ACC PREVIEW: Contender Tiers, Biggest Questions & Beautiful Chaos | 2025 College Football - The Solid Verbal College Football

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal hull. For me, I'm a man,
I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, I
want to be happy. You want to be happy? For
Dake edyth State is that whoo whoom? And Dan and Tie.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Dan Robinstein. Today it is part one of the ACC Preview.
We've got three parts in total.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
This one I think is going to be the most fun.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Sir, Welcome back to the show. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Oh, I'm great, Tie. So, I don't know how long
ago it was when we decided that the ACC. Maybe
it was just me because it was a very silly thing,
was the all Costco conference call in quality in bulk.
I don't have a new acronym for the ACC or
ACC acrony. I'm very dumb. But I got to thinking

(00:52):
about conference preview season in general, Tie, and one of
the struggles that I think everybody has, from head coaches,
media members, coordinators, position coaches, whatever, whenever you read any
of the preview content, or watch the preview content, or
sit on a giant pillow and meditate about what you

(01:14):
think is going to happen with Louisville's season, or Texas
Tech season or cal season, which is what you did
earlier this morning. You told me by they did meditate.
He did do it. Appreciate it good. Follow your breath,
tie feel the breath, enter the nostrils, and really lock
in on that. Roll out your shoulders and just take
ten minutes. I recommend it. Anyway, have you ever been

(01:35):
to or heard of Salt and straw? Salt and sh
never Salt and straw ice cream? Not a sponsor.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Could be maybe after this, maybe not.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
We'll see. Okay, this applies to the sport of college
football as we are trying to figure out when we
learn that a school is starting a Texas State transfer
opposite a Delaware State transfer, and then behind them is
going to be a col transfer, and then you know
at playing free safety is going to be a North
Dakota State transfer. And Salt and Straw is a very

(02:09):
creative ice cream shop. They come up with flavors. Maybe
you've been to Listener, You've been to one of these
types of ice cream shops where the flavors are a
little bit out there, Like you remember when there were
the jelly beans that were Harry Potter inspired and they
tasted like boogers or something, and you're just like, oh,
that's weird, okay, whatever saltan straw has flavors like I'm

(02:31):
making this up, gorganzola, pistachio, and you're just like ooh okay,
or mango, mango, brambleberry, hollapeno, and you're just like, ah, man,
maybe that works. Maybe it's delicious, and maybe they've cracked
the code on flavor profiles and they have the regular flavors,

(02:52):
you know, your salted caramel, But then you will come
across like auso, right, like the beef dripping flavored ice cream,
and you're just like, man, I don't know. I just
I'll take a sample, I'll figure it out. I'll see if
it works for me. So where are we going with this? Exactly?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Explain this to I don't understand the reference.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
The sport now is such a hodgepodge of thrown together
roster flavors on all of these teams that for you
to have any strong opinion about a lot of these
teams kind of seems insane, where you're just like, yeah,
Louisville really struggled on defense last year, but they brought
in thirty eight transfers, so my opinion doesn't matter. So

(03:36):
sometimes it's gonna work. Sometimes it's not gonna work. And
I think what we're doing right now this sample season,
this sample season is this previous season is we're just
figuring out the samples. Tie. You switched the We're just
figuring out the samples and if the flavors can come together.
So I'm excited for previous season because it's salt and
straw season. Tie. Maybe tackle flavored ice cream is going

(03:59):
to be a hit. Maybe it's not, And that's the
joy of this tie.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, with that pre amble, welcome, thank you, back.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
To the solidverb.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
I am Tie, he is Dan. This is yes, part
one of the ACC preview. Hit Follow, hit subscribe if
you have yet to do so so that you don't
miss any of our upcoming preview episodes. This is airing,
I guess as our first Sunday episode of twenty twenty
five season slash previous season. It's going to be Sunday

(04:29):
Tuesday Thursday, as we've done for years on this show.
Moving forward now as we get through the college football
season again, verballers dot com is where you can go
if you want to support Dan and I. You ditch
the ads, you get these episodes a day early, get
access to our discord and some of the games that

(04:49):
we've got coming up here in the next few months.
But that's the best way you can support what we do.
We've got a bunch of people who are re upping.
We appreciate their support. Again, it means the world to AUS,
so thank you so much for helping us along here,
helping us keep the lights.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
On absolutely and helps me to just download new sound drops. Tie,
when am I going to use that? I don't know,
every ninety seconds or so all season long. I don't
know who's to say we'll get to that. So look,
we did this last year. It was a big hit.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
We had one overview style preview show per Power Conference,
and then parts two and three were more of a
deep dive of the teams within that conference. Today it's
the acc We can use the salt and straw ice
cream metaphor if we feel that is most appropriate. But
on today's episode, yeah, we're going to be looking at

(05:44):
some of the bigger picture storylines. We're going to be
going through our tiers for the conference. We're also going
to be pulling out some of the interesting points of
comparison relative to last year, relative to the rest of
college football talk about the bigger picture, water cooler stuff
that you need to know about the ACC. Agree while

(06:05):
you are going through your weird ice cream metaphor for
this conference, I was looking at my note sheet on
which I jotted down a couple things about the All
Costco Conference.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Call in, call in, call in quality, and bulk thank you.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
The first thing that comes to mind is that my
motto for the ACC this year is that you don't
need to be faster than the bear, you just need
to be faster than your buddy.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
It is truly a difference of Mario Kart Grand Prix mode,
where everyone is shooting red shells at each other and
you don't know if you're going to finish in first
even if you're in first at the end of the race. Yeah,
I guess to be fair, that would be the Big
twelve this year versus hiding in a bush in Fortnite
for like twenty minutes and waiting for the right spot,

(06:56):
which is what I think the ACC is this year.
You with the model in reference, we've got a younger audience.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
What can I say? Yeah, that's what we have, That's
what we definitely.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Have the ACC to me is the perfect happy medium
between a conference like the Big Ten, which is very
top heavy and you sort of know who the contenders are,
and the Big twelve, which is completely wide open. Because
the ACC has a clear number one, in my opinion,
it's got a very muddled group looking to be that
number two, and then he got a whole bunch of

(07:25):
wild cards. And I think it's ultimately those wild cards
that are going to dictate whether or not the public
views this as a tough conference or not use it
as a worthy conference when it comes to playoff conversations.
But sort of a mix of both, which I think
is only partially why it's interesting. You get into a
bunch of other reasons why. In that sense, it's sort

(07:46):
of like a rich Man's Mountain West. We talked about
that on our last episode, right. You kind of got
a clear number one, but then the battle for number two,
it starts to get muddled, and there's a lot of
points of intrigue throughout the conference. That's where I'm at
with the ACC. As always, we're fascinated by all of
these conferences. So I don't think this is going to
be so much a conversation about us talking down the ACC.

(08:09):
I think we're going to be looking for the points
of as I said, intrigue, the things that make it
interesting and ultimately will keep us entertained.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Yeah, there's also the fun element of the ACC when
you talk about tears, that this is very much a
conference that has the tradition, a tradition of a team
competing for something huge within the conference or on the
national stage and then immediately falling off. This segment is
brought to you by our friends at cliff Bar. Now

(08:40):
that you know Miami can play in a Pinstripe Bowl,
that Clemson can play in a cheese At Bowl, that
Florida State can be on the precipice of a college
football playoff berth and then go two and ten. Even
though we are saying teams like those or SMU in
the case of last season, look like they're very much
built to succeeded for at least the short to medium term.

(09:02):
The ACC also presents, via our friends at cliff Bar,
not a sponsor could be the ability to just completely
free fall after success, and the ACC is generous in
that way.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
The ACC is very generous in that way. So I
don't know where the best place is to start. I mean,
we do want to go through our tiers here. Maybe
that's as good a place as any, and we can
use that to talk about some other interesting tidbits within
the conference. There was, of course, plenty of turnover with
respect to coordinators, not so much head coach, but coordinators
or a bunch of names that we can get into,

(09:35):
I think a little bit more specifically as we get
into the team previews in parts two and three, transfers
we will talk about. I mean, you alluded to it
in the very beginning, but this is very much a
conference that at the top level is going to be
heavily influenced by some of the big transfers that came over.
Carson Beck to Miami, Darien Mensa to Duke Miller, Moss

(09:57):
to Louisville, a whole bunch of that we can get
into again more depth parts two and three, but from
a high level in today's episode, I won't beat around
the bush. Clemson's the best team in this conference. Do
you agree or disagree?

Speaker 1 (10:13):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
I don't even think it's close if I'm being honest
with you. Okay, they've got the most returning production of
anybody in the country. I think with the way that
they came on last season. Remember, Clemson stole a playoff
bid and that was a talking point like, oh.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Man, here we go.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
People were afraid of that when they rolled the playoff
system out that who is the team going to be
that's going to steal a bid? Clemson stole a bid
and then he could argue S and MU stole a
bit away from Alabama.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, I'm not arguing that.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
I know people have so Yeah, definitely a bit of
contention with Clemson getting in. I think it was deserved.
I think they quitted themselves. Well, I think just one
man's opinion for me, they're the top team in the
country this year preseason number one brand put Clemson down
on that top line.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
That's tough for me, you know. And there's so many
variables here, and this is maybe a broader conversation if
we're doing a sort of more national show near the
end of preview season. But the idea that Clemson's number
one having done nothing excellently last year beyond kind of
survive and feature the fewest catastrophic weakness weaknesses.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Which hit in the fortnite bush.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
They hit in the bush. But that's if you're talking
from a national perspective, I'm not there. As much as
I like a lot of that talent, especially on defense,
the young receivers. Obviously the experience of Cade club Nick,
who I thought was decent last year, but I don't know.
I hold, like nationally elite to a higher bar than
what I think he showed. I think he was really good,
but I don't know. And so I'm not with you there.

(11:48):
But because of what for instance, you know, SMU and
Miami are specifically replacing on both sides of the ball,
SMU especially on defense, Miami especially on offense. And the
continuity that Clemson has, there's just more to like a
like clearly, like in we're recording this in early July,
in this moment than there is for any other team

(12:08):
in the conference. And you know, I think they're upgrading.
I know they're upgrading a defensive coordinator. So I don't know.
I think they've addressed what they've needed to address. They
hit it. You know, they're they're going to the transfer portal.
They got what a mountain of three guys, three guys
in which is, look, when you recruit well and you
seem to develop pretty well at a lot of positions.
If you're just plug and playing two three guys, maybe

(12:30):
that means you're in a very advantage place. And so
I yes, I'm with you. Clemson is just ahead of
the pack on the kid Klubnik thing.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
That will be a very fascinating story to follow this
year because Kid Club Nick came up big in some
key moments, and I think much of the enthusiasm around
him not just for this coming season, but as it
relates to the twenty six NFL Draft. I mean, I've
started to see some kid Clubnick hype in that world

(13:00):
as well. I think a lot of that stems from
some of those bigger spots that were nationally televised and
we saw him show out. I like kid club I've
always liked Caid Club Nick. By the way, for anyone
who's interested in joining me on the club level again
this year, we've reopened the gates. Tickets are free, come
on in, maybe bring a covered dish or something.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
When you can form a club sandwich in that moment, club.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Well, it depends, but okay, to open the conversations around
the club level.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
It's a trust tree by the fortnite bush. Okay, that
can be a bonus episode.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, but there is an element of Caid's game that's
very inconsistent, and that has been the case from day one.
It got better last year. I would expect that it's
going to take another step forward now it's another year
under Garrett Riley in the same offense and much of
the same contributors around him. But that, to me, is
the element of his game that I would like to

(13:55):
see ironed out before I would be fully comfortable.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
You just said it. You just said they're your number
one team, so you have to You're already comfortable.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
I would feel better about it if you were a
little bit more consistent. Nobody's forcing you, Okay, who else
do you have in that tier? Or is Clemson alone?
Clemson's alone, Clemson's my one age are the only contender
the one B tier, Okay, is where it starts to
get a little bit wonky for me. I've got a
healthy grouping of Miami, SMU, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Ties

(14:33):
Sleeper of the Year. Oh no, yours mine, America's Pennsylvania's
own pit Panthers. I am, and all the chips are
in the middle. All the chips are in the middle.
For the Pit Panthers this year.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
So it's not terribly difficult to defend the Canes there.
It's not terribly differ a cult to defend SMU even
with you know, arguably they were led by their defense.
I think they're replacing a bunch of dudes up front,
but they hit the portal successfully well. Kevin Jennings definitely
looks like he's in the top grouping of quarterbacks in
the conference, if not the top of the conference. I

(15:14):
think he has that potential to be the best quarterback
in the ACC. Tell me why Pitt belongs in this
portion of the program.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
First off, the schedule is favorable, okay, which is a
key element whenever we're talking about the ACC. They missed
both Clemson and SMU. They also get Louisville and Miami
at home. That Miami game, by the way, is the
last game of the year.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
It yeah, as it is in Pit could be interesting.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I love the combination and they got in the backfield
like Eli Holstein coming back from injury.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Des Reid.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Yeah, that's sort of your one two your one two
punch on offense. I you know, we can talk about
as we get into team previews, what's it look like
out wide in the line, and are they going to
have a pass.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Rush this year?

Speaker 2 (15:59):
They really have one of the last two years where
they add on defense. I mean, I think there are
real questions about Pitt, but I look at this team
and I say, well, Eli Holstein felt to me like
he was coming more into his own before he got hurt,
and provided that he can continue developing the way that
I think we saw in real time last year, that's

(16:20):
a really exciting proposition for Pitt. You layer on top
of that the schedule. This has been a team that's
been pretty steady under the Nard dog pat Ardoozy.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
The team that started that started seven and oh one,
finished one six last year. There's my button here.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I'm talking about this.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Okay, we're not talking about this. Thanks.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
Pitt is sort of my SMU of twenty twenty five
where I'm going to be way higher on them than
pretty much everybody. I looked at bill Ces rankings. He
has him down for like three and a half conference wins.
Nobody else seems to be as high on Pitt as
I am. Again, I will go into more detail as
we get deeper into this, but I like I've got

(17:01):
hit pretty high. We can talk about predictions a little
bit later. You know, I'm with you. On the other teams, Miami,
I think the offense takes a step back. I think
the defense improves. They've got a tough non conference schedule,
which is probably more of a conversation with respect to
the playoff r I kind of alluded to maybe some
let down potential in the pit game. There are others

(17:21):
as well. I really like Georgia Tech. Okay, they're another one.
Georgia Tech is going to be feisty as hell and
they're gonna knock somebody off this year. They're only a
contender though, if they can stay healthy and improve their secondary.
That's the wet blanket. If we're talking about things in
terms of hotness, where's my lamas sound?

Speaker 1 (17:42):
I kind of have a problem with your hair. It's
bothering me.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
The flawfinder here is that Georgia Tech's got to stay
healthy and they got to improve their secondary.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Otherwise it's not going to go off.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
But I love the Haines your way backfield, Haines King, sure,
Jamal Haynes.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
Adding some of FIU's best and Eric Rivers that's right.
How wide I like Georgia Tech more than I like Pitt.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
How do you stack up Miami, Louisville and SMU.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Miami, Louisville and SMU. I would have Louisville last there,
just because they hit the portal so hard and there's
so many changes, and I'm just much more on board
with Carson Beck and Kevin Jennings than I am Miller Moss. Okay,
so that as good as Jeff Brohm has been with quarterbacks,
I mean, I think they won double digit games with

(18:27):
Jack Plumber a couple of years ago. Tyler Schuck certainly
had highs and they beat Clemson last year. But I
like Louisville on offense. I'm going to need to see
a lot more from that defense that took it. They
took a pretty major step back last year. So I
would have I think Miami and then SMU and then
Louisville in that grouping.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
I've got it Clemson one, I've got Pitt two, Pitt
two two, Okay, I've got Miami three, I've got Georgia
Tech four.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
And then I've got Louisville five. It is spicy. I
don't know if you have the spicy drop that is
spicy I do have it somewhere. Is it? Yes, there,
it is, thank you very much. Is that a Wendy's commercial?
I always forget the references.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
It was either a Wendy's or like a Sonic commercial.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Okay, fair when you talk about schedules, and this isn't
just appropriate for Pitt, but it makes sense with Pitt
and you. It appears to be favorable. But it appears
to be favorable when we know nothing about so many
of these teams, right that, Like, if Florida State's pretty good,
then everybody's schedule becomes more difficult. If NC State somehow
is pretty good and there are pieces on offense, of course,

(19:34):
with CJ. Bailey showing promise last year and they can
figure out defense somehow, that becomes a more difficult schedule.
If you have NC State there, there's a number of
these teams where you're like, it seems pretty good because
I think only two teams have Clemson, Miami, and SMU
on their schedule. I believe it's Syracuse and Louisville are
the two teams that have those three specific acc powers

(19:57):
on their schedule. So there's good reason to like a
lot of the roads that we're seeing in the ACC
because one of the things in the ACC, which I
think you've alluded to but we haven't sort of hit
on right now, is you could talk yourself into like
seven or eight coaches needing to prove a lot this
year or it's the last year. I think that's part
of what makes it interesting, right.

Speaker 2 (20:19):
And we're going to get into like a wild card
tier the medy middle of this conference, which I mentioned
at the top that I think ultimately defines it relative
to conference strength in that whole debate which we know
is going to take place. But yeah, I mean I
could pick out I could throw a dart and hit
five teams in that tier where it could go really well.

(20:42):
Also they could go five and seven fire the coach, right,
you know, there's a lot of volatility. I think as
you get below the top six teams in this conference.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
I like Georgia Tech more than I like Louisville. I
think Georgia Tech I have the three powers as one, two, three,
I go clem in Miami, SMU, then I'm going to
Georgia Tech. I've got Louisville below Tech as well.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
You just oh yeah, yeah, okay, really tough hit number
two it's a tough schedule. I think the offense is
going to be good. There are definite questions on defense,
which you mentioned. The big question for me with Louisville
is who's the X factor.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
It could be Isaac Brown running back.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
I love Isaac Brown, isaske Brown's great, He's a home
run hitter. I think they're gonna clearly rely on him
this year to get it done on the ground. And
you know, Miller Moss is a veteran at this point,
He's played a lot of football. Definitely needs to shore
up some of his late game management and late game
decision making. But we have seen this as a coach,

(21:43):
a coaching staff that's been really good at developing quarterbacks.
This is gonna be their third straight year of a
transfer quarterback. They've done okay.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
But I'm not worried about that truly. I mean, I
don't love Miller Moss here, but really it's just the
defense facing Miami, Boston College, Virginia Tech. Callum not worried
about this moment, Clemson, SMU, and Kentucky to finish out
the season. We'll see on Kentucky's offense, but like that's
a tough road with your bringing. I had the number here,
I was like the ninety first best defense in America

(22:12):
last year points per drive, and I just I don't know.
I'm not sorry. Excuse me. Louisville's was sixty eighth. I'm
confusing them. But even still, I need a more complete
team to feel good about them. Is like number three
four in that space right.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
Now, I've got SMU at six.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
You see a drop off because everything sort of pointed
to last year roster wise.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
Well, I think two things. First off, they're gonna end
up in more shootouts this year. Okay, I think that's inevitable,
and losing Brischard Smith really hurts. I mean, they used
him as a Swiss Army knife of sorts, got a
lot of pred for what he did on the ground. Yep,
also caught thirty nine balls through the air. They did

(22:57):
bring in some transfers that I think can help them
help Kevin Jennings catching passes out of the backfield, but
it's just tough to replace a guy like that. The
schedule is also, I think, much harder, and I like
RTD lashly. I think there is a pretty good case
that he's one of the top tier coaches in this
conference right away?

Speaker 1 (23:18):
Has it lost an ACC regular season game? Has he? No? No?

Speaker 2 (23:21):
No, I mean I really look, what they're doing is
is marvelous, So kudos to them.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
I just think there's going to be a step back.
So that is your second tier or third tier.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
That would be like my one B Clemson's one A
one B is Pitt Miami, Georgia Tech, Louis Villain SMU.

Speaker 1 (23:40):
Okay, so that the break is after SMU at six. Yeah,
the next tier being like feisty, how would you categorize
the next tier wild cards? Man, Yeah, could go three
games in either direction. They could go eight and four,
could go four and eight, could go you know, Okay.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
It's easier for me to kind of skip to the
bottom and then work my way back up because there
are two teams that I think are very clearly in
rebuilding mode, and those are wake Forest and Stanford, right,
you know, love Jake Dickert never coached east of the
Mississippi or maybe once as a GA, but otherwise it's
like a head coach never it's clearly a rebuilding situation.

(24:16):
The Stanford thing, you know, they got rid of Troy
Taylor late in the game. They're going with Frank Reich.
Tough schedule, tough situation with the interim coach. I think
we can get into more detail. Obviously, I keep previewing
the previews as we talk about them more specifically. But
everybody else, I've gotten a wildcard tier. Okay, everybody else,

(24:36):
that being Duke, Virginia Tech, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse,
NC State, Boston College, call in Virginia. Okay, it's a
big grouping in that meady middle, but I think that's
the only way I could break it up. I kind
of experiment with like seven different formulas here, but putting
them all nine teams in a wildcard tier felt about

(24:57):
right to me.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
I think they're may maybe more to like about Duke
than those other teams. I think it's a tough non
conference portion of the schedule. But if for strictly talking
about them as an ACC team, I think they have Tulane. Yeah,
they have Toulaine in Illinois, just tricky to lane on
the road. They had one of the best quarterback upgrades
in the conference, if not the country in Darien Mensa

(25:19):
coming in and then it's could be a down. Syracuse
could be another down in c State could be a
down cal could be. You know, they do have Yukon
that's not going to contribute. But Virginia North Carolina wake like.
Schedule wise, in terms of obvious killers, it's pretty decent.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
Schedule's harder than last year.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
But I take your point, yes, Well, so there's no
SMU or Miami on this schedule, and if you're high
on pit, there's no pit for Duke too. There you
go very high in pit. So schedule wise, in terms
of obvious killers, it's pretty good. And they bring to
the table an obviously at least good quarterback and to

(25:55):
me an obviously good defense. And when you look at
everybody else, I think you're right to place them as
wild cards. I think Duke is ahead of the pack.
In my mind, I have Duke around the Georgia Tech
tier of things.

Speaker 2 (26:09):
What's really weird And we talked about this yesterday on
the phone. Yeah, in a conference where it does feel
like there's a lot of volatility in the middle, Yeah, Weirdly,
Duke is one of the more reliable teams.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
If they can, like we'll get into this, this is preview.
In the preview, they do have questions on offense, but
their starting point is like a really comfortable one.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
To me, Well, and you trust in the defense with
Manny Diaz, yep, I think you trust in the quarterback.
I mean clearly they spent money to trust in the quarterback.
Dariy Mensa one of the top transfers the entire cycle.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
If you wanted to go Mary and Densa, I'd be
good with that.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Too, Marion DENSI, did I say that?

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, no, no, you said it correctly, but you can
flip it very nicely. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
I mean they need receivers to step up. There's some
questions about running back. Like again, we'll get into that,
but like just feels to me with what they've got
Cohen coming back on defense, and given the coaching staff,
in his propensity, I've got Duke a top that tier
as well.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
I think they're right there. I think they could be.
And we see this in conferences every year. I think,
who do we see it? We saw like Colorado State
last year in the Mountain West, where you like, wait,
they're seven and one, it's November fourth, okay, where they
just sort of quietly are like drafting behind the top
three or top two or top four or something, and
they're squarely and then all of a sudden we do

(27:29):
those conversations about tie breakers and making a conference championship game,
You're like, oh, Duke doesn't need much to end up here.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
Where do you put Darien Mensa relative to the field
here in the ACC just in terms of quarterbacks, because
I think we would probably agree that it's kid club
Nick Carson Beck at the very top, Kevin Jennings probably.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
Third, Yeah, four higher, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Like I probably go Haines King at Georgia Tech four were,
But after that, I think it's open for Mensa. Is
that too high? Would you go Holstein over Mensa? Like?
Where are we at there? No?

Speaker 1 (28:10):
With how he finished last year and injuries were obviously
a big part of it. Eli Helstein was not particularly
efficient overall, as fun as some of those big play
moments were early on in the season. I just I'm
not there with him in any sort of top tier
conversation right now. I think that offense could be one
that helps him get there, But I think it's more

(28:32):
for me Haines King Darien Mensa in that conversation for
number four, and you know it depends on health, I
think for Haines King and can he stay healthy playing
like he does, and just the help at receiver and
offensive line for Darien Mensa at duke, And so I
think there both of them are a little bit more
dependent and can't get by on peer talent because I

(28:54):
think they're just They're going to need some star power
on that offense around them. But I think those two
are probably best position. And again, like there are guys
where like the best of them. Absolutely, CJ. Bailey the
best of CJ. Bailey is a top four quarterback in
the ACC, the best of Miller Moss beating LSU last
season right with USC the best of I mean, take

(29:17):
your pick. Whom else am I missing from the better
teams in this conference? Probably not Castellanos. I had one
other quarterback in mind when I was thinking about this,
and it'll come to me. But like the best of
these guys are interesting. It's just the consistency factor to me. Oh,
by the way, was Kien Drones the best of Kien Drones?
Karen absolutely worthwhile as a top four quarterback in the

(29:39):
a SEC conversation.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yeah, I'm not going to sit here and say it's
the deepest quarterback league because I don't believe it is.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
But right.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
I counted thirteen of seventeen of these quarterbacks we at
least know something about and have some degree of confidence
around what they can provide.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
Eleventh throws of Steve Vangelly has tied juiced well. I
watched a lot of Steve Angelly, so I.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Okay, sorry, I feel pretty good about Steve Angel After Duke,
how would you grade out the next grouping of teams?

Speaker 1 (30:14):
I think Pitt's there for me for sure. You don't
have him at two like me, But I don't have
him at two. I mean finishing Notre Dame at Georgia
Tech Miami, not knowing what we get Florida State on
the road, having the rivalry game on the road. It's
just I don't know's there's stretches on this schedule to
have me a little bit perturbed as somebody who would
love for Pitt to be fun. But we'll see. So

(30:37):
after Georgia Tech and Duke, it's just that that wild
card tier to me, I probably if you're starting point
as CJ. Bailey and intriguing offensive skill, I think NC
State is kind of in that mix. The schedule's tough.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
Though the schedule's backloaded, it's very backloaded.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
I just think it's loaded loaded. I mean Duke on
the road in Virginia Tech back to back, No Notre
Dame on the road, Pit on the road, and Georgia
Tech back to back, Miami on the road before Florida
State and then a rivalry gam against North Carolina. I
just I think there's a lot of action there.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
What holds me back on NC State is new coordinators
on both fronts.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Kurt Roper's back. I'm not into their coordinator hires as well. Well,
he was their quarterbacks coach, but yeah, he's back in
a coordinator.

Speaker 2 (31:20):
Role that was a continuity higher because they didn't want
to disturb CJ. Bailey what that amounts to. But he
hasn't called plays in like eight years. I think they're
going to be a little bit more up tempo. The
offense will look a little bit different, but they're trying
to kind of keep things as much in state to
prevent against CJ. Bailey either going elsewhere or stunting his development.
So I get that, but new defense as well. Right,

(31:44):
they're also making a change on that side of the
ball because.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
It needed it.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
It's going to be Dj Elliott stepping in. You might
be surprised to hear that he wants to run an
aggressive attacking defense.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Of course, as they all do.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
My question is with the schedule and with the coordinator.
It's a lot to fix with that schedule in just
one off season, and so you come to trust in
Dave door In to some extent. But I look at
this and I say, to my this is like a
seven and five team to me, maybe eight and four
if everything breaks.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
NC State has a over underwin total of six the
last I saw, So they're looked at by our friends
in the Desert as a bolish team in terms of
setting a number to get action on both sides.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
I've got NC State far down on this list. Wow,
I've got Virginia Tech next up after Duke.

Speaker 1 (32:37):
Okay, I think I have Louisville in that mode. I
have Virginia Tech there. But there's just so many, so
many transfers at these schools where you're just like, I
think all of them have a Texas State linebacker, defensive
end or something. So just like, who got the best
Texas State front seven player? Cool?

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yeah, I like Tech this year. I think text fine
under the radar. They need to stay healthy. They got
to be more assistant, and the schedule more to the point,
the schedule is definitely backloaded.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
No Rutgers, Baby, No Rutgers.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
So you know they've They've got kind of their own
equation that they need to solve, and I think it's
sort of an no, how or never for Brent Prye.
He's got to get this thing going in a better direction.
I do think in terms of overall talent on the roster,
he's done a good job and they actually have patched
holes and this could be one of the better rosters
that he's had in his time at Blacksburg. But on

(33:31):
some level, this is a proud fan base that is
used to winning, that had an absolute legend there in
Frank Beemer for an eternity. They are not going to
stand pat and just wait for this thing to slowly
gradually materialize. It's been a minute since Virginia Tech was
in that conversation, and I think they got to get

(33:52):
there or get closer to there this season, otherwise they
are going to be real questions about Priye.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
I agree, I'm not especially high on Virginia with all
of the transfers. I don't know that's a Chandler Morris team.
Now it's a Chailer Morris. He I think they'll be better.
I think they'll be Okay, the great irony with Virginia
this year. Vegas has their over under at like six
six and a half, and so you look at the
roster and you say, well, there's a lot here.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
I think they should be better. I'm not sure how
much better you look at the over under. Well, Vegas
obviously thinks they're going to be drastically better.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
Do we really trust in Tony Elliott to suddenly pull
all of this together in year four?

Speaker 1 (34:34):
I don't. I don't.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
I don't have them going to a bowl. I'm intrigued
by the possibility of Virginia. I do think they've made
some key upgrades. But in terms of the wild card
tier for me, which again has nine teams, yeah, Virginia
is one peg above rebuilding mode, which would be wake
Forest and Stanford at the very bottom. So I'm just
not not picking up what Vegas is putting down with

(34:56):
respect to Virginia.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
Here's the thing though about Virginia. Here's the counter. So
they spend a ton, they become very portal active this year,
building depth building, hopefully star power for both sides of
the ball channel. Morris totally serviceable on his fourteenth school.
We'll see what what kind of energy he can bring
as he goes on tour. Virginia's schedule rules it's not bad. No, no, no,

(35:20):
it's not just not bad. No Clemson and for you,
no Pitt, no Miami, no SMU. Road games are at
NC State at Louisville, which will be difficult. We'll see.
I think it's a Friday night against Florida State. There's
some really interesting Friday night games with the ACC this year.
By the way, Oh yeah, Louisville's got three of them.

(35:41):
Louisville's got a bunch on Friday nights at cal So
that's that's a flight at Duke less of a flight.
But honestly, they have the Virginia Tech game at home.
Their schedule is great. Their schedule is probably the best
in the conference because of what you and I, two handsome,
brilliant people, believe to be about obvious killers in this conference.

(36:03):
It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
By the way, did you capture as part of your
little note taking exercise, the quote that Athlon included in
its preview about Virginia.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
I don't think I did you know, your face and
your personality make up for that extra seven to ten
pounds and you can probably get rid of.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
The ultimate Jie, the ultimate Lorenzo Lamas flawfinder. I was
gonna save this for the Virginia team preview, but I
got to read it verbto I mean, this is just merciless.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
Quote.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
These guys are in trouble and most everyone expects there
to be a staff change at the end of the.

Speaker 1 (36:38):
Season or earlier. There's more.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Yeah, they've never delivered on the offensive expectations. Tony Elliott
sat coming from Clemson. They're sloppy on both sides of
the ball, and we've seen some talented players come in,
underperform and move on. Let me add an a lips here,
let me skip to the singer.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
Dot dot dot.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
Yeah, this is a team you never really worry about playing.
They lack discipline and they have no real identity.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
End quote. M Well, look, I agree with everything that
you said that if they don't get it done against
this year's schedule, investing like they did in the portal,
that's it. That's curtains. Last year, they finished with the
one hundred and fourteenth most efficient scoring offense and the
one hundred and second most efficient scoring defense, so it

(37:27):
is hard to argue that they did anything reasonably well
bringing it into twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (37:34):
All right, so where were we? I said, I'm on
Virginia Tech. Yeah, I think Virginia Tech's reasonable, Gia text reasonable.
They've got new coordinator situation as well, which you know,
well we'll get into, I think in a little bit
more detail. But Philip Montgomery is going to be the
new offensive coordinator. They're taking a chance with sam Sefkiss
the new defensive coordinator. I did a whole breakdown. I

(37:55):
know other people out there did a breakdown on what
that might look like relative to the defense. But I'm
on Virginia Tech. I think Virginia Tech is flying a
bit under the radar.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
Okay, fair enough, are you where are you putting Florida State?

Speaker 2 (38:10):
Perfect segue? You read my mind? Perfect segue? How far
back do we need to go in like the catacombs
of solid verbal war to find the last time we
got forty minutes into an ACC preview and did not
mention Florida State once?

Speaker 1 (38:31):
I mean I mentioned them as like, if they're pretty good,
then everybody's schedule becomes more difficult.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
But yeah, two new teams are two new schemes this year. Yes,
a lot of new players. I think a tough schedule.
They might be better. They gotta be better. They're not
going to go two and ten again. They just can't.
But is this an eight win team to you?

Speaker 1 (38:55):
I don't like this is going to sound insulting.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
We're all free. There's a show about honesty.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
Florida State's looking to become this year in basically New
Year one, although it's always sort of a New Year
one with how much they've hit the portal and sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn't. But not only hitting the
portal but going to both Gusmelson and Tony White. I
really like Tony White. I don't know if I love
Gus Melson at this point in his career taking over

(39:22):
my team's offense. It's tom Me Castellanos.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
He's changed, He's done the Thomas to Tommy conversion.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
Did that bump them up a couple spots or bump
them down a couple spots? In your contending tears.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
Well, I've decided I'm just gonna fully zag okay, because
I'm not going to be able to keep it straight,
and I also mispronounced Castellanos all the time as if
he were Nick Castillanos. Correct, I'm just gonna call him
Big Tom Callahan this year. If that's cool with you, great, good.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
Chick, go get him Tom Tom.

Speaker 2 (39:55):
Big Tom Callahan is the quarterback for Florida State this year.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
You also mis evaluate at his height, so leading into
the Big Tom for a five foot nine and a
half quarterback also is appropriate.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
I think I called him six foot seven last year.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yeah, I think you might have. Was it Emmitt Moorehead
who you confused him with?

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Yeah, well I didn't confuse him with Emmitt Moorehead. Phil
Steele did in his book, and I just sort of
blindly took the measurement set face value, and then I
realized after the fact, this dude's five to nine and
he is not Emmitt Moorehead sized. So yeah, Big Tom Callahan,
I E. Thomas Castellanos, I E Tommy Castellanos. Yeah, is

(40:35):
now going to be the starting quarterback at Florida State,
which is I think an interesting dynamic. Definitely more of
an older school Malson style quarterback. He's not just a
Malson style quarterback. He played for Gus malson at UC.
I know that's what I'm saying, but I'm getting like
Nick Marshall vibes from this is what I'm saying. He's
a really good runner. I don't know if he's a

(40:57):
good passer. I can assure you he's not as good
as he thinks he is. If you've listened to any
of his recent comments, they just nobody can stop me.
Well we'll see. I love it, though Ty, I like
the smoke. I'm in on the smoke there. I appreciate it.
Let's get some good positive momentum going here to build
into this new Florida State season because last year was

(41:17):
a trainer.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
Hey, look, he has experienced shredding Florida State, so maybe
I'll have new experience shredding for Florida State. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
He also has an experience of basically losing the starting
job at Boston College, So I gotta be honest. I
was a bit underwhelmed when I found out that big
Tom Callahan.

Speaker 1 (41:35):
You can't go get him, Tom, Tommy.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
I was a little bit concerned when I heard that
that was going to be their dude, Like that was
the target of the offseason. He's going to come in
and he's going to like help reboot this offense. The
other problem that I have with Florida State, who is
their gravitational player, their star that everybody has the game
plan around.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
I mean, it's some combination of younger dudes who played
thrust into rotation roles last year and transfers.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
Florida State's got a lot of talent, no question, and
I'm certain that some of those guys will emerge, but
going into this year in a season that I think
is really pivotal, clearly pivotal for Mike Norvell, he's on
the hot seat. Yeah, who are the dudes who are
the gravitational Winter Wonder players that you gotta build your

(42:27):
whole defense or offense around or scheme around, right.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
I mean every basically everybody's new on this offense. So
like you can say, like, oh, the best of Deuce
Robinson can go up and get you with former five
stars Scroll White had some successes at Tennessee, but there's
nobody obvious who you are, Like, yeah, that's what you
to your point, that's what you build around. Deuce Robinson
was a big get. He was Is he gonna be
the next Johnny Wilson? Maybe Yeah, he.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Was one of the big name transfers in this conference
coming over from USC Squirrel White another one coming down
from Tennessee. How they use him? Are they gonna use
him to try and take the top off a defense?
And he's a versatile player, his nickname squirrel versatile. You
can find a way to use him in a bunch
of different capacities. I'm just like, I'm not sure that

(43:13):
there is that one dude that I'm going to hang
my hat on and say this is the guy who's
going to get Florida State back to you know, nine wins.
They could win seven eight games this year. I don't
want to go higher than that though. I'm really not
confident in going higher than that.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
He had a high last year of five catches for
seventy one yards. Squirrel White against Florida missed some time,
I believe injured, But yeah, he was like third or
fourth best receiver for Tennessee. North Carolina a bron topshell.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
Talk about Bill Belichick, right, Yeah, I wouldn't touch this
win total with a ten foot pole. Yeah, of course,
I wouldn't go anywhere near this. Right now, the win
total for North Carolina is sitting at seven and a half.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
Well, okay, I think there is a case if you
wanted to talk me into going under on it. I
think I'm easily swayed. If you wanted to talk me
into going over seven and a half via condos, good
luck with that. But I can be talked into the under.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
I think the schedule sets up well though.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
No, it's an amazing schedule. That's what I'm just more
of the like internal Bill Belichick coming back to college,
throwing together a roster, some interesting pieces, especially on defense,
but that it all has to come together, like this
is the salt and straw team of the ACC right now,
where you're dealing with like Chipotle pretzel ice cream.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
You're like, okay, I'm with you. I think they're the
ultimate wildcard. But the schedule sets up well, and I
think you assume a base level competence on defense because
there's heavy Belichick influence. Literally, there's multiple Belichick, multiple Belichicks
on this seam three? Right, Aren't there three Belichicks on
this team at least that we know of that we

(45:04):
know of, there could be more, who knows. Yeah, So
I think there's a lot of intrigue obviously with North Carolina.
Go Lopez figures to be the quarterback. But it is
a team heavily influenced by transfers, and we're going to see,
I think, on full display what Bill Belichick can do
if he is this mastermind that we've come to know

(45:24):
him as on the coaching front.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
It's a schedule that sets up well. They should be
a bowl team North Carolina. This is a weird scheduling quirk.
I noticed North Carolina is one of three teams who
have by game by on their schedule. North Carolina has
a bye before Clemson and a bye after Clemson. Miami
has a bye before Florida State and after Florida State,

(45:47):
and I think it's Duke, Yeah, Duke has a bye
before and after Georgia Tech. I don't know what we
call this in terms of a sandwich, or if it's
just deli meat with no bread. Whatever it is. Is
this the club salwe this is it's a reverse sandwich,
which I guess is just meat. They just cold cuts.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
Yeah, right, you're you're cutting the carbs, yeah, is what
this is. I've got Florida State a notch above North
Carolina in my wild card tier. Okay, and then right
under North Carolina, I've got Syracuse. Syracuse loses an absolute ton.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
They lose everybody, and they get everything on this schedule. Yeah,
the schedule.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
One of the questions that you sent to me was
which team's gonna get eaten alive by the travel Monster.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
I don't know if this quite rises to the level
of travel monster. I think what you're referencing is traveling
back and forth across the country.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
Yeah, there's a couple of examples. Cal's a big one.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Continue But in terms of road games, Syracuse is at Clemson,
at SMU, at Georgia Tech, at Miami, and at Notre Dame.
And oh, by the way, they open the season away
from home, a neutral site game in Atlanta against Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Yeah, that's gonna be tough for.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
Steve Angeli or Ricky Collins or both.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
Yeah. That's my nod to the turf monster, which is
such a great term. But the travel monster is going
to grab Syracuse. That's really tough given everything that they
lose and some of their struggles last year, especially on defense.
But they got to double digit wins in year one,
which means something is right internally with fran Brown. I
think they just landed a five star receiver from South Florida.
Like the vibes at Syracuse, I think are still strong

(47:27):
to quite strong to me though, yes, schedule, yes, the travel,
and yes it was a strong portal class last year
that especially upper classmen that immediately came in and made
an impact. Defense should be okay in the back end,
but they got a lot of work to do upfront.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
I would not bet against the fran animal go in
seven and five though, even given this schedule. It's a
murder's row of teams in this thing.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
You didn't even mention Colgate. I didn't even mention Colgate.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
No, Yeah, but I would not want to bet against
fran Go in seven and five. Dude wants to take
a shower and needs to win in order to get
that shower. So that's motivation enough. I think Syracuse goes
seven and five.

Speaker 1 (48:07):
They could go seven to five. They could go three
and nine right now. It would not surprise me either
way given the road slate.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
I've got NC State next after Syracuse. I know we
sort of debate where they stand here, but we have
talked about NC State. We can skip over them and
get to our next teams, which I think are Boston
College and Cal. Yeah, I'm interested in BC this year.
I think this is a situation where they'll be better
than their record indicates, just because it's another situation where

(48:35):
the schedule is murder. They've also got a transfer quarterback
from Alabama, Dylan Wantergon.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Competing with Yeah, with Graydon James competing, which I think
we could get a James Bond connection at BC, right
Lewis Bond and Gi'll have to excuse me, the slot receiver.
I like where the starting point of BC of like
pretty good defense. They do have to replace some keycogs
and if James, if it's Dylan Lonagan, like I kind

(49:02):
of trust Bill O'Brien with quarterbacks to at least get
like competent play. The schedule is tough, It seems tough
in this moment, especially, I don't know, there's just not
a lot of weeks off, especially for people that love Pitt.
BC has in somewhat rapid succession Pitt Clemson. Yeah, they
have Yukon. We'll see, But it's at Louisville Notre Dame,

(49:23):
SMU Georgia Tech. Like, it's just the back half of
the schedule. It's just a week after week. If Boston
College is merely pretty good or merely okay, I don't know. Man,
that's tough.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Yeah, I'm intrigued by Boston College. I don't want to
be too down on them, but it definitely feels like
more of an uphill climb this year than last. So
I've got BC above Cal, I'll tell you that. Yeah,
and the col situation is another one that is fascinating.

(49:52):
I think to follow from Afar, really from Afar as
I'm here in Allentown, Pennsylvania, just a ton of pressure.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
On Justin will to get something done.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Here has a new boss, a new boss, there's a
lot new so it could go either way, and there
is part of me that wonders. Even though Cal didn't
have any sort of ten wins season a year ago,
the team was in a bunch of close games. This
team made its mark online weirdly on social media.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
Sure and good early season vibes.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
And had Miami on the ropes. Probably should have won
that game. Second half it fell apart, but.

Speaker 1 (50:33):
They were up like three plus touchdowns.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
Yeah, probably should have found a way to win that game,
should have closed a little stronger. I have to believe
that even though CAL is a fan base is not
isn't one that we're used to talking about. With the
success of the Calgorithm, with having Miami on the ropes,
with having game day in town. I just feel like
Justin Wilcox has been there long enough at this point

(50:55):
that if there is not a serious jump in production,
he's another one that's gone.

Speaker 1 (50:59):
Yeah. I mean, it's just it's the similar question to
what you had about Florida State with CAL, which is
what is it that you say you do really well?
And when they were playing really good defense in the
Pac twelve and winning all those non conference games when
they were a Pac twelve team, they were winning seven
eight games, I believe somewhere in that vicinity, and that

(51:21):
was with like NFL caliber secondary players and linebackers going
sideline to sideline and defensive line talent, and they're hitting
the portal hard, which is good and a little trickier
out of place like CAL. But they're replacing what I
think a lot of people think is like a clear
like top three round quarterback in for Nando Mendoza, with

(51:43):
a quarterback who basically hasn't played at Ohio State or
eventually perhaps a true freshman blue chip it's a lot
to ask.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
I agree, I agree, I'm I'm intrigued by Cal and.

Speaker 1 (51:56):
They're adding Brian Harson to the mix.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Yeah, and they're adding Brian Harson to the mix, right,
Ultimate culture guy. Yeah, I don't know that. There's a
lot that stinks right now with that program. And that
being said, it's also a program that as we get
into our team preview episode one of the next two episodes.
Again not to previous too much of the previews, I

(52:19):
think there is plenty of reason to feel intrigued by
Cal and also sends a bit of upside with where
this team could go this year. I am not banking
on that. That's why I've got them low, but I
do think there are points of of real intrigue with
the Bears this season.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
By the way, Cal back to back travel weeks in
late September at San Diego State at Boston College. Yeah,
that's a travel monster. I don't know if San Diego
State's gonna be any good, but just the idea of
traveling downstate in California and then to the Northeast in
a few days, it's.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
A lot at the bottom, we agree. Way in Stanford, Yes.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
I think so. Yeah, as we Gabord hit the portal,
Stanford did hit the portal.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Coach, what I was gonna say is, as we get
into the team previews, it's not going to be a
dunk contest on Wake and Stanford. I think we recognize
where those programs are at.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
And I at.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Least and I know you've done the same. Well, we'll
try to find the points of optimism here.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
I like the idea that at least I can be
talked into basically any of these teams any given week
finding the small opening in the death star against teams
at the top like Stanford, who they'd beat, The beat
Louisville last year. Yeah, in Palo Alto in front of
forty seven and a half very intrigued people.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
One of the all time mind numbing upsets of the
twenty twenty four season.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Yes, that I'm totally in on. I mean, maybe not Wake,
but Stanford, Cal, Syracuse, any of these teams that may
have a down year having an up week that I mean,
Cal should have beat in Miami last year. They absolutely
should have. It's given the rhythm of that game and

(54:10):
how it looked like it was going to come down
to it. So I'm still in on the all costco
conference call on quality in bulk, not a sponsor could
be I'm still in on all quality. It's tough for
now with seventeen teams. Is that the number one dealing
with teams? Yeah, that not a lot of these teams
recruit on like a top twenty five level. That the

(54:32):
and here's the sidebar I have. Maybe I can play DIVORCEEAC.
I don't know what we can do. I still have it.
I do have it. Like there's nothing that really binds
together this conference when it's this big, and so many
teams are sort of approaching college football within different contexts,
like Miami is not approaching football in the same way
that Stanford is, or in the same way that Wake

(54:54):
Forest is or Duke is, although Duke is investing more
and more. But there is something when you have all
of these teams that have a wild card element, and
like you're down on SMU after they were so good
last year and I think you justified it pretty well.
They're the thing that binds this conference together beyond like
seven coaches fighting for their lives right now, is I

(55:16):
can't trust any of these people in this conference. I cannot.
I made a list, Ty, I don't do this often. Yeah,
but I started thinking about the coaches in this conference.
I'm not going to name names here, Ty, but this
is the list of bullet points I put together for
how little I can count on the coaches in this conference.
Are you ready? Yes? Okay? Here we go, folks. See

(55:37):
it might have a Dave Dorn issue. Dating life is
a big topic. We're still confused why he's still here.
Has never coached anywhere remotely near the East Coast. Is
now on the East Coast, has an unorthodox shower schedule,
doesn't speak fluent. Fourth quarter was replaced by a coach
who doesn't speak fluent fourth quarter was an all time
bad NFLGM started seven to zero. I'm just gonna keep

(56:00):
going here. Here's so many teams finished zero to six.
Was right there with Toledo program, best known for social
media memes. His team's defense allowed Florida State to score
double digit points on offense. Started like last week, but
also didn't hold in place the most famous missed field goal.
Correctly can't figure out Rutgers wears his hat way way

(56:20):
way too low. Has a kink for West Coast quarterbacks
that are pretty Dicey late in games, not even close
to being twenty twenty four's best head coach named Norvelle.
I guess that one's kind of easy to figure out
that has the same offensive coordinator instincts as Will must Champ. Wow,
those are the coaches we have in the ACC this year.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Maybe it's ACC subtitle don't trust anybody, trust no one, provascic, provassic, thank.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
You, unbelievable. It's a good list. What's your prediction? My
prediction for the twenty twenty five ACC season is I
have Empsen over Miami.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Really, good job, good job.

Speaker 1 (57:07):
World have changed. There's no Miami ACC championships happening this year.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
I've got Clemson over Pitt.

Speaker 1 (57:13):
I'm doing it. Clemson over Pit.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Yeah, I've got Pit in the ACC title game.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
I like that you are planning this flag. Yeah, I'm
on Pennsylvania's true team. I'm all in.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
I am, I am all in. And literally every preview
I saw has Pitt in that firmly in that wild
card tier that I laid out.

Speaker 1 (57:34):
I don't care. I mean, is that also an Akrosser stadium?

Speaker 2 (57:37):
It is an actressure, another acrossure.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Double acrossure situation. Sponsored stadium.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Yeah, they've got one in the ACC and now in
the Big twelve with the acressure bounce house down at UCF.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
Okay, they're cheering in Point Breeze Tie Squirrel Hill Brookline,
Highland Park. Continue a couple other.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Quick questions on the ACC before we let the find
people go.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
Okay, who is this year's Syracuse so double digit wins
early in his ten year head coach? If not first year,
it's probably not a first year coach.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Or a team that just sort of bubbles up.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
A team that bubbles up has a noticeable jump.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
Duke, Okay, I've got unc Okay, who's this year's Florida State?
A team that now Florida State might be a drastic example,
but a team that everybody is relatively high on that
fall short of expectation.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Well, there's only a couple of options here. I think
Clemson is probably, just by definition right, the only team
who can truly be this year's Florida State. But I
don't think it's going to be Clemson. I guess with
the way you've described things, SMU never lost an ACC game.

Speaker 2 (58:51):
Yeah, SMU is mine. I think they fall because of
lost production.

Speaker 1 (58:55):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
Who takes the most interesting next step. For me, it's
a pit obviously, it's I've got him number two in
the conference. I think you're pretty high on Duke. Is
there another team that takes an interesting or more interesting
next step?

Speaker 1 (59:07):
I think just because of the entertainment factor of Virginia Tech,
because of what we could get from Kyroen drones. We've
seen some really good defensive lines early on in Brent
Price time in Blacksburg. So that would be the most
entertaining and slash interesting team who is very clearly not
made for these times. I say Pat Nardozzi can be

(59:28):
a team, could be a coach.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
Okay you're saying nardug.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
I don't have to say it. He says it all
the time. Like we saw last year with Dave Klaus
and he was just like, okay, this is this has
been enough. I don't think. I think Nardozzi can absolutely
feel a nine to ten win team again. I just
think there is something about Pitt right now. They don't
hit the portal especially hard. Consistency has been an issue

(59:53):
to me. I like them fine, but I'm not in
on him being like ahead of the curve in twenty
twenty five, though, I like Pitt this year.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
To your point, Pitt is recruiting at a col Golden
Bears level right now, They were fifty fifth nationally, Cow
was fifty sixth. Do you know, by the way, who
was the lowest ranked program with respect to other ACC
competition just in recruiting rankings, which can be a little
bit deceptive in the air of the Portal grant, right,

(01:00:24):
But who was the worst team in the on three
I guess it's on three recruiting rankings this.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Last cycle, Wake would be my guess Louisville because they
was it from an average rating or they just took
such a small class there because they were hitting I
think Portal so hard. I think that's why it's probably.
But even still, Louisville's been a program that has poured
money into recruiting, both from the several ranks, and sixty seventh.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
Wake was sixty third.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Wow, I think it's a you can check to see
if it was an especially small class because they do
take in quantity as well as quality. Absolutely no, And
again like that's a weird number for Louisville. It's a
weird number. Louisville is in the one be contender tier.
For me, and I think for you too, however, you
want to separate yours out. So they're a good team
and they've got a ton of talent, but just in

(01:01:12):
terms of high school recruiting there, they're also one of
those teams Louisville just in terms of trust, like I
want my contenders beating Virginia by more than three or four. Yeah,
and there they always seem to have those two or
three weeks that they'll either lose to Stanford or when
they're winning, it's not always emphatic in the way that
i'd like for my contenders and my latex salesman, excuse me, and.

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
Let's close it out with this one. Yeah, who does
the most to flirt and blow kisses to the SEC
and Big ten like ham Porter, remember.

Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
Sexy, it's always on the table Tie twenty twenty five.
Who's doing things up? Who's flirting? Florida State, North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia.
Virginia's trying they're like pouring money into the portal, Right,
they're trying to show that they you know, academics obviously

(01:02:06):
very good at Virginia and you know it's a great
college town, and they're trying to They've won a national
championship in basketball. They're really trying to blow some kisses
at the Big Ten. And if it's if the flirtations
go unnoticed this year, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
It's probably gonna take another coach to really flirt.

Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
Yes, I think so.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
But look in this new world, even though there is
this new agreement where there will be an unequal share
of money going out to the schools that garner the
most attention in the ACC, and that's kind of a
stop gap to keep things together and prevent further lawsuits
and whatnot. Just go out and read the reporting. It's
not lost in anybody that the early twenty thirties are

(01:02:51):
getting bigger in the window and that will sort of
be the next round of potential realignment. So it's never
too early start that flirtation. Blow a few kisses, signal
to the powers that be that you're interested. Letting it
out there.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
I'm interested.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Maybe it's not saying it directly, but catch a twinkle
in the eye and you'll know what's up. Yes, all right,
that does it for part one of the ACC Preview. Yeah,
you've got Clemson over Miami. I've got Clemson over pitt
which believe me, I was the surprised, as surprised as
anybody that I came to this conclusion. But I'm in, man,

(01:03:29):
I like it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
I'm in. Speak with your chest.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
H two p you know it, baby, right in solid
verbo at gmail dot com. Let us know where we're right,
where we're wrong, where you agree, where you disagree, If
there's anything we missed. We always miss things, like I say,
let us know. Don't be a jerk about it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Okay, I'm in on Pittsburgh as a city. Pittsburgh is
a city, is great. I want to get back to Pittsburgh.
I want to go back to whatever the ballpark is called.
Is it still called PNC or is it called something else?

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
I have no idea. The pirates it used to beautiful ballpark, great,
great place to see a game. Yeah, it's great to be.
I was on the river there. I have friends with
boats out there. Yeah, Pittsburgh's a great time, great place
to be. All right, Farnel saliver about Gmail dot com.
Hit us up, let us know what we got right,
what we got wrong, all that stuff. Hit follow, hit
subscribe so that you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes. Again,

(01:04:19):
Parts two and three are going to be a little
bit more of a deeper dive on the teams in
this conference, what to look for, what to watch for,
why it'll work, why it won't work, that type of thing.
Give you enough to be dangerous around the water cooler? Correct,
Those are our next two episodes, and after that it'll
be the Big.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
Twelve, which I think media days may have started today
as we record this, record this, we're recording this little ahead.
But like it's it's the reason for the season. Ty,
it's coming.

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
It's coming, baby, last, but certainly not least Verballers dot
com v E R B A L L e r
s dot com. That's the Patreon add free episodes, get
them a little bit early, get access to the discord.
You can play in the gaming leagues that are forming
now because there's a new college football video game out there. Yeah,
you can play in some of our games as the
season gets rolling as well.

Speaker 1 (01:05:08):
Oh, it's the best. It's such a fun community for
ballers dot Com. It's the best and easiest way to
support the show and what we do directly. Love everybody
down there, down there, out there up there, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
Know, it's an episode that started with a weird preamble
about ice cream flavors. I stand by it and got
us to this point now where I am picking Pitt
to be the number two team in the conference. Hey yeah,
what else could go wrong for that guy over there,
my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie Hilton Brand,
thanks for hanging with us here, Thanks for diving into

(01:05:41):
all things ACC will do it again next episode. In
the meantime, you know the drill, Stay solid, Peace,

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}ACC PREVIEW: Contender Tiers, Biggest Questions & Beautiful Chaos | 2025 College Football