Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - STOP THE MADNESS: Chandler Morris FIGHTS NCAA Over Eligibility—Virginia Faces Major SHOCKWAVES
Episode Date: February 25, 2026Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris sparks controversy by suing the NCAA for a seventh year of eligibility, raising questions about eligibility limits, mental health claims, and the future ...of college athletics. Hosts Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs examine the ramifications for Virginia’s roster, the transfer portal shake-up with Bo Pribula and Eli Holstein, and how Morris’s legal battle could trigger wider changes within the NCAA and ACC football. ACC basketball heats up as Miami Hurricanes get revenge against Florida State, Duke dominates Notre Dame, and NC State clings to a vital double bye position despite setbacks. Will Clemson, UNC, or Louisville upset the standings before March Madness? The conversation covers Cal Golden Bears’ playoff dark horse hype and Coach Tosh Lupoi’s prospects, plus insider takes on the ACC’s evolving competitive landscape and what’s at stake as tournament approaches. Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Mazda Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Because highlights make the reel. What it takes to get there makes it count. There’s more to a Mazda. Because there’s more to you. Turbo Tax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. Coast Right now, Coast Pay is offering our listeners up to $2,000 credit when you get started at https://coastpay.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Term Apply. The Coast Visa®️ Commercial Credit Card is issued by Celtic Bank. All card accounts are subject to credit approval. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Use your Profit Boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started. 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.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Virginia's Chandler Morris has just joined the long list of quarterbacks who are suing the NCAA for another year of eligibility.
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.
We're available free wherever you get your podcast.
We're free on YouTube.
We're part of the number one Locked-on Podcast.
network, your team every day.
He is Kenton Gibbs, former NC State defensive linemen and co-host of Locked on Wolfpack.
I am Alex Dono, host of Lockdown Cains, and today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.
Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals.
Play your game with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.
I had a couple of notable results in ACC basketball last night.
that race for the final double by is heating up.
Kent and Gibbs's Wolfpack are still holding on despite a tough loss yesterday.
We'll talk about a popular college football prognosticator has actually shouted out Cal as a dark horse to get into the college football playoff next year.
We'll tell you why it will happen, but why it absolutely won't happen.
But let's talk Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris.
So, you know, Kenton notably, when Morris, who had a phenomenal year last year with the Wahoos, when he was denied, I think this would be his seventh year of eligibility coming up, when he was denied, when he was denied another year of eligibility, it seemed like Virginia got the message, it's time for us to move on because they went out and they got Eli Holstein and Bo Perbula out of the transfer portal.
but Morris is saying not so fast, my friends.
I think Kenton, my guess would be he saw the success that Trinidad Chambliss had in court in Mississippi to get another year.
And he feels he has a similar argument over a medical redshirt as to the one that Chambliss had.
So now Chandler Morris is trying to get another season.
Quick question, Donno.
Was he able to play in the majority of these games?
Yeah, so it seems like it was.
So let's go back in the time machine about four years to 2022,
because that's the year that Morris is arguing he should get that one back, all right?
Now, he wasn't at UVA at that time.
He was at TCU at that time.
He started the opening game for TCU,
suffered a knee injury in that game.
Now, while he was out, Max Duggan took his starting job there and didn't look back.
This is from the ESPN story on his lawsuit.
Morris returned from the injury to play in three more games as a backup during the 2022 campaign,
including the national title game.
Since he already had redshirted in 2021, the injury shortened season counted as a full year of eligibility by NCAA standards.
But his attorneys contend that the 26 snaps that Morris played over the three appearances as a backup were part of a medically
prescribed mental health treatment plan and that the NCAA disregarded mental health documentation
submitted by Virginia on Morris's behalf in denying his eligibility waiver.
Now, listen, man, it's not up to me to judge this claim and I don't have all the evidence.
Like you're telling me he apparently has documentation from Virginia.
I'm sure that's going to be very important because Kenton, I would imagine a judge is going to
look at that and say, okay, so you were physically healthy enough to come.
come back from that injury. But your argument is you had like a mental and I don't want to,
you know, I don't want to trivialize mental health. I don't. So it's up to a judge to decide how
legitimate that claim is and they're going to need that documentation to prove it and to make sure,
you know, they're not coming up with, you know, kind of a convenient narrative four years after the
fact. And again, I don't have the evidence and documentation. Allegedly Morris's team does. So
They're going to have to prove that.
This would set one of the worst precedents we've ever seen.
This would set a terrible precedence.
Watch this, Donald.
Watch this.
Okay.
Unemployment for new grads is at one of the highest rates it has ever been.
Really?
Now, why is that important?
Why is the broader economic spectrum of America important to this moment, right?
I don't know.
If you could say, hey, this was part of the mental health plan to have him play football.
And it's a mental health necessity that he gets an extra year because his mental health was in a bad spot.
And therefore he needs another year.
What is to stop somebody from saying, hey, I understand that he exhausted his eligibility.
However, it's part of a, you know, we look.
back at a year that he did not play.
And it was part of mental health and anxiety around an upcoming job market for him to
have to be in college for an additional year.
And the only way that we assumed in terms of that anxiety about the economic realities
of the world were for him to play another football, how can you say that that's not valid?
That seems to be a very legitimate concern for somebody who has.
has a job lined up to come back to college and make another, what, $300,000, $400,000?
Yeah.
It's setting.
There are many moments where people say, like, oh, we're headed down the slippery slope,
and there are two things that are completely unrelated, right?
Like, oh, if we let kids have ice cream before bed, next thing you know,
kids will be abusing their parents.
That's a very wide, like, all right, that's not exactly.
But if you're going to say that players who sustain injuries and then come back from said injury as a backup, are able to do so because of mental health and still retain their red shirt, when we're already looking at extending the red shirt limit to nine games potentially?
Yeah.
Where does it end?
Where does it stop?
And that's what the NCAA is arguing.
Like the NCAA's argument is going to be, part of it is going to be like, hey, you have to legitimately prove that this was a prescribed mental health treatment.
And then the other part is going to be that.
Like, where does this stop?
And we're not going to be able to provide opportunities to people out of high school anymore if we just play until we're 30.
Hello?
Chandler Morris is 25 right now, by the way.
Your age rounds up to 30.
It's been great.
it's been fun.
And anybody who knows me
knows I said the same thing
to Dono's face about McCormick.
Also known as Dr. McCormick
after all of them damn degrees
he racked up over his eight-year career
at a certain point-
Nine years, nine years.
Nine years.
Nine.
Nine.
At a certain point in time,
it's time for you to say,
you know what,
I've had a great career.
I've had a great time with this thing.
It's time for that next stage,
regardless of what it is.
I joke a lot about, hey, it's time for you to learn some Enterprise rental car.
Do you know who Chandler Morris' father is, Donna?
He's the defensive coordinator at Clemson, Chad Morris.
Chad Morris, which means what?
He has an opportunity that Mike Tomlin was talking about.
He said, I wasn't a former player and I'm not the child of a big time head coach.
So I was always a little bit of a runt in this world.
Well, guess what, Chandler?
You're not going to be a runt.
You have the connections.
If the NFL doesn't want to, go pick up that headset, pick up that play calling sheet, and hit one of these numbers.
Yeah, let's get a 65 Trips Right Gun Razor.
Yeah, let's go ahead and get that.
I'm going to let you do the snap call.
But, yeah, I think we want to go inside zone here.
They're showing a weak side to that strength bubble.
That's what you need to be doing, Chandler.
Get ready for that, brother.
It's over.
it's over it's again this is just foolishness and this is this is making college sports
i wouldn't even say border on absurdity it's making it become absurd objectively absurd to what
we know college sports to be yeah well you never know because the NCAA you know they have gotten
a couple of wins uh joey aguilar at tennessee now that was different because his argument
was over juco whether that counts or not versus you know trinidad chamblis who did
when his case was over a medical situation. Chandler's going a similar route. You know,
they lost the Charles Bettyaco ruling, but that was different, you know, different argument than this one or the NCAA won that one.
So you never know, but we'll be following this. But, all right, Kenton, so if Chandler Morris is granted another year,
he's their starting quarterback, right? Like they, but they brought in Bo Probula, who I think probably
presumed he was going to be the starter this year and Eli Holstein, who's a former starter at
Pitt from a couple of years ago, but I can't imagine either of those guys, especially
Prubula, would be too happy if more. And Morris is stayed enrolled at UVA, by the way. So he has
not like forfeited his academic eligibility. He has stayed enrolled in classes. So he could waltz
right back in there. And Prubula is going to be like, what the heck? And then does Prubula try to
get back into the portal, which is no longer open? Like there may be another lawsuit coming from this.
Donald, this is going to result in some guy like six or seven years from now
winning his third Heisman when he's 28.
And we're all going to look back at the smallest domino being
Chad Morris's son not wanting to go professional or become a coach.
And then insert player here winning his third Heisman at 28.
And we're going to look at it and say, how did we allow this to happen?
And this is going to be that because here's the down.
Here's the downriver effects of this, Donald.
When he comes back, you think Perbula and Holstein are going to stay?
No.
I mean, they're not going to want to, that's for sure.
But Dono, there's no spring transfer window anymore.
There's only winter.
And if I do remember correctly, both Holstein burned his red shirt year at Bama
and Perbula burned his red shirt year at Penn State.
So those two will have to sit out for an entire year if he comes back because they can't.
Oh, wait, that's right.
You can transfer and you know what you can do?
Fall in injunction.
Following a temporary restraining order so that you can play an entire season.
Exactly.
Again, we're starting with one 25 year old not wanting to get a damn job.
and we're going to end this at something that is so ridiculous,
the Spring Portal is going to be reopened.
And here's the problem with that.
If the Spring Portal opens when there's not supposed to be a portal,
what's to stop any port?
What's to stop any time where you're like,
actually, I don't want to be here anymore.
I want to go to this other team.
What's to stop that?
It's a-
Xavier Lucas already did that.
As long as you're able to, you know,
navigate the academic enrollment deadlines,
there's not really a portal.
It doesn't exist.
And Darian Mentsa showed us
the academic deadlines
aren't really that important either.
Now are they?
So it's, we are,
we are walking to a point where
this is no longer college athletics
to any degree.
Because we're talking about
academic deadlines not mattering.
We're talking about eligibility
deadlines not mattering.
Well, last time I checked,
the only things that separated,
if I was to ask you three years ago
or five years ago, Dano,
If I was to talk to 2021, Donno, and say, hey, Alex, what separates college football or college sports in general from the NFL?
What are the biggest separators?
I mean, you get paid in one.
You don't get paid in the other.
You got to go to class.
Yeah, you got to be enrolled in school and go to classes in one.
That still exists.
You got, I don't know.
What's helped me out here?
But that's my point is, Dono, the things that you just thought of at the top of him.
50% of it is now gone.
If you said, oh, the difference between college football or college sports and professional
sports is one doesn't get paid and one does, that's already out the door.
If you said, one has to go to school, the other one does it, that's already out the door.
If you said, well, one times out, one times out.
If you could play professionally, LeBron James has been playing for 23 years, he'll never age
out of the NBA.
If he can put up 27, 6, and 6 at 60, guess what?
I'm going to ask my pistons.
Go sign that old man.
He may not play no defense.
He may have creaky knees,
but he's giving you 27,
six and six a night, right?
But college, I can't tell the Wolfpack,
hey, T.J. Warren still look good.
He may not be good enough playing NBA,
but T.J. Warren still looks just fine.
Get him back.
Why?
Because he timed out.
If we look at those as the essential three pillars,
the payment, the academic part,
the timeout part,
two of those will be right.
it away by this. Oh, and the last one would be freedom of player movement, which is now,
that's even worse than it is in the pro. It's true. That's, oh, yeah, that's right. So it's,
this is not college sports to any degree. All right. Well, when we come back, J.D. Pekyll from
On Three Sports has actually shouted out the Cal Golden Bears as a possible ACC dark horse to get
into the college football playoff. We'll tell you why. You want to keep it locked right here.
We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC.
Hey, ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person?
FanDuel is giving you the chance to turn that dream into reality with their NBA sweepstakes.
Here's how it works.
Use your profit boost on any NBA future and you'll automatically be entered for a shot to win an NBA finals trip for two.
That's right.
Flights, tickets, the whole experience.
If you're already looking at the board and thinking about which team can make a deep run,
this is the perfect time to lock it in.
Now you can not only can your pick cash, it can also send you to the finals.
Visit fanduel.com to get started.
Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals.
Play your game with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA.
Tax season does not have to take over your life.
This year, TurboTax is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day.
With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted,
local experts start to finish without the stress or guess work.
Instead of spending hours trying to figure out the forms, you can meet with a local
turbotax expert in person or connect online.
And they handle everything from W-2s to self-employed forms, and they work to get you
every deduction.
It's a huge time saver, and it gives you real peace of mind knowing that an expert is handling
it.
For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local turbotax expert for just $150
all in if a turbotax expert didn't file for you last year.
which is filed by February 28th.
Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life.
Visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today.
Thank you for making Locked on ACC your first listen.
And if you're an everydayer, make your status official by joining the
Everydayer Club.
Go to Locked Onpodcast.com slash Everydayer to find your favorite shows,
join the Everydayer Club for Locked on Wolfpack, Locked on ACC, Locked on Cains,
or any of the other awesome shows.
And you get exclusive perks like ad-free versions of our episodes,
which is honestly really, really worth it.
Exclusive Discord server access, other awesome benefits.
Go to lockdownpodcast.com slash every dayer to find your favorite shows.
All right.
So, you know, this definitely got my attention, Kenton.
J.D. Pekyll, and I watched his video explanation of it,
teams that missed the college football playoff in 2025
that could make it in 26.
Some of these are very obvious, right?
Notre Dame who just missed it.
They're going to be one of the favorites this coming season.
Texas, you know, didn't miss it by much.
LSU, there's a lot of excitement with Lane Kiffin.
Penn State, we'll see.
USC, Michigan, Utah, BYU, Iowa.
But how about the Cal Golden Bears at number 10?
Kenton, I mean, can you make that argument?
Because I guess the argument would be somebody's got to win the ACC for an auto bid.
And maybe Miami does that Miami thing where they find a way not to win the ACC, which has happened over 20 times.
And if not Miami, would you say Cal could be the team to get that done, Kenton?
Absolutely not.
Why do we have this much faith in a first year head coach that has never been a head coach before?
I'm not talking about a first year head coach at Cal.
I mean, Dono, if I'm wrong, please correct me.
But where has this gentleman been a head coach in the past?
I don't think he's ever been a head coach.
Oh, okay.
So what we're looking at here is the belief that he will understand all the parts of game management.
And he will not cost this team a game or two.
Not to mention, with all due respect to Cal, they have some talent deficiencies.
Yes, they did well for themselves in the portal, but there are still some areas that you would say,
I'm not sure.
I'm not sure if they've got a bunch of dudes that can get it done there.
And so you combine a team that has some roster holes.
And again, I'm not saying that they have glaring holes all over the place.
I'm not saying that.
I'm saying a team with a roster that already, even if you give them a really good coach,
you say, he might be able to cover up some of those folks.
You give them a first year guy and you say, oh, they're going to win the ACC
because what?
Don't get me wrong.
I like J.K.S. a lot.
I think he's phenomenal.
I think he's one of the best returners in the conference.
I really and truly do.
If you told me he was the top three return for you,
I'm not arguing that.
I'm not arguing that at all.
But with that being said,
it takes more than a really,
really good quarterback to win.
It takes more than that.
It takes a lot to win a power for a championship game.
And some people say,
well, Duke was clearly an example of that last year.
They just had Mintsa.
and he won him that game.
The thing is, it took an act of God
in terms of that tiebreaker to get Duke there.
Yeah.
Like, that's not, we saw a five-laws team.
And the change of the tiebreakers now, so that won't happen.
And the tiebreakers changed.
So if Cal ends up in the exact same spot Duke was last year,
in terms of record, guess what?
They'll be sitting at home, watch it with me and Donald.
And heck, depending on whose team goes,
me or Donald might be in Charlotte,
it, meaning we'd be closer than Cal.
Right?
Like, ultimately, I think that Cal at their ceiling has the potential to be there.
But there are so many other teams who didn't make it out of ACC last year
that have much more faith in to be in that spot, particularly SMU.
Yeah, same.
I'm looking at SMU saying, hey, they could be there.
I'm looking at Brown.
Brown has knocked on the door at Louisville.
He's knocked on the door of an ACC championship at Louisville.
Cal has yet to knock on the door and we believe they're going to kick it now.
I struggle to believe that.
I'm with you.
To be fair, to JD, who I think we both really like, like part of his argument was their schedule
because some of their toughest games in the ACC are teams that have to fly out to them.
Like Clemson has to go out to Cal, you know, Pitt has to go out to Cal.
But the thing is, like, I still don't think their conference schedule is that easy, Kenton.
All right.
So here, you know, their non-conference is, doesn't look that crazy.
Home against UCLA, who obviously has struggled recently.
Home against Wagner and at UNLV could be tricky.
But their conference schedule, they play at Syracuse, which could be an easy game.
We'll see.
Home against Clemson, which is tough.
but Clemson has to travel out there.
Home against Virginia Tech.
They got to travel out there, home against Wake Forest.
But they play at SMU, at NC State, and at Virginia.
Those are three consecutive games.
There is a byweek between NC State.
You had three consecutive games on the road against tough opponents,
and then they finish out versus Stanford who beat them last year and at home versus Pittsburgh.
So it's like, I mean, I don't think their schedule is even that.
I just, I don't see it.
I think Cal is building in the right direction, and I like JKS, but I don't see it happening this year.
Yeah, and again, this is not a repudiation of Cal footballer, us saying like, oh, Cal has no chance at being good next year.
No, no, no, no.
That's not the case at all.
What we are saying is, okay, so Tosh Lepoy is supposed to be in year one, what nobody else at Cal has been in years.
When's the last time Kyle was in any conference championship?
when's the last time they made until a Pact 12 championship, right?
Like this is not, and I know the argument of, oh, what's been in the past does not matter much.
But if I'm saying what's your likelihood of breaking through and kicking the door down out the blue,
I would like to believe that you have a pedigree historically of being there
because that pedigree says something for a lot of factors that generally go into being in a conference championship.
For example, with Miami, if you say, oh, well, they haven't been.
there in a while, but the pedigree says they're there. What does that mean? They have the recruiting
pool to do so. They have a hotbed of recruiting in terms of talent and all that. And I know
it, and you go beyond that and you say they have a history where players want to be there. Players
who have a championship mentality want to be there. And then you would say, well, you know,
you've got new coaches, new staff. Anybody can do anything in a year. Sure, sure. But
by and large, you do not see.
Even when we get exceptional stuff like Duke last year,
was that Mandy Diaz's first year as a head coach?
No.
Was that Mandy Diaz's first year as Duke's head coach?
No.
Listen, I'm just telling you the facts.
It just does not work out that way that guys walk into big time opportunities like this.
LePoy could be one of the first to do it.
He could prove me wrong.
Y'all know we love us some algorithm on this show.
I would be.
There are very few talking heads that would be more excited to pump up J.K.S. and Tosh Lopoy
if they get it done than us.
We would love to have Lawrence Ross back on the show talking about his cow gold bear.
That's one of my favorite guests that we've ever had on this show.
No disrespect to any other guests.
He's amazing.
But the reality is I don't see it in the cards for them.
Now, I do see it for the cards.
I do see it for the ponies.
I do see it for a few other teams.
I'd say, you know, Clemson didn't make it last year either, but they're still Clemson.
As much as we talk about their problems, as much as we talk about, oh, man, that ball's lost
the step.
He doesn't have it anymore.
If you had to tell me who's more likely, give me the tires.
Yeah, I'm with you on that one.
All right, let's take a look at hoops when we come back.
NC State, despite a tough outing last night, they're still right in there for a double
buy.
Like you could still pull this off, Kenton.
You want to keep it locked right here.
done yet on this brand new episode of Lockdowne ACC. I'm Kleea Butler, host of Lockdown Women's
Basketball. And this is Mazda's Women's Basketball snapshot, celebrating the work no highlight reel
can ever capture. South Carolina rolled past Ole Miss 85 to 48 to clinch a share of the SEC
regular season title and locked down the number one seed in the conference tournament. The Gamecocks
extended their win streak over Ole Miss to 21 straight. UCLA dominated Wisconsin 80 to 60 to secure
its first outright Big 10 regular season championship in program history.
The Bruins improved to 27 and one overall and remain unbeaten in conference play.
And number 12 TCU stormed back from a 13.4th quarter deficit to beat Iowa State 80 to 73.
The Hornfrogs now sit alone atop the Big 12 standings and are one win away from clinching
another regular season conference crown.
These moments are earned off the clock, those long before the lights ever come on.
The sweat, the fakes, the doubt, the scrapes, and coming back for more every time.
Mazda puts that same drive into every detail.
Wins defined the moment, putting in the work, that defines you.
There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you.
Workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox overflowing,
and the one position you have to fill is still sitting open.
When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs.
Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experience, location.
So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post.
And here's the stat that says it all.
In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours just made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.
So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all the boxes at Indeed sponsored jobs.
and listeners of this show will get $75
sponsored job credits to help get your job the premium status it deserves
at Indeed.com slash podcast.
Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now
and support Locked on ACC by saying you heard about Indeed on this pod.
Indeed.com slash podcast.
Terms and conditions apply.
Need to hire?
This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
Thank you for Locked on ACC,
your first listen. For your next listen, make sure to check out our other shows. Kenton Gibbs and
Grayson Boone do a fantastic job on Locked on Wolfpack, talking all things NC State. I talk all
things Miami on Locked on Cains. So Miami did get their revenge win against Florida State in
Tallahassee last night, 83. Malik Renew leading the Cains with 23 points and 12 boards.
Another double double for him. Number one, Duke smoked Notre Dame 156. Not a surprise
there, I guess. That's what Duke usually does. Now, 11th rank, Virginia blows out NC State, sorry, Kenton, 90 to 61,
but the pack are still in, I guess, what is it, a three-way tie now for the four seed, but they've got the tiebreakers.
So if the season ended right now, Wolfpack would still be double by in the ACC tournament, as would
Miami and Duke and Virginia. So those would be your four double-bys at this moment.
moment. Can the pack hold on?
It's going to be tough. I mean,
it's going to be tough. If you look at what
everybody is facing coming
down the stretch, pretty much all of these
teams have some tough competition
heading down the stretch.
If you look at Clemson's schedule, what's left?
They've got Louisville, they've got UNC,
they've got Georgia Tech. So two
of those games, they're probably going to be
underdogs. And then, if you
look at North Carolina, they've got
a few games coming down to stretch where
yeah, they'll be favored. They'll be
favorite for some of these. There are also some that they probably won't be. They'll be favored for
Virginia Tech. They'll be favored for Clemson, but they've also got Duke to end the season out.
And Lord forbid, if you overlook Clemson while looking at Duke, what can happen there, right?
And then you've got NC State that has Notre Dame, Stanford, and Duke coming down their chimney as well.
So, you know, happy March season to everybody. This is what it is. This is.
Again, the schedulers, hell of a job.
And I'm going to tell you, Dono.
I'm going to tell you, this may not make you happy.
But Miami is their underdogs and two of their last three.
Yeah.
So you're looking at a situation.
And Miami is one game ahead of that pack of three teams.
And Miami's got a tiebreaker against the pack as well.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So you're looking at a situation where there are still lots of ways that this thing can go.
everybody needs to lock in batten the hatches and make it happen.
And here's the beauty of it.
For most of these teams, your future is in your hands.
Your future is in your hands.
These teams cannot all win out.
It is mathematically impossible for all for these teams to win out because they play each other.
Right.
It is impossible for both Carolina and for Clemson to win out.
They play each other.
Somebody's got to win that game.
This is not, you know, this ain't.
overseas. We ain't across the pond playing football. Somebody's going to win. Ain't no draws.
Ain't no draws over here. Sometimes you feel good coming out of a draw. We each share one point.
You know, we can all go grab a pint at the pub. Draws can be okay. Dono, the interpatriotism
almost jumped out of me. I almost called like an eagle and screamed out what is a kilometer.
You know, what are we doing? It's a very efficient unit of measures.
it's what it is.
Tell me about the feet and the miles.
You know why?
Because we are in America and these teams are going to play each other
and they're going to sort this thing out.
Ain't nobody getting relegated either, even though.
By the way, can I tell you, man, I do,
the kilometer seems very efficient.
The whole metric system, it sounds great.
But when I was behind the wheel in Europe a couple months ago
and the speedometer is giving you the speed in kilometers,
I didn't know if I was going 60 miles an hour.
or 150. Like I could not tell. I'm like, how bloody fast am I going in? Like I had no idea because
it's so different. I was going like I was going like a hundred some kilometers, but I'm like,
I think I'm only going like 65 if I convert it, but who knows? I have no clue. Generally,
I judge about how fast a car makes me feel like I'm going. The only problem is I drive a Honda
of core. So like those things can get up to 90 without you feeling like you're going fast. You know,
I was driving like a brand of car.
I was driving a brand of car that they don't even send over here.
It was like a Citroen.
It's like a French car.
Like I was driving like 65.
It felt like I was going 150.
Like I have no idea what I was doing.
You were in dangerous territory, brother.
You were in dangerous territory.
But you know, all of these teams are also in dangerous territory in terms of
whether or not they're going to get these double buys.
And I'm going to tell you, this means so much to so many teams for different reasons.
Obviously for you and C,
they need to get that front court healthy.
You do not want Basser and Wilson having to play a ton right now.
They've got aspirations that are very high with those two
because they know both of them are going after this year.
Neither one of them are coming back.
NC State competing for their first ever.
The double-by format in the ACCC was introduced in 2004.
NC State has never had the double-by.
Not once.
Not once.
So this is a year where it's like, hey, you're right there.
And Will Wade said he could get that.
to begin with. Brownell trying to solidify himself as a coach that can keep it together and not
just wet the bed every time things get tough. Obviously, Kelsey, trying to prove that his team was not
a one-year wonder and what they've got going on there. And Jay Lucas, I mean, the wonder kid
that's come out of nowhere, basically, where everybody said, oh, well, whatever he does in Miami this year,
it'll be nice. There'll be a fun little story. Fun little third in the ACC. How about it? Right.
So you've got a lot of really, really good teams all jumbled up right there together.
And this thing is going to be so, so interesting coming down to stretch.
And I'm going to tell you, there's one team that mathematically they're not eliminated,
but common sense says they are SMU.
If they can find a way to win out and get some shocking upsets from everybody else,
even they can end up in the top four here.
So there's a ton to play for, and all these teams are playing each other.
This is great ball, great scheduling, great competition.
This is ACC basketball, ladies and gentlemen.
Are you not entertained?
It's great cinema is what it is.
The stretch run is going to be awesome.
Huge shout out to the Everydayers.
Make sure you check out the Everydayer Club.
Click the link in the show notes below.
Make sure you follow Kenton at TGIF underscore Kenton on X
and check out his work at Lockdown Wolfpack.
Check me out at Locked on Cains and at Alex Dono on social media.
and we'll talk to you next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC.
We are part of the number one Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
