Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - UPROAR: ACC Coaches UNLEASH Brutal Criticism | Which Programs Got HAMMERED the Hardest?

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

Anonymous coach comments shake up the ACC football landscape. Are the Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles truly elite, or is there a disconnect in talent development? Dive into the latest insights on ACC football, featuring candid analysis from Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs. They explore the impact of non-conference games like Clemson vs. South Carolina and Notre Dame vs. Miami, and discuss the ACC's representation in the NCAA baseball tournament. With names like Mario Cristobal and Dabo Swinney in the mix, this episode promises a deep dive into the strategies and dynamics shaping college sports. Don't miss out on this engaging discussion—tune in for exclusive insights and expert opinions.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The gloves are off. ACC coaches get to speak anonymously about their rivals. I thought they went really soft on North Carolina, little soft on Clemson. Miami and Florida State got hammered. 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 every day. He is Kenton Gibbs, co-host of Lockedon Wolfpack.

I am Alex Dono, host of Lockedon Caines. And this episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on college at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. On this episode, the NCAA tournament regionals are set in baseball, and there are nine ACC teams that will be competing in regionals this weekend. Hopefully we send some teams to Omaha. We'll talk about non-conference football games because on three ranked their top 10 for this upcoming football season.

A lot of ACC teams make the cut. But Kenton, this is one of my favorite parts of the summer when you're deep into that off season. And, you know, the Athlon Sports Preview Magazine is going to drop. And they always put a few teasers out there on the internet. including anonymous coaches in college football talking about their conference rivals. And yeah, listen, anonymous quotes, it's weak, put your name behind it. But like I understand why they do it, Kent, because they don't want to give free bulletin board material to their opponents. And you're going to get more honesty when it's anonymous.

Yeah, it's complete soft nonsense to me because if you feel this way, if you feel this way, say, say it. I don't care about, I was always the type of guy. I give up my opponents all the respect and, you know, honor they deserve and all that good stuff. But again, I said what I said in terms of you get the respect and honor that you deserve. If I look at you and I say, this is an honorable opponent. This is somebody that I'm going up against. You're a great team, great guys, all that good stuff. I'll say that.

Well, run, program. If I think this is a clown show over there, don't ask me. Don't ask me. Don't, you know, my mom said, if you ain't got nothing good to say, don't say it at all. She didn't say, if you don't have nothing good to say, become anonymous. then say whatever it is that you could not say when it was your name attached to. So I was reading through every ACC team in the anonymous comments on Athlon. And just to note, these are not necessarily from head coaches.

They could be from assistant coaches, which makes it a little bit harder to pinpoint, like who exactly it's coming from, right? Some of the comments were boring and a little vanilla. Some teams got hammered harder than others. Now, I'll tell you, Kent, I was a little bit disappointed. when I read the North Carolina section. Because with all the offseason drama there in Chapel Hill, with the opportunity that all of these coaches have to anonymously tee off on Bill Belichick.

And the holier than now attitude, which to me it seems like it comes a little bit more from Mike Lombardi, the GM there, you know, who basically, you know, we're the 33rd NFL team. We know how to scout these guys better than it. I really thought that these coaches were just going to let UNC have it, right? I was a little bit disappointed with what we actually got from North Carolina. Here are four anonymous comments. First one is, honestly, no one really has any idea what to expect on the field when they start this season. That's pretty benign.

Let me give you the other ones, Kent, and then we can react. The second one, how Bill Belichick adjust to the structure of the college game is going to be crucial. it's less time you get with the players, which means it's less football intelligence. It's also pretty benign. They get a little bit better from here. The third out of four. The real interesting piece we're watching is how GM, Michael Lombardi, and the coaches approach the NIL portion.

And then the fourth one, they've been vocal about criticizing other programs on how they spend and evaluate. There's talk about how they're going to become an advanced pro-level scouting program that implements NIL better. We'll see. We do expect a better over. overall haul from these guys in high school recruiting than from Mac Brown, at least until the novelty wears off or Bill gets a bad reputation. So that was like the closest thing we got to a shot

at the end there. Yeah, it was the closest we got to a shot. But I mean, has Bill not already established a bad reputation? If you were to Google Bill Belichick and set the timelines from this moment, that you're listening to this to, let's say, the last six months, is there anything positive in there? Is there anything saying Bill Belichick that got that team looking good? I haven't heard from any Carolina insiders that the team looks particularly good. I haven't heard from anybody involved, you know, I'm not going to lie and say, hey, I'm super plugged in with that program. I'm over there in Chapel Hill 24-7. I'm not going to lie to tell you that, but I will tell you very honestly, I know folks over there. I know folks who are, you know, very close to that

program. And I will tell you, I haven't heard anybody say this team looks like gangbusters. They're going, you know, they're coming to knock down the front door to ACC, and everybody better take note. But you know what you would find if you Google Bill Belichick in that time frame? Lots of negativity for off the field stuff. So I think it's very interesting to say, oh, the novelty will wear off and he will not have as good a reputation. He already doesn't have it to be quite honest.

I'm not even sure if he's going to be there long enough for the novelty to wear off, quite frankly, right? I mean. Hey, now. hey now the buyout drop for a reason and even beyond that even beyond that here's the biggest thing people keep saying well you know we don't know if he's going to be there from the the aspect of the NFL company to get him I don't think that's why I don't think that's why I think that's why I think that this he's going to realize this is more trouble than it's worth that no NFL team

is going to touch him either way that these older guys are not willing to take pay cuts to potentially win the championship. And, you know, you're not going to look at a situation where the things that worked out for Bill in the past are readily available. And so, you know, I don't think NFL teams are going to touch me either way. And I think once he realizes how hard it is to win with the roster as it's currently constructed, he was, I gave it a year, maybe two. I think two is tops.

I think if we see them anywhere beyond two years, North Carolina should consider themselves maybe extremely blessed or extremely cursed. That is yet to be seen. but I highly doubt that we get them past YouTube. So these coaches, they went easy on North Carolina. Let's go to Florida State. Florida State got hit a little harder. Coming off at 2 and 10, you're going to have to take a few lumps, right?

So first of only three comments on Florida State. The third one is actually kind of a nice one. But the first one, there's a significant disconnect in the talent at this program. On paper, in the rankings, they're doing great. But a lot of their rivals feel like they're not recruiting at a truly elite level and the guys they get aren't developing. Like, I mean, that, that's, it's eloquently worded, but that's a pretty hard criticism.

criticism. Like, they're not recruiting well or developing well is what that coach said. Oh, absolutely. They're saying that you're getting players. They got fake stars, you know, guys who get the stars because they look good walking off the bus at the camp, but he can't even perform when he gets there. And then on top of that, the non-developing part, to me, is worse than even the talent evaluation part. because, you know, talent evaluation, you cannot know by, and I mean the best coaches that I ever live will be the first ones to tell you, you cannot 100% predict how 18 to 22 year olds are going to develop in that time.

You can't. But what I do know is if it's a across-the-board development problem, it's a common denominator in those situations. It's not the players. It's not those individual players. Yeah. All right. So let me give you the comment that's really benign.

It says Gus Melzahn is going to take it back to basics and do a lot of run game at first. His hire was way more about culture and having the veteran in the room than it was about a particular kind of scheme. So let me give you then the final comment, which hit a little harder, said, quote, it fell apart faster than I've ever seen. They were really early adopters to the portal and that 23 team was an absolute nightmare to scheme against. You had the combination of in-house development guys from Florida high schools and transfers.

they started missing in both categories after that. So that's two of those three comments hit really hard to Mike Norville. I mean, these are, I think it's not only the problem of these two comments hitting hard, is that they're identical virtually. Both of these comments are saying the exact same thing, dog to the verbiage. You're not recruiting well, you're not developing well. Y'all got some problems.

If in Tallahassee, Florida, in Tallahassee, a place where you are in a hotbed of football talent, year-round football. Even when it's cold in Florida, that's a decent day in Michigan. I'm just going to be very honest with you as to Detroit. Okay. They throw two ice cubes on the ground down there.

They shut the city down. And you're telling me that you can't recruit well from there. One of the most prestigious brands in all of college sports. And you can't develop nobody. Oh, Norville. You got U.S. trouble, brother. You got to do something. You're fight back. Fight back immediately.

Now, okay, so they hit Florida State hard coming off at 2 and 10. They hit Miami just as hard coming off at 10 and 3. Well, we'll have some of those for you. And Kenton, there is a common theme on the Miami comments, and the common theme is what everybody wants, and that's money. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Locked on ECC. And speaking of money, what a segue.

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I host Locked on Cains. So Kenton and Grayson talk all things NC State. I talk all things Miami. And Kenton, Miami got hit pretty hard by these anonymous coaches. So there's actually, I think, a record five comments on Miami. Let me read you the most disparaging ones. Is Carson Beck worth all that money, they say. No one really knows right now, but that's the question you have to ask.

I think there's a bigger question here, another coach said, on how and why they spend what they do on the guys that they pick. It's sort of like a Dodgers or Yankees mindset, spending on top end recruits and portal guys and not really a team-focused culture. You're still in Florida. You still have to prioritize the high schools, and they've done that in NIL. So those being, now, you know, there's a lot of pocket watching going on from these other schools. And as far as like, you know, and you know I'm pro Carson Beck and I'm pro spending.

You know, they're using monarch money down there in Coral Gables. It seems to be worth. But as far as like, I mean, yeah, it is yet to be determined if Carson Beck is worth what they're allegedly paying him. But, I mean, bottom line was Miami, they needed to upgrade their quarterback room after losing Cam War. right they look at what they had in the room and they figured like we don't have somebody we trust to potentially take this team to the postseason right so they they went out they got a guy with 27 starts in the SEC under his belt played and did pretty well one of the biggest programs in the country so I mean at the end of the day like if Miami this is obviously big if if Miami can get

to the ACC championship game and get to the college football playoff then I would say that whatever they're paying Carson back is probably worth it. Now, onto the comment about, oh, that they're spending like the, like the Dodgers or the Yankees. Well, I mean, the Dodgers and the Yankees have won a lot of championships. I hope Miami can start doing that. But then the other part of it, Kenton, is like, I don't think Miami's the biggest spender in the country.

I mean, Ohio State, Oregon, maybe they're the biggest spender in the ACC. But I also, I mean, knowing being very close to the program, they go after a certain personality type of player. Like that quote makes it sound as if they're just kind of randomly throwing money and seeing who comes for the money. I mean, I know that culture, hard work, work ethic, intelligence, football, IQ, leadership, like that stuff that's really important to Mario Cristobal. And yeah, when they identify targets and they get into bidding wars, like Miami is always

very competitive when it comes to making the financial offers needed. But this idea that they're just kind of spending money for the sake of spending money doesn't feel like that from where I sit. Well, my thing about it is this. I am looking at coaches saying, you're saying the same thing about Carson Beck that I am. Pretty interesting there. But even beyond that.

The anonymous, Kenton Gibbs. You caught me. You caught me, Donald. I snuck in to NC State's facility and said, why, yes, I am former NC State defensive coordinator Tony Elliott. I would like to tell you exactly how I feel about, or Tony Gibson, rather.

I'd like to say exactly how I feel, but I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this much, and I mean this very genuine. The only bad thing you got to say about this team is pocket watching. That's it. That's it. There are so many better critiques of Miami, both historically and under crystal ball. There are so many better critiques. There, you could easily say, when is Miami going to figure it out to get it together?

Every year, top, top level talent. Yeah, you can say it costs what it costs and it takes what it takes. I would have loved to hear their spending, like, like the Dodgers or the Yankees without the rings. Right. They didn't even say that. Then I'm like, all right, I get you. You're saying, you're talking now, you're talking.

But just saying, they spend a lot of money. Compared to what? Compared to who? If you compare it to the top teams of the nation, I don't think that they're spending that outlandishly. If you compare it to the top teams of the ACC, sure, you can say, oh, they're spending an absorberate amount compared to them.

But again, our top dog is a team that has openly had a coach say, I'll go do something else when players go get paid. So I think he's a little bit different than most coaches in terms of NIL. I think that they went soft on Miami if you asked me. I don't think that they came down nearly as hard as they could if I say, they're spending money over there. They're giving kids opportunities to change their lives. Yeah, because one of the other comments I had

Red was it says they'll be decent up front on defense and they spent like crazy for a new secondary. So a lot of comments about money. And you're right. If that's the worst thing they have to say, I'll take it because I don't have the exact quotes in front of me, Kenton, but I remember a year ago, a year ago when the comments about Miami came up, a lot of it was about how, you know, Mario Cristobald doesn't know what to do in situations, right? That was, you know, and that was the, that was coming off of the Georgia Tech debacle. So I guess they moved on from that and they've moved on to the money stuff. All right, let's talk about Clemson.

And obviously, you know, there's not a whole lot negative to say about Clemson. They won the ACC last year and their team looks better on paper than the one that won the conference last year. But there was some mixed stuff in here. First comment, this is the year we find out if Davosweeney and his culture can survive in the new era of this game. Two years ago, we put on the tape and it felt like, wow, their best days are behind them because of the shift and personnel and the stance against NIL. You saw it right away, especially position groups like receiver where they used to dominate. Now they're getting better. You're seeing more talent than the last couple of years.

Another one, how good is Cade Clubnik really? His ceiling defines their limit as a program. You should see a big jump as Garrett Riley's playbook expands with him. That's very positive. another one defensively. They've improved by bringing in Tom Allen, their new D.C., because he knows how to coach high-end talent and be disruptive. And then finally, they're playing the game of NIL now,

but they need a big season from the quarterback to be the old Clemson that charges through the league. So those are the most positive comments you're going to find, Kenton. And a point that's kind of scary that multiple coaches brought up was Clemson is now starting to adapt to the modern playing of the game. game. The dabbo was softening on his old stances. They're increasing their NIL budget.

They're taking transfers now. So there's a lot of evolution going on. Listen, this is a scary evolution for the rest of the conference. And this is a scary evolution for the nation to be quite honest. You are seeing a situation where a team, do you talk about K. Clubnick being the limit? No. Dabo's willingness to say, I'm going to play the game that is now just part of where we are was

the limit for this team. That was the limit. And now that he has softened his dance and bent a little bit and said, I'm going to be flexible. If my guys earn it, they'll get paid. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. He may not be Mr. Moneybags.

He may not be dropping out big bags like the monopoly man. But I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to tell you something. Clemson with what they were already doing. Now with a willingness to spend. Now with, you know, it was easy to dirty Matt Clemson. They recruited because all you could, all you had to say is, wait a minute, doesn't their coach not want you to get paid?

You want to go play for a guy? that's against you buying your mom my house. His mama got a house. He got multiple houses. And you don't want your mom to? Oh, he wants your mom to step in the pockets. Okay. I mean, if you want to go play there, go play there. Now that he's adjusted and he's in a different space, what can you say about it?

Nobody in the ACC has more championships than them. Nobody in the ACC has more first rounders than them. Nobody in the ACC has many all-conference selections or anything like that. So what can you say? you're just stuck between a rock and a hard place now the Clemson is playing the NIL game. Credit to dabble. Credit to dabble for adjusting. All right.

So you talked to me into that, you know, they went a little soft on Miami. They did not go soft on Florida State. We agree on that. No, no, no. They definitely went soft on North Carolina. And, you know, they went soft on Clemson, but understandably so. Yeah. All right.

So are you ready for the comments about Cal and Justin Wilcox? Because this is worth the price of the magazine. You're going to buy the Athlon magazine. This is worth the price right here. Oh, I know they threw him in that pot. Extra grease fried hard. Fried hard. You understand it?

Didn't pull him out until he was crispy. Talk to him. Justin Wilcox might resign after he reads these. So three comments. First of those being, this program is in serious trouble. Last year, they were really good on defense, and they had good offensive pieces, but they've lost their top linebackers and running backs

in the portal. Second comment, these get worse, by the way, everyone. They're a bad fit for the league in every way. And they're trying to break in a new offensive staff with no NIL because the boosters want to put GM Ron Rivera in charge of the program instead of the head coach. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like what's happening here. And this is all before they have to start grinding it out cross country for a few more years. And then the third comment, short and sweet. comment number three quote it's a complete mess and just and willcox should just go dc somewhere do you know how that second one was so nasty that second one was so nasty who bad fit for the conference in every way i'm gonna tell you this i'm gonna tell you this

and i'm gonna leave it here for cow if if you do crush the numbers and you look at well let's joining the new pack 12 wouldn't be as bad as us taking a reduced cut over here in the ACC. I'm going to tell you, you got to look at it. You got to look at it because, ooh, wee, this is nasty. This is. And Justin Wilkins, Coach Wilkins, fight back, protect yourself. Win some ball games, man, because this here is, ooh.

And it puts you in such a nasty situation because now you create a situation of internal straight or internal strife rather internal strike you've got the the belief of there's a ribera versus wilcox instead of them working in unison say what you want about the the show that we're seeing in chapel hill right now but lombardi and belichick appear to be in lockstep together that is that is a commonality amongst nearly every team in this campus that has a GM you're not like oh man you know they they just love that GM down there core gable so much they will they They think that he could do better than Christopher. It's not happening nowhere.

This is not a thing. So to hear that, you're right. You're right, Donald. Justin Wilcox might just listen to the third guy and say, you know what? To him. Let me go be a defensive coordinator. He's now in witness protection, Wilcox, after reading needs. And what you've said about that second comment,

it certainly makes me want to do more digging into that Ron Rivera, Wilcox dynamic because admittedly, I mean, I knew Rivera is now there as the GM, but I didn't realize there were even rumors about like a power struggle between the two. So I want to read a little bit more into that. Coming up next, the ACCC is prominently featured among top 10 non-conference games this coming season. And we got nine baseball teams heading to the NCAAs. I want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new locked on ACC.

So I like this, Kenton. A lot of ACC teams get nods for top non-conference games this year. year on an on three sports top 10 ranking, which is it's extra important for the ACC. Now that they've got the brand initiative, higher TV ratings equal more money. So yeah, you want to have as many of these non-conference top games as possible. Notre Dame is also prominently featured, which makes sense because they're not in a conference. So every game they play is a non-conference game. So it makes sense they would appear several times on this list.

So let me go through the top 10 with you. we'll talk about the ones that feature ACC teams. Number one, they've got Texas at Ohio State, not ACC. Clemson appears Kenton in both numbers two and three. Clemson at South Carolina, final week of the season, is number two. And LSU at Clemson, week one, is number three. I would personally flip those because, like, we see Clemson versus South Carolina. That's an every year thing.

Clemson versus LSU feels like more of an event. But like their logic for ranking the South Carolina game higher was. they think it's going to be a top five matchup at the end of the season. But it's like, I don't know, to me, like the LSU matchup has more sizzle, though, but both are great games. Both are great games. And like you said, the situation with, I would definitely flip them because you have too many variables going in to control whether or not that last game of the season is a top five, you know, match up. And even if it is a top five matchup, familiarity kind of knocks it down the run. Like you said, you see it every year.

you do not see tiger on tiger violence every year you do not see hey somebody's going to walk into death valley uh looking real rough and somebody's going to walk out bludgeon and he's through death valley because they both play in death valley exactly exactly two tigers both playing in death valley what a what a time but you don't see that so i do agree that i will flip those but i'll tell you what this is such a one a one b situation i think both of them are big time it's just that the one b for me you need too many things to go right as opposed to both of these teams walking into the season are going to be. They're both going to be viewed as top teams in the nation. That's true. Then number four, you've got Notre Dame at Miami, August 31st, which is, I mean, that, dude, that opening weekend, Kenton, which is going to include Clemson against LSU. And it's also going to include Florida State hosting Alabama, which is on this list.

So, like, that opening weekend, I am going to put my phone on Do Not Disturb for like four days, like the Friday through the Monday. And I'm just going to sit there and soak it all in. And Miami versus Notre Dame should be a lot of fun. Don't call me, don't text me, don't email me, don't smoke signal me, don't do none of that because we got a hell of a slick of ACC ball games coming up or ball games, including teams from ACC coming up. Because this Miami-Norda-Dane game is going to tell us a lot about both teams. It's going to tell us how good is Carr, how good is Beck. How good are these guys?

How good is Miami's front seven? How good is Jeremiah Love after, you know, a year that we saw him, even though he bawled out. in the playoff, we could tell that was a hobble version. We could tell that he wasn't that full strength rolling there. So is he by far in a way the best back in America like many people believe he will be? Ruben Hurricane Bay, very similar situation.

This is a guy that we all expected to dominate last year hinder by injury. Does he come back? What does healthy him look like? Going up against a prolific offensive line like the Golden Dolmer. So then this is a great ball game that is a part of a great slate,

which we'll get to it later, but no prom. Tom? Yeah. Well, and on that Miami versus Notre Dame, like, you summed it up very well. And it's also, it's going to feature two of the best offensive lines in the country. So, I mean, are both of those O lines going to dominate in the trenches or are the opposing D lines going to have something to say about that?

How clean are the jerseys of C.J. Carr and Carson Beck going to be in that one. All right. So then moving on number five, non-ACC, Michigan at Oklahoma. But then number six, you've got Alabama and. Florida State August 30th. I hope that's a good game, Kenton. Like I hope it's competitive because I think Bama is favored by more than a touchdown.

Very early, obviously odds. But they're favored by more than a touchdown. Like that game could get ugly unless, you know, Florida State is having the type of offseason transformation. And they're ahead of schedule. I guess we'll see. Alabama broke Florida State once before. Hopefully this is not history repeating itself.

hopefully we see a very different showing from this Florida State team that we saw under that Jimbo Fisher team where everything fell off. They got stripped down to the studs in that game in the subsequent season that followed. So hopefully we see a much better performance here by Florida State. But honestly, can we count on it with all of these new pieces, all of these new parts, all of this new, you know what I mean? It's tough for me to say, and this isn't me saying Bamba's going to be great. And this isn't me making granny happy. by the way, let you, Grandma. I know you're listening.

I know you're going to get excited. But, you know, this just seems to me like this is right for the pickings for, you know, people to drop down there, ACC castigation based on what happens in this game. So there's two more top 10 that involve ACC teams. Number seven, non-ACC. You got Texas A&M at Notre Dame, September 13th. You got Florida at Miami September 20th, which is another. I mean, Miami's got a good non-conference schedule this year.

Now, you know, Florida is a team Miami plays somewhat frequently, but not every year. It's not a yearly rivalry. And Florida's going to look for revenge. Miami went up to the swamp last year, pounded them 41 to 17 with Cam Ward. Florida is going to try to return the favor in Miami. So two of Miami's first four games are going to be home against Notre Dame and home against Florida. What a game. What a game this one should size up to be.

We talk about, you know, kind of seeing what Miami is week one, even if you believe, well, this week one jitters and well things are kind that this convivolated and up and down and all that okay fine by week four that's a third of the season or i'm sorry you have a quarter of the season already played your lab legs have to be under you by this this will tell you more than anything that you could ever imagine and mind you as as high as people are on dj lagway as much love as he gets rightfully so not to say that that young man doesn't deserve the love you really really really have to take care of a team whose coach's seat was hotter than fish grease in the middle of July last year toward the end of that year. It was almost a foregoing conclusion that Billy would,

his nickname was LinkedIn Billy on the Locked-on podcast network. You understand? So with that in mind, you have got to beat that team. But again, they're not going to be some rollover slouch. And year two under Lagway, his first year being the guy the entire officer. So that number nine, they have USC at Notre Dame, which honestly might be ranked a little too low because they may be up to the final two times they ever face one another because their contract ends after 2026. And I don't think USC wants to keep doing this now that they're in the Big Ten. So I thought that was ranked a little low at number nine. And then number 10, you've got to help me with this one. because I know I try to be an ACC cheerleader when appropriate,

but you're telling me Illinois at Duke is one of the top 10 non-conference games. I mean, we get a little slow at the end of that list. Illinois versus Duke is a top 10. So here's the thing. Stay with me now, Donald. This one here is for two groups of people. The Super Ball Knowers, because these were two of the better teams in their conferences at the end of the season.

Objectively speaking, once you get out of that tier of, of playoff teams in the big 10. I'm talking Indiana, Ohio State, Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon and Penn State. Illinois was right there. And they hung in with most of those teams when they played them. And Duke, how many games of Duke with last year?

What was it? Eight, nine? And you get a better. They won nine games. Yeah. They win nine last year. You get a better quarterback. You are losing some talent, not deny that.

But remember, we said the same thing going into year one. of Mamie Diaz. We said they're losing so much talent. You're losing the Nias people. You lose the Wayne Carl. Riley Leonard. You lose so many guys that are absolutely phenomenal. How do you bounce back?

It just bounced back. Offensive linemen. They have one of them drafted in the first round or early second round. Something along those lines lost a couple of other offensive linemen as well, Mark to the Packers. They had some losses and popped out with nine. Donnell, I'm not saying that this game is. not exciting. It does not have the glitz and the glamour and the big names of some of these

other games. If you're a ball pierced, this is going to be some good ball. It's going to be some, it's going to be some good ball. I can see it at 10. I'm not saying that this is understood to you. I'm saying I can see it. You convinced me to watch. I'm looking at the honorable mentions in there. And I'm a little surprise. I guess I got to take a closer look at Colorado's non-conference schedule. Maybe because Shador and Travis Hunter are gone. Like, but Dion's still there. Like, you're telling me no Colorado game even makes the honorable mentions.

And then I'll tell you, I'm a little interested at TCU at North Carolina. Bellochek's first game. I don't know. No one feels pretty saucy to me. Against Sunny Dykes, a career college guy. Sunny Dykes have rarely ever been anywhere but college to my knowledge. So I am. The career NFL against the career college guy, yeah.

I am very intrigued to see how that matchup plays. out. But again, there's an argument for it. I can see the arguments, but I'm not mad at Illinois, and I'm not mad at Illinois and Duke at all at that, at that 10 spot at all. Because again, TCU, North Carolina is interesting, but I, and this is not me saying that I don't like North Carolina because trust me, I didn't talk long on purpose to not have to talk about UNC winning the ACC conference tournament and baseball. Shout out to the Tar Heels. You did you think. Congratulations our host and we'll talk about that later. But this, this is a, very, very intriguing moment that I, I am not as much bought into because I just don't believe in

this roster. I think Bill Belichick, he's a great coach and all that. It's never about your ex and your olds. It's your layers and your Joe's. Right now, I don't think he's got the Larry's and Joe's to compete at a high level. All right. So let's talk some baseball. So earlier today, Monday, we got the bracket, right, for the NCAA baseball tournament, regional's coming up. There are nine ACC teams that have been selected. First time since 2022, we've had this many in the 64 team field. And you've got three that are hosting regionals, North Carolina. The ACC champs are hosting a regional for the 14th time in program history.

They're the number one seed. Then you've got number two seed Oklahoma there, three seed, Nebraska, four seed, Holy Cross, which is who North Carolina is going to face first. you've got Florida State hosting a regional, Clemson hosting a regional, then the other teams that have qualified will be traveling for the regional. Duke, Georgia Tech,

who was the regular season ACC champ, Louisville, NC State. You got in, so did I with Miami, Wake Forest, and I think that's it. Wake Forest, Miami, yeah, I think that's all nine in there. And so, so Kent, out of this field of nine ACC teams in the field of 64, who would, you say has the best shot of going to Omaha and taking home a championship?

As much as I would love to be a homer and say, my boys, at NC State, it has to be Clemson. I mean, they cruised dominantly through a vast majority of the season. It wasn't until they faced NC State where things kind of the wheels seem to fall off, but they're now back on a trajectory that seems like they figured it out. They lost NC State. I believe they lost the series after that to Florida State as well. and then, you know, they kind of had a come to Jesus moment where they start to figure it out and be turning back in the right direction

toward the end of the season. But I'd say either them or as much as it pains me to say, North Carolina would probably be my two teams. Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm with you on not going the Homer route because I don't give Miami is the three seed in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi region. They're going to have to face Alabama in the first game. It was a lot of good bats on that Bama team.

and they would have to get through Southern Miss who's hosting the regional. So I'm not feeling too good about Miami's chances, nor are you feeling too good about NC State's chances. But we'll see, man. I want to get as many teams to Omaha as possible for this summer. So a huge shout out and thank you to Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown, Wolfpack doing an awesome job. As always, follow him on X at TGIF underscore Kenton. Check him and Grayson out at Lockdown Wolfpack.

Check me out at Locked on Cains. Follow me on X at Alex Dono. and we'll talk to you again tomorrow on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.