite having massive roster turnover. The problem is this. I think Duke has the potential to be really good. They got Minson early.

Starting point is 00:12:47 He got the spring ball reps with his guys. You see a situation where, again, that defense, they are who they are. They are always going to be swarming and disguising. I think that they still get that win against Tulane. I think it's a tough game. It's 50-50. It could go either way, but I think Duke has enough to pull it off. Yeah, let me go through.

Starting point is 00:13:04 So you get into the conference schedule after that. They play NC State at home. They play Syracuse on the road. Talk about an enigma. Like, I don't, people don't think Syracuse is going to be very good. That's why they're over under his five and a half wins. but I thought they did a pretty good job going out and getting a quarterback, and maybe they won't be as bad.

Starting point is 00:13:24 But the other thing about Syracuse is they have that super hard schedule. So I think that's why they're at five and a half is they play the hardest schedule in the conference. But that could be a toss-up or a win for Duke. They play at Cal, home against Georgia Tech, which will be tough. At Clemson will be tough. They could go 0 in that stretch easily. They play at Yukon. Could be a win.

Starting point is 00:13:45 Home against Virginia could or should be a win. at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and then home against Wake Forest. So I could see seven or eight wins there for Duke. You gave me two wins that I, or you gave me rather two games that I'm like, I don't see a world where Duke wins that one. I don't see a world where they win it. All the rest, I'm like, hey now. Clemson and Georgia Tech, right?

Starting point is 00:14:09 But all the rest, they win. And only because Clemson and Georgia Tech are stacked back to back. And honestly, depending on how Georgia Tech looks, it might be a situation where it's like, is there not a world where they win that game? But, you know, I could absolutely see, you know, Duke having a special year this year. I think they're proud and ready for it. Maybe you say it could come in Minss' year too, but who knows? I mean, like I said, he got spring ball rep, so they could do it.

Starting point is 00:14:35 Now, the fighting gobbler also considered your NC State Wolfpack as a team that could contend for the ACC if things go their way. I see the face you're making. Show some faith in your alma mater, Kenton. Why are they wrong? Here's the thing. I don't think they're necessarily wrong. I just think everything would have to break right. I think that they would have to go on the run like what Wake Forest did when Sam Hartman was there and they got there and played pit.

Starting point is 00:15:02 It would have to be something like that to where like your offense lights it up, your defense is just opportunistic enough and you get some help from teams that are supposed to be good. Like that's all of those things are going to have to work together because NC. States offense, I have no worries about it. Weapons galore. One of the best rising quarterbacks in the nation. One of the best, I would say the by far most underrated tight end in the nation, you've got a wide receiving core that is deep and talented and hungry, you know, so much so that they're pushing out other statesmen because they know they're not going to get

Starting point is 00:15:34 the amount of reps they want. Everything's there offensively. Defensively, who's going to get to the quarterback? Where's your pass rest coming from? Defensively. secondary, secondary wise, you had a mass exodus

Starting point is 00:15:47 at 1159 p.m. basically in terms of right before the portal closed during the winter, all of a sudden, every BB that played last year was gone. So, you know. Oh, and of course,

Starting point is 00:16:01 we love some Hollywood smothers. We love, I'm going to tell you something. Hollywood smothers and Duke Scott in the backfield are part of that weapons galore. And Hollywood don't play. Hollywood don't play, you know. Yeah. for those listed to the audio version, this is an ex post by NC State running back, Hollywood Smothers,

Starting point is 00:16:19 who he literally has, you got to love this, he's got a picture of Bill Belichick holding up the UNC t-shirt. He uses as a dart as a dart board, tons of holes in it. There's two darts. One of the darts is right in Bill Belichick's nose. So Hollywood Smothers, he is ramped up that rivalry between UNC and NC State. You love to see that. Oh, man. Speaking of, yeah, speaking of rivalries, go ahead.

Starting point is 00:16:46 Before we go, I know a lot of people like to say, oh, you got to prove yourself. You got to show something before you do something like that. Well, Hollywood Smothers had 16 touches for 117 yards and two touchdowns against the dirty foot club last year in the win. So I think that he might have earned the right maybe possibly to talk his talk. Coming up next, the timing on this is. interesting. So a day after Kirby Smart saw his number one recruiting target, actually choose to go to Miami. He chose the ACC over the SEC, or as Georgia fans would say, he chose the bag over the culture. Kirby Smart is ranting about NIL. Why? Keep it locked right here. We're not done yet.

Starting point is 00:17:35 I'm locked on ACC. Folks, I already know you're keeping it locked to game time. I got my ACDC t-shirt on. I'm going tonight in Tampa to see ACDC Live with tickets that I purchased on the Game Time app. I got the best prices, the best seats, panoramic views from my seats in the app before I bought. It's always a great experience on the Game Time app, guys. Of course, there's nothing like the NBA playoffs, the intensity, the buzzer beaters, the fans losing their minds. It's the kind of atmosphere you must experience live. And this year's matchups are already delivering. If you want in, game time makes it fast and easy to get seats even for the biggest playoff games.

Starting point is 00:18:18 Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to tip off. And with killer last minute deals, panoramic seat views and no surprise fees, game time is a total game changer. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. Just download the GameTime app. Create your account and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code locked on college for $20 off. the game time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Thank you for making

Starting point is 00:18:52 Lockdown ACC your first listen. For your next listen, check out the portal. Ryan Smith, he talks about all the things that Kirby Smart hates NIL transfer portal recruiting. I mean, Kirby Smart loves to recruit, but he doesn't love recruiting with NIL, apparently. That's available the portal free wherever you get your podcast free on YouTube. So I'm not going to dismiss everything that Kirby said. Kirby Smart, Georgia head coach. He was on the Paul Finebaum show on Wednesday. And it was it was one day after the shocker that offensive line five star top recruit Jackson Cantwell chose to go to Miami over Georgia, but a lot of speculation about the size of the NIL package and all that stuff. And it's interesting, Kent, in these comments coming from

Starting point is 00:19:37 the highest paid coach in college football, who is the highest paid state, he's the highest paid state employee in Georgia. It's making $1.28 million. Kirby Smart said on the fine bomb show, I just want to be able to have a freshman come in and not make more than a senior. And I'd like for other sports to be able to survive. You know, you're on the brink of probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports.

Starting point is 00:20:06 Now, if Kirby is so worried about non-revenue sports getting cut, maybe he should donate some of that 13.28 million to the women's tennis program. To keep everything afloat there. And listen, I know Kirby is frustrated with the way the landscape has evolved. I feel like Kenton, the frustration that you hear from programs,

Starting point is 00:20:27 especially like Alabama and Georgia, who haven't embraced NIL the same way, even though they could. Because believe me, with those programs, there's plenty of money. There are motivated boosters, a lot of deep pockets, but still Alabama and Georgia tend to complain about NIL. And I think what drives them crazy, KG, is that, you know, before NIL became a thing,

Starting point is 00:20:52 they had such a recruiting advantage, being able to promote the SEC, their program prestige, their rings, and they had such an advantage over everyone else. But now, God forbid, there's a possibility that other schools who maybe don't have quite your prestige are able to level the playing field by offering some extra money. it drives them insane. Again, I want to know if Kirby Smart has this bigger problem and, oh, I don't want freshmen making more than than seniors and all this and all that. I don't want any of that. Sure, Kirby, sure.

Starting point is 00:21:29 Let's go there, right? You are making more than every other state employee in the state of Georgia. I believe every other state employee in the country. There's not a single state employee in any state making as much as you. are top doctors for the state and lawyers for the state not worth what your work? Hmm. What happened, though? Why are you making more?

Starting point is 00:21:51 Oh, you don't want to see the other programs get eliminated. Like you said, Donnell, take that pay cut. Nobody's forcing you. As a matter of fact, I got an idea. Since Georgia wants to, you know, do away within I am and all that, y'all go first. Y'all go first. Y'all start. Tell all your players, listen, we love you, we appreciate you,

Starting point is 00:22:11 We appreciate your efforts. We'll give your revenue sharing, but as far as NIL goes, we're going to use every diamond dollar we get to support our lacrosse efforts, to support our field hockey efforts, to support our men's and women's track teams, to support our volleyball team. That's where our money is going because we want everybody to have a fair show. So everybody, you know, if you're playing for the G on the side of your helmet, stay in this room.

Starting point is 00:22:40 but everybody who's playing for a check, go and get, scram, get from around here. Let's see what your team looks like then. At the end of the day, people are getting paid money because they have earned it. They have earned it. You could argue,

Starting point is 00:22:54 oh, well, ain't earned a thing. He ain't played a lick of college football. If somebody's willing to pay you that, I have a, I have very interesting news for you in America. Guess what? You've earned it. You've earned it.

Starting point is 00:23:05 There are many other sectors in life where people would say, one person would say, I would never pay that for that service. And somebody else will gladly stand there with their wallet out, money and pocketbook. Hey, I got you. So, again, I think that all of this, it's always so interesting to me how, again, whenever a recruit doesn't pick my school, he went with the back. He went with the bag.

Starting point is 00:23:27 Oh, he's just a bag chaser. She's just a bag chaser. They're just bag chaser. But when they come to your school, they came for the regality of fool, y'all. They came for the pumping circumstance. of our university and what we have to offer. They came for the lively environments of game day. But if they went elsewhere, their evil bag chasers,

Starting point is 00:23:49 who will always be doomed by the highest bet. Stop it. Knock it off. What drives me crazy is the hypocrisy, because they try to, and it's one thing when fans do it, but especially when coaches do it, especially the highest paid coach, when you criticize players for negotiating the best,

Starting point is 00:24:09 possible deal. Okay. Is it a coincidence that Kirby Smart is the highest paid college football coach? You don't think he and his agent were like, hey, like we, you know, when he was coming off of two national championships, you don't think his agent was like, hey, we should go to Georgia and say, hey, we're winning his coach right now, hottest coach in the country should be the highest paid coach. Was it an accident that they happened to come to a number that got him to number one? I'm pretty sure they negotiated. And also, Kenton, I'm pretty sure, you know, once other hot coaches out there,

Starting point is 00:24:42 you know, Ryan Day just won a national title when it comes time for day to renegotiate again, if he suddenly becomes the highest paid coach in college football, you don't think Kirby's agent is going to go back to Georgia and say, hey, we got to bump smarts number up a little bit. And yet he's going to

Starting point is 00:24:58 criticize other people for negotiating the best possible deal. Drives me crazy. Let me let you in on how, and I know we got to get out of here, but I'm going to let you all in on a little secret or really poorly kept secret. Partly smart is from the Nick Savant coaching tree. Nick Saban, his last four or five years in college, was literally always the highest paid coach. Donald, how is that possible if he had already signed a contract? How was he always the highest paid coach? There was a specific writer in his contract that whenever somebody got paid above him,

Starting point is 00:25:32 they had to sit their tail back down and pay him more. So you're not getting paid according to what the university values you at. You're getting paid based on what other university values their guy. That's your mentor. The same mentor who said, you know, I talked to Ms. Terry and we realize I just need to get out of this. Everybody's asking what they can get. And that's all. You're agent literally saying every time somebody else gets paid,

Starting point is 00:26:05 you get to go ask what more you can get. And you're going to tell me, oh, these players are wrong for doing the same thing. Again, the minute that coaches start relinquishing their money and everybody goes back to GA status where you get paid in credits, where you get paid in the Masters, where you get paid in doctoral credits, I will then respect what these coaches have to say about getting paid. But until then, y'all are driving all these million-dollar cars. all are having more houses than we can imagine.

Starting point is 00:26:32 Y'all are having a mountain house, a lake house, a beach house, or this house, or that house. Your kids' kids ain't got to work without you having to tear your kill you, without you having to tear ACL, without a pet popping on your body. And you're going to tell me, oh, well, you know, these freshmen just won't so much. If somebody's going to pay it to it, well, damn it, go get it, brother. All said, we'll leave it at that. He's Kenton Gives from Lockdown Wolfpack. Follow him on X at TGIF underscore Kenton.

Starting point is 00:26:57 I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Cains. 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 Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOCKER: Surprise ACC Football Contender vs Teams with NO SHOT | Kirby NIL Hypocrisy

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