Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOCKWAVE: ACC's LAST HOPE Duke DEMOLISHES Competition | Will History DERAIL Their Championship Dreams?

Starting point is 00:00:00 They're headed to the Sweet 16. Are the Duke Blue Devils going to win it all? The eye test says yes. History, though, says maybe not. You are Locked-on ACCC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team, every day. Shout out to the Everydayers, and thank you so much for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch today. We're available free wherever you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:34 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 Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Locked-on College for $20 off your first purchase. On this loaded episode, we'll talk a little football because a team I certainly didn't expect has been listed among contenders to win the college football playoff next year. out of these five ACC teams that they consider to be in the running,

Starting point is 00:01:05 you tell us which of the five doesn't belong. But Kenton Gibbs, as we know, the Duke Blue Devils are the last and only hope for the ACC to win the NCAA tournament. And it's a great hope. He is Kenton Gibbs, by the way, of Locked on Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono of Locked on Cain's. Duke is blowing out everybody so far, including an absolute dismantling of a really good Baylor team in the round of 32. Norchette O'Mier played pretty well, but there was nothing he could do. And they couldn't stop the Tyrese Proctor 3s, 7 of 8 from 3 point land.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Duke is headed to the suite 16 KG. We'll see if they can keep this run going. But I mean, what have been your big takeaway so far as Duke has looked at least as good, if not better than advertised so far? I mean, this team looks dominant at the level that we have not seen it quite some time. Like this is a team that is absolutely whooping away. wheels off folks. And don't get me wrong. You could talk about Baylor having all of these, you know, the, the ACC All-Stars over there in terms of Jeremy Roach being your backup point guard in terms

Starting point is 00:02:12 of North Chad O'Mere, you know, a guy who left Miami to go on over there and all like that stuff. And yet, they look completely out of their league there. They were a badly undersized team playing against the biggest team in the nation. You know, We all saw this coming, but Duke took it to a whole other level. And there was so much controversy about all the reps and the foul discrepancy and all, listen to that. Watch the game. I'm not a Duke fan. I can tell you, there were many too many times where Baylor offensive players were comfortable taking mid-range jump shots when it's like, dude, if you see the refs have a tight whistle, force them to no-call.

Starting point is 00:02:59 force them to no-call it. If you see that they're calling it tight, don't just rely on, well, you know, I can still hit this pull-up. This is more of my shot. If the reps are calling it close, go get your files, go get your whistle too. But again, it was a badly undersized Baylor team

Starting point is 00:03:20 against an absolute juggernaut of a Duke team so far. Their plus minus through these first two games has been above what threshold, Donald? All right. So this is crazy. So Duke so far has a plus minus of over 65 points through the first two rounds. That's the point differential so far. You don't see that in women's basketball. You don't see that on the men's side as much. You see Yukon doing that to vote, South Carolina doing that to vote. Even my NC State Wolfpack are getting in on the accident doing that to vote. You don't see that on the next side. Yeah, and so when I say that the eye test is obviously on Duke's side, not to say they're the only team that's looked really good so far.

Starting point is 00:04:06 Florida, Houston, we'll talk more about them, but Duke looks like the best team in the country right now. But here's an interesting piece of history, Kent, and teams that are this dominant, two games into the tournament, don't usually win the national championship for what that's worth. This is a great stat from CBS Sports.com. Duke is the ninth. team since bracket expansion with a plus 60 or better scoring margin through the first two rounds. But of the previous 18, only two of those, 93 North Carolina and 96 Kentucky went on to win the national championship. So I don't know what that says. Kenton, maybe it just means it's difficult to win the NCAA tournament or maybe you don't want to dominate too much your first couple of rounds. but history is not on Duke's side

Starting point is 00:04:58 because only two of the previous 18 with a plus minus that high has actually gone on to finish the job. Well, here's the deal. It's the theory of the hot hands, right? It's the theory of national championships, especially in college, where it tends to be more variance

Starting point is 00:05:16 in terms of the tournament at least than you see in most other sports. It's about getting hot at the right time, right? And the thought is, If you go plus 60 through those first two games, what does that mean? You have used all of your heat or round of 64, round of 32. What's the problem with that? Those are the games where in theory, if you're a one seed,

Starting point is 00:05:42 you can afford to perform the least because in theory, if everything is chalk, the path only gets harder after that. So if you use up all of your heat, you use up all of the, I can't miss today's. In those rounds, well, of course, you're less likely to beat the teams down the road.

Starting point is 00:06:03 The only problem with that, Duke is doing it differently than that. This is not a situation where Duke is dominating solely because, oh man, they can't miss from deep. Them not missing from deep. That's what's got it done.

Starting point is 00:06:19 No, no, no, no, no, no. And you talked about Proctor and his eyeshoot. Yes. doctor in and of himself, absolutely. He got to get a young man his credit. He did that. He did his thing with the heat. He did his thing in terms of, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:34 we probably won't see him shoot that well from deep again. But other than that, all the rest of the guys on the team, I haven't seen anything to indicate, oh, there's no way they shoot like that again. There's no way we see this Duke team do that again. There's no way we see them dominate somebody on a glass like they did, Bailey. Why can't that?

Starting point is 00:06:54 Why can't the biggest team in America dominate somebody on the glass like they did against Baylor? So, you know, this is a situation where, again, I don't think that Duke has had their best day in terms of, oh, we just, again, everything we put up, it was just tickling the twine. No, I don't think it's that. I think this team is just that much head and shoulders above the teams that they played so far. They're not just good. They're historically good. And we'll tell you more about that when we come back. and also why I feel the roster construction is almost perfect.

Starting point is 00:07:29 You want to keep it locked right here. Kenton Gibbs and Alex Dono with you. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. I've got a pep in my step today because of five-hour energy. Guys, we've had a lot of long nights. I know we get a break now before the Sweet 16, but we're staying up late watching these NCAA tournament games. Five-hour energy is getting me going the next day.

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Starting point is 00:08:52 For your next listen, check out our other shows. Kenton and Grayson Boone do an awesome job hosting Locked on Wolfpack. I host Locked on Cains. I'm sure tomorrow will be breaking down Cam Ward's Pro Day and everybody else at Miami that was in action earlier today on Monday. We'll talk a little football later on, but we're talking NCAA tournament. So Kenton, I look at it. This is not just for the tournament. This is for the entire season.

Starting point is 00:09:18 You look at Duke's net rating at Ken Palm, plus 39 right now, leading. the country, that's actually higher than the net rating for last year's historically good Yukon team. So Duke, Duke is doing what they're doing at a historic clip. And one of the things that I love so much about Duke's roster construction, KG, is I know that everyone talks about Cooper Flag and the other super freshman and rightfully so, but a balanced roster, right? I mean, the guy who really stepped up, went seven for eight from three the other night, was Tyrese Proctor who's in his third year, right? I mean, sometimes the difference between a really good team versus a championship level team is to be able to keep a player who could have gone to the

Starting point is 00:10:04 league last year or the year before to keep that player for an extra year to help you with his experience for a deep tournament run. So for Duke to have like the strategic upperclassmen to complement the freshman phenomenons, I think that's what makes that roster so dangerous. It's not strictly a roster full of one and duns. They've got the experience level as well to carry them through. Well, we talk about experience and guard play being the things that carry. How many times have I said that, right? I'm sure the listeners out here at like new drinking game,

Starting point is 00:10:34 take a shot every time Ken says experiencing guard play carries you in March. Don't do that. I don't want you get alcohol poisoning. But even beyond that, I think that it is bringing those, those, you know, those guys who could have gone to lead back as a part of it. But the other part of it, again, they're just overwhelming teams with the amount of size. Early in company last year did it with precision. They were a precise.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Everything was, it was like a machine watching those guys do what they do. This Duke team, like you just said, one of the best net ratings that we have ever seen. And that's why I'm so adamant that the plus 60 thing in terms of like, hey, you might have used up your heat. They did not. I am telling you that team is a flame thrower. They've got plenty of heat left. They have plenty of kerosene in the tank, brother.

Starting point is 00:11:31 It is nowhere near running out yet. Because again, like you talked about, roster construction. For me, it's not just about roster construction in terms of the elder statesmen and guys bouncing out. It's also a roster construction in terms of length. We have not seen this amount of length

Starting point is 00:11:48 combined with this amount of skill in quite some time. So again, if they just hold certain, if they just don't play their worst game with somebody else is playing their absolute best game, this team is going to be, you know, hanging some real big banners and getting some real big rings at the end of this thing.

Starting point is 00:12:07 Yeah, and they can't let up. I mean, Duke are their eight and a half point favorites for their matchup against Arizona in the Sweet 16, which is, you know, pretty big number. And especially, have you felt so far about this? NCAA tournament. We've obviously seen some outstanding team and individual performances, but this is one of the chalkier brackets we've seen to this point heading into the Sweet 16. I don't necessarily mind that because I just want to see good basketball, but we haven't had

Starting point is 00:12:36 as many of the big upsets as we usually have a few more of those sprinkled in. You know, for me, it's not even a lack of big upsets as much as it is. Like, we have not had a ton of games come down to the wire. We haven't had enough of those where it's like, man, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat. I don't know who's going to take it. Florida, Yukon, great game. Buzzer beated by Maryland, great

Starting point is 00:12:59 game. Other than that, how many really, really close games have happened that are etched in your memory up to this point? You know what I mean? Like, hey, shout out to Caleb Love over there with Arizona and them beat Northern. But again,

Starting point is 00:13:14 I have not seen that many close games. that's the biggest thing for me. I want to see games that are competitive, and more often than not this year, we're just seeing blowout after blowout, after blowout, after blowout, and granted, that's supposed to happen in the round of 64, we understand,

Starting point is 00:13:32 but even some of the seven, eight matchups were just like, I'm sorry, the eight, nine matchups, we're just like, this game, you know, this really wasn't your day, and it was never going to be your day. So I like competitive basketball. we haven't gotten a ton of that. Who do you think?

Starting point is 00:13:49 I mean, if we, I'm assuming you agree with me that Duke looks like the best team in the country right now and they're favored to win the tournament. But who do you think the next best team is? Because I would go with Florida. And I think Florida has been, you know, slept on just a little bit. I mean, what they did in the SEC tournament, the big win that they had against Auburn in the regular season. And, of course, you know, Auburn has been the team that's been the most respected throughout

Starting point is 00:14:15 the year number one overall seed. I think Florida probably wasn't given enough respect up until this point. To me, they've looked like the next best team outside of Duke. You know, Florida absolutely looks good, but I want to give Auburn some love here. You know, I'm sure Zach Blackerbie's going to be excited to hear that, but everybody talks about it. You just got a raised. That's a team that they're limping in. They're limping in. They lost three of their last five or whatever the case may be. They're limping into the tournament. And so how have they responded to the limping in allegations? Oh, just the 20-point win in round one.

Starting point is 00:14:51 All just the 12-point win over a team that dominated in Creighton, dominated that Yukon team that everybody was terrified of and that everybody was screaming ding-dong, the witches dead when Florida finally took them out. And mind you, was that or was that not one of the only close games that we have to mention here, Florida and Yukon? So, you know, you dominate that team. You did not need a last second buzzer beater to beat them in terms of Creighton. You dominate the team that beat them.

Starting point is 00:15:19 And, you know, people still aren't giving Auburn necessarily love. This has been the clash of the Titans that's been setting up all year. It's been brewing all year. Broome versus Black. Steyer versus Pearl. Ogar versus New School. This is what it has been coming down to all year. and I would not be the slightest of a bit surprised if that's your national championship.

Starting point is 00:15:46 You know, I also, I think the updated odds for most outstanding player at the end of the tournament kind of echo what you're saying and what we're saying about who the best teams are. So Cooper Flagg right now has the best odds for most outstanding player in the tournament at 11 to 4 odds. That's plus 275. and then Walter Clayton from Florida, plus 550, Johnny Broome from Auburn, 7 to 1 odds, LJ Cryer from Houston, 11 to 1 odds, and then Concanipple from Duke 15 to 1 odds.

Starting point is 00:16:21 So it's all those teams that are in there. Florida, Duke, of course, Auburn and Houston all have, you know, players. All four one Cs, coincidentally. All four of those teams, all one Cs, interesting. Who did you, I had in my original bracket, I had Duke winning it all. I know that's not very creative, but who did you have? Was Duke your champ or were you more creative than I was?

Starting point is 00:16:45 I picked Bruce Pearl's old team. I picked Tennessee. I picked Rick By the company at Tennessee to get it done. I don't know why. There was something, I just had this odd feeling that this is Tennessee's year to get it done. They've always been the bridesmaid. And I just had this feeling that they were going to get it done. They're going to have to probably play Duke in the final four.

Starting point is 00:17:07 and I think that the winner of that matchup probably goes on to win the whole thing. I can see that. Well, speaking of winning the whole thing, so are these the five teams in the ACC, football, that is, who have an opportunity to win the college football playoff last year? And we should be very surprised to see one of the teams mentioned in this mix. You want to keep it locked. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ECC. I already know you're keeping it locked to game time.

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Starting point is 00:18:11 up in Florida in May, I couldn't believe the prices that I got club level on the Game Time app. I'm telling you guys, this is going to change your life. Game Time makes it easier to find better value for tickets to sports, concerts, comedy, and so much more. The GameTime picks feature is a game changer. So is the peace of mind you get with seat views before you buy, no surprise fees, and a lowest price guarantee. You can book with total confidence. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Use code Locked on College for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.

Starting point is 00:19:00 The NCAA tournament is here and so is the bracket breakdown. Locked on podcast network and Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Locked On's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channel. Search Bracket Breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. That's Andy Patton and Isaac Shade, who do an incredible job on the Bracket Breakdown, which has been carrying us through the NCAA Tour. Like, I can't believe how good of a job these guys.

Starting point is 00:19:40 I mean, I can't believe it. Isaac and Andy are pros, but they're doing a fantastic. job. So, Kent, I wasn't necessarily planning to talk football today, but when I saw this, because I'm always combing the web for ACCC stories. And I found this piece that Chip Patterson wrote on CBS Sports.com was a very good college football writer. And he considers these five ACC football teams as contenders for a college football playoff in 2025, the season coming up. I'm going to give you these five. Hold your reaction until I give you the five. Tell me, tell me if one of these doesn't belong, all right? So he's got, of course, Clemson in there, favored to win the conference for a second straight year. Got Miami in there. Yeah, Miami's in there.

Starting point is 00:20:32 All Miami's talent, of course. All right, I see the straight face. He's got Louisville in there. He's got SMU who came very close. They got into the playoff last year. They came very close to winning the ACC. And he's got the Florida State Seminels among teams with a chance at the college football playoff this year. Now, I mean, Kent did I, obviously they have talent and they're able to recruit talent in the Sunshine State. But if they could go from two and ten to CFP in one year, you want to start erecting that Norville statue in Tallahassee. No, no, you don't. Why would you do that? Why would you erect the statue? Because this is not, Donno, let me ask you this, okay? You've been married for some time. You got a wonderful family. You really do. You really do.

Starting point is 00:21:24 If you came home one day and decided to torch half the house, and then the next day you came back and were like, actually, honey, I just remodeled the kitchen. That's why half the house was burnt. I wanted to remodel the kitchen. I wanted to knock down a low-bary wall and to make sure our bedroom would have more space, you know, the main bedroom. Yeah, that's all I did. Do you think she would be happy with you?

Starting point is 00:21:52 Do you think she would erect a statue for you? No. Nope. And guess what? Florida State should not do so for Norville. Now, if he does end up in a national championship situation, more power to them. It would be fantastic.

Starting point is 00:22:07 But this isn't the situation. Here's why I know that won't happen. Have we ever seen a team go from two wins to national champion? Even, you know, even top four in the next year? I don't think so. I mean, well, wasn't TCU made a big jump from one year to when they got to the championship game. But it definitely wasn't like a, it wasn't a 10 win jump. that's what I said.

Starting point is 00:22:35 I believe they were like a five or six-win team before in Gary Parris was last year and then Sonny Dykes in year one. But that's the other part of it. Sonny Dykes was brand new. He was brand new to that program. So it made sense, or he might have been in year two.

Starting point is 00:22:52 Either way, he was not. He was not the established guy that like, oh, this has been my regime. For how long has the number of been there? Eight, seven or six or seven years? He's heading into, I think, year six. So he was there for five years. He built up everything to get to the undefeited season, which I give him all the credit for.

Starting point is 00:23:15 But then you talk about, oh, well, two and ten. And if he does this, get him a statue. Now, I will say, that would greatly cool his seat down to where he can get back on track to earn a statue. But again, this is out of respect to Florida State. Two great seasons do not get you a statue. A lot of other schools, yeah, two great seasons will get you a statute. If you take NC State 14 and 0, even if you get denied the playoff, you'll get a statute. Guaranteed.

Starting point is 00:23:44 You win ACCC, but, you know, and even beyond that point, regardless of how I would feel about, you know, oh, is Norville the safer or whatnot, I don't think that this team, again, has the culture to win a national championship or should compete for a national championship next year because we've seen norville's process. I actually believe in this process, but it takes time. It takes that time that year of, uh, we're, we're getting there. We're starting the move and groove. And then the next year, okay, we're getting a little loose. We're starting to fill it. And then the year after that, when your quarterback's been in the system multiple years, you've got stars all over the place that have been there multiple years, rather their transfers or homegrown, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:26 a la Fiskin and, uh, verse. And then you get to the, that level. Right now, this team is basically back at ground zero. They've had to strip everything down to the studs and try to remake it. I highly doubt that team sees national championship level success. To me, success for them, national championship level success for them, nine games. Nine games for them. Oh, that would be huge. That would be like, hey, it's a parade inside my city.

Starting point is 00:24:53 This is amazing. But national championship, that's not. Well, here's what Chip Patterson at CBS Sports wrote about Florida State and why he considered them a team with a chance. He says that at Fandual Sportsbook, they list only four ACC squads with preseason win totals higher than seven and a half. And while teams exceed their win total by multiple games every single season, it still stands as a cold-hearted reminder of the conference's playoff outlook. Last year, we saw nine win teams from the SEC be left out on the other side of the cut line. If we take that as precedent, an ACC team likely needs to win

Starting point is 00:25:32 10 at least regular season games or the conference championship to get in for florida state that would mean soaring over the team's current win total of seven and a half with a roster that is still relying on pieces that contributed to a two and 10 campaign in 2024 it's highly unlikely he says but given florida state's pedigree and the potential for major improvements in the wake of wholesale changes to mike norbell's coaching staff they get the nod as the acc's fifth contender gus malzahn he says has one championships as a coordinator and competed for a national title as a head coach. And new quarterback Thomas Castiano should bring some versatility to the offense. Meanwhile, Tony White comes highly recommended from Nebraska as one of the top defensive

Starting point is 00:26:14 coordinators in the country, given a schedule that includes Alabama, Miami, Clemson, and Florida. This is a season where even eight and four would be viewed as a huge turnaround, but FSU will need even more than eight wins to contend for the CFP. And I think those four tough games that Patterson mentioned, I mean, you know, if you don't win at least two of those, you're probably not winning, you know, more than nine games this year. So it's not like their schedule was easy KG. And they have that early, that baptism opportunity against Alabama week one is going to be going to be a tough tone to set for the rest of your year. I can remember who was the quarterback last time they played Bambo. Was it Francois or was it Blackman?

Starting point is 00:26:58 which which one was it uh ooh it might have been blackman but i'm not i'm not a hundred percent sure have they not learned their lesson did they not realize from last ingranit this ain't sabine walking through that door you still don't quite have the horses in the stable at this very moment to play that game but hey more power to him kudos for the kohones and who knows who you always got a puncher's chance okay there is always a chance and uh You know, more power to them. I love to see them represent the conference in that way. They come away with a massive blow to the to the SEC and to them in game one.

Starting point is 00:27:38 I'd love to see. I personally would love to see. Yeah. Well, we'll see. We understand why Clemson is favored to win the ACC, because they have the most returning talent by percentage, which is huge, and the continuity with head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback, Kade Klovenik, which is big.

Starting point is 00:27:56 I will see about the NCAA tournament. We'll be back with you guys several times, several more times before the Sweet 16 gets underway. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. Follow him on X at TGIF underscore Kenton. I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes. You can follow me at Lockdown Canes. And we'll talk to you next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:28:18 Your team every day. Shout up to the ACC women for holding it down in the tournament. Great job, ladies.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOCKWAVE: ACC's LAST HOPE Duke DEMOLISHES Competition | Will History DERAIL Their Championship Dreams?

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