The "You Guys Are Cooked" Edition

Gary Stokan from the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl joins the show, plus Faxon Childress and Tim Bourett chime in on Clemson's matchup with SMU in the ACC Championship.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swanny.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.
Hello everybody, Low and Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson
Sports off for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great state of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like

(01:04):
Fox Portraitio fourteen under the Midlands and around the world
on the iHeartRadio app and brought you in part by
Mets Plumbing seven three to two drip Drip drip, you
know the number. Check them out Mets Plumbing, appreciate them
being a part of the program. Our number eighth three
four five zeros through eighty six text line phone line.
That's a way you can be a bar of the program.

(01:24):
And we are excited to be joined today. Coming up,
Gary Stoken from the Chick fil A Peach Bowl as
the Clemson Tigers get set for their matchup with SMU
with implications on the College Football Playoff. Without further ado,
we'll step out to that interview on a Thursday afternoon,
Gary Stoke in a familiar face Peach Bowl CEO and president.

(01:45):
He's been a part of this program for several years,
many years now, Gary, we go way back. Hard to believe,
and I you know, I love the college football season.
I know you do too, But man, sometimes it just
flies by. I can't believe we're already at the conference
championship games.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
It is anything. How We've gone through twelve weeks and
here we are getting ready to announce on Sunday the
first CFF twelve team playoffs.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, and I know everybody's excited about it, and you
guys are certainly a part of it as we've got
this college football playoff expansion going on, and you know,
we've had about a month's worth of college football playoff releases.
How different is it for you and your capacity when
you're kind of watching this thing unfold when it's a
twelve team playoff versus the four team playoff that we

(02:30):
saw or is it any different at all?

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Well? Yeah, it's a good question. A lot, and it's
been different in a few ways. One is, you know,
our staff, along with the CFF and the other New
York six Bowl games, have put in a lot of
work to make this twelve team playoff all come alive
and look forward to the fruition on January first for

(02:54):
us at one o'clock. But also it's been interesting to
see the just the evolution of college football from being
the second most favorite sport in this country to add
so many more viewers and so much more attendance because
there's been so many more teams vying for those twelve
slots this late in the season. So here we are

(03:18):
going into the championship week and we're still can't figure
out who's all going to be in. Whereas prior to
in the fourteen playoff, if you had a loss in September,
you know you couldn't have a second loss because no
two loss team ever made it in the fourteen playoffs.
So it's an exciting time for us as staff. We

(03:38):
we will miss, you know, putting on a bowl week
experience for the players, but we also understand the upside
is at least in Atlanta's host the quarterfinal this year,
the CFP will host the National Championship in Atlanta as
well this year, and then next year we host the
semi final of the CFP. So basically, in one calendar

(04:00):
year will Hols all three of the CFP playoff formats
in Atlanta, Georgia, the Capitol College.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Football Gary Stoking with us here from the Peach Bowl.
So what is the capacity, you know, like, what's your
capacity this weekend with the SEC Championship game being played
in Mercedes Ben Stadium between Georgia and Texas. I mean,
how are you guys involved in that in any way,
shape or form.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, well, we'll sell some tickets to the game, but
the SEC and this Mercedes Been Stadium will will put
on that game. I personally, I'll be in Charlotte for
the ACC Championship game because with US being in the
tenth year of a twelve year contract, there are still
some conference tie ins that take place, with the Big

(04:50):
Ten hosting the champion out in the Rose Bowl. The
Sugar Bowl will host the SEC or Big twelve champ,
whoever's ranked the highest, and then because the Orange Bowl
is a semi final this year, the ACC champ becomes
potentially available for US or the Fiesta Ball, So more

(05:14):
than likely we'll probably host the ACC champ and looking
forward to doing that on January first at one o'clock
in Mercedes Been Stadium.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
And for Clips and Tiger fans, the season started there
in Mercedes Been Stadium with the opening matchup against.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
Then number one rank Georgia.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
I'm sure they would love to button up and begin
the college football playoff move with a buy in Atlanta
as they face SMU this weekend in Charlotte for the
right to potentially have that top four seed and play
in the Chick fil A Peach Bowl. Again, Gary stoking
with us here on the program. So, Gary, one of
the things that I think is still confused a lot

(05:52):
of people when they tune in and watch the selection
show is you've got the rankings and then you've got
the bracket seedings, and there's a lot of contention about
whether or not that gives you a balanced playoff, et cetera,
et cetera. Give us some thoughts on maybe you know
how that goes down and you know what you feel
or what you've been told into how those things are determined.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, the easiest way for fans to understand the new
twelve team playoff is if you take the five top
conference champions. So from the Power four teams, you have
the Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC, and the Big twelve.
So those champs will get an automatic I if along

(06:39):
with the group of five champion highest ranked champion, so
those five automatically gets slots in the twelve team playoffs.
The four highest ranked champs of those five conference champs
will get buys in the quarterfinals. As I mentioned the
Big Ten, the highest ranked champ there would go to

(07:02):
the Rose Bowl. The SEC or Big twelve champ in
this case if the season ended today would be Texas
would be going to the Sugar Bowl. And then it
gets real interesting with Boise State the highest rank group
of five ranked number ten, they would go to either

(07:22):
the Fiesta or the Peach Bowl. And then you've got
the next highest rank champ is SMU and number eight,
they would either go to the Fiesta Bowl or the
Peach Bowl. In the case of the ACC and Clemson
with a championship game played this weekend with SMU against Clemson,

(07:47):
if Clemson wins, they would get in. It's a matter
of how high would they move up in the final
twenty five rankings. If they move up ahead of Arizona
State or Iowa State, or ranked ahead of them now,
then they would get a buy. If they're ranked lower
than them as well, as Boise State is ranked tenth,

(08:09):
then they would get the twelfth seed, which means they
would play number five at a home site of number five,
whoever that is.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Gary stoken with us here on the program talked about
the way this all could shake out. Gary, I think selfishly,
as fans, one of the things people are appreciating is
the fact that, like, let's just take a game right
for the opening round. For me, I've never seen Clemson
play at Penn State. But if the Tigers were the
twelve seed and Penn State happens to be the five seed,

(08:42):
like in a couple of weeks, Clempson could be playing
at Penn State. I think that's the exciting part of
those first round games at this point is you might
get to see some teams playing venues that you've never
seen before.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
No doubt about it. I think that's one of the
things you know, having you know, if the season ended today,
you'd have, you know, in Clemson won the ACC they
would be going to Penn State. You'd have Tennessee going
to play at Ohio State. You'd have Indiana going to
play at Georgia. You'd have Notre Dame either playing or
Alabama playing at Notre Dame. Yeah, potentially, So, yeah, you

(09:22):
could see some really interesting matchups in that first round games.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Gary Stoken again, the CEO and president of the Peach Bowl,
joining us here on the program today as we get
ready for the College Football Playoff. In that quarterfinal matchup
that'll be played at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, potentially
the winner of Clemson and SMU could be there, and
Gary I talked about a venture back to Atlanta for

(09:48):
the Tigers. You mentioned it that championship game is also
going to be played there this year as well, the
National Championship and Dabo Sweeney I think got such a
reprieve when Syracuse came from behind down twenty one nothing
against Miami. I think Clempson is playing with a little
bit of house money right now. I know Dabo Sweeney
is not much of a gambler. He did mention though

(10:10):
that in some ways it was like having pocket sixes,
you know, or something in catching the two.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
On the River.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
I was like, what is Sweeney talking about? But what
are the odds you think that Clympson could? You know,
if they get that buy, you gotta win what two
games to get to the National Championship right there in Atlanta.
I mean that's that's doable for any team.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Well, I told both Kirby Smart and Dabos Sweeney at
the beginning of the year in our half flat kickoff
game that you know, Georgia and Kirby Smart one to
be there four times, one in our half flat kickoff game,
one in the SEC Championship, one in our Chick fil
A Peach Bowl, and one in the National Championship game.

(10:53):
And I told Davos Sweeney he wants to be here
three times, one in a half flat kickoff game, once
in our Chick fil A Peach and won our National
Championship game. And just like the NCAA Final Four, when
you go into a twelve team bracket, any one of
those teams have the capability of winning the championship. So

(11:13):
with a win against SMU, Clemson certainly has an opportunity
to go on and win another national championship.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Gary stoken with us here for a few more minutes
as we talk about the possibility that Clemson, with a
victory over SMU this weekend in in Charlotte, could end
up in Atlanta and Gary will be there for that
ACC Championship game. Gary, let's talk about SMU for a minute,
because when I was at the ACC kickoff, it became
abundantly clear to me pretty quickly. I remember saying, two

(11:47):
people in and around you know, you know how that
venue goes. There's a lot of people you talk to.
I remember saying, man, they just feel like they fit.
And here they are, Rett Lashley, year one in the conference.
They're undefeated. Man, what an amazing job they've done in
their first year in the ACC. I don't want to
say how surprised are you to see them where they are,
because obviously they've earned it, But to do what Texas

(12:11):
has done, what Oregon has done, what SMU has now done,
to be in the conference championship game in year one
in your league is mighty impressive.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
It really is impressive. But it does go to show
you what the transfer portal has meant to college football.
You know, all three of those programs have gotten some
transfers in that have been very influential in their success,
but also great coaching jobs by Steve Starkesian and Brett

(12:44):
Lastly and Dan Lanny. And because to go into a
new conference and go on and win the conference, that's
not easy to do. And I would say, in the
case of SMU, maybe a little bit more impressive in
that they jumped up a division, basically from a group

(13:04):
of five program in the American Athletic Conference up into
the ACC, a power for conference.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
No, that's that's an outstanding point. And you know, I
kind of glossed over as well. I guess Arizona State
doing it too. So really, all of the leagues have
teams who are brand new to the conference. Tragically, I
think for Arizona State they're still getting a little that
Pac twelve you kind of get overlooked, even though they've
now shifted to the Big twelve again hanging out with

(13:32):
as though Gary Stoke and CEO and president of the
Chick fil A Peach Bowl, as the Tigers and the
SMU Mustang's face off for the first time in an
ACC championship game. You know the other thing that's so
impressive to me about Dabo Swingy. People might not realize this, Gary,
They've won eight consecutive ACC championship games Clemsons played in.

(13:55):
You know, they lost that first one many years ago,
back in nine to Georgia Tech. But this then, if
they've gotten to that championship game, Clemson's closed the deal.
They're a little bit of an underdog going into this one.
Give us some insight into the consistency that you've seen
from a team like Clemson through your years, you know,
in your capacity with the peach Bawl.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, I'm very impressed too with Dabo's ability and his
coaching staff to first off, find kids in the recruiting
process and get them signed, and then to develop them
without using the transfer portal very much. You know, Dabl
took a lot of knocks early in the year because
he didn't dabble in the transfer portal. But you know,

(14:39):
it's a credit to him and his staff of developing
players that they recruited and putting them in a championship
type position to be, you know, arguably a three team
the only three team loss unless Alabama gets in. But
if Clemson wins, I think they ironically enough, DABL Knox
is old school out potentially knocks to Alabama out if

(15:02):
Clemson wins. So but they have a three loss team.
But if you look at their games, you know, Georgia
and our game in our half flack kickoff game, the
first half was even. You know, Georgia beat them in
the second half. The South Carolina Clemson game. I mean,
they kicked the field goal, don't throw the interception, kick

(15:23):
the field goal. At the end of the game, they
go into overtime. Who knows what happens at home there.
The Louisville game was really the only game that baffles
you about Clemson season, because they were coming off of
buy and playing at home, and albeit Louisville being eight
and four and being very well coached team with coach Brohm,

(15:45):
that was the only game that was a little surprising
that the Clemson had all year.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Gary, you mentioned the possibility that Clemson in South Carolina
could have gone to overtime this weekend, and obviously we
watched eight overtimes between Georgia and Georgia.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
Tech this weekend.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
And I don't know what kind of conversations are the
people that you speak with about this stuff, but I
couldn't help but just think about the disaster. It feels
like college football playoffs. I mean, excuse me, college football
overtime periods are How would you fix it? If I said, Gary,
you're now in charge, I mean, are you okay with
the way we currently do it or would you like

(16:21):
to see it changed?

Speaker 3 (16:23):
Well, I think when you're dealing with you know, collegiate athletics,
and you're not dealing with professional sports. You have to
be concerned about players. I think when Georgia Tech in
their last series, I think the Georgia defense had been
on the field for ninety three plays and that's an

(16:43):
awful lot of football. And I do like the excitement
of the three point because you should. And I was
kind of amazed. I wasn't watching the game. I was
at in Los Angeles for the USC Notre Dame game,
but I was kind of amazed that no one could
score in seven overtimes three yards out. There were also

(17:06):
some strategies that took place as well. If you think back,
you know, Kirby Smart calling some timeouts where Georgia Tech
might have had a running play ready to to uh
to call, and Kirby calls the timeout, so they switch
to a pass play which they don't complete. So there
is a lot of strategy involved, and uh, you know,
I think it's good the way it is. Uh. I

(17:28):
do think it's difficult when you when you have to
play from the twenty five yard line and uh, you know,
score a touchdown. There's an awful lot of plays there
and makes it difficult on the players. So three yards,
I think that's that's pretty interesting.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
You know what I did say?

Speaker 2 (17:44):
I did I did say, I don't think you should
have any timeouts, Like no timeouts, like if you if
you line up, you can't get the playoff.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
You gotta take a piloty oh, well, that's just what
it is.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
If you line up you don't like the look that
the the offense has versus your defense.

Speaker 4 (17:57):
Hey, oh well, that's just what it is.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
But anyway, anyway, it was still a fantastic college football
regular season. The postseason getting underway this weekend with all
these matchups, and again Gary will be in Charlotte for
that Clemson SMU matchup, as the winner could potentially be
one of the top four seeds in the College Football
Playoff and earn a trip to Atlanta, possibly being there

(18:23):
in that Chick fil A Peach Bowl. Gary, we always
appreciate you, Thank you so much for your insight and
definitely look forward to talking with you soon.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
Well a lotin Thanks so much again for having us.
We always enjoy it and hope to see in Charlotte
or Atlanta over the next couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
No doubt, no doubt, thank you. Gary A three four
five zero zero eighty six man always great to catch
up with him.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
And when you look.

Speaker 2 (18:47):
At where Clemson sits right now, it is it's house money.
It's house money. The Tigers have nothing to lose. Tyler
Brown's likely to play. You could run, you know, with
Tyler Brown, Williams, West Cohain and TJ.

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Moore.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
I mean, you could run out a legit four wide
offense if you wan't really spread it around, if you
don't feel comfortable with film mafa's help take advantage of
k Klubnick's legs in that scenario, maybe see more Jay Haynes.
But if you get this by if you win, and

(19:27):
you're fortunate enough, because I do think, unlike what Ward
Manuel said about South Carolina and those teams that aren't
in maneuvering around, I think if Clemson beats SMU, they're
gonna jump the winner of the Big Twelve. And if
that's the case, Clemson'll get a bye. And I don't
think Gary and those guys have any influence on it.
But I can assure you, I can assure you the
Peach Bowl would prefer to have Clemson coming into that venue.

(19:50):
Then you know, other teams thet they want that regionalized
crowd that would pour into Atlanta. All right, quick break,
we'll come back with more here on a Thursday afternoon.
Rolling along on a Thursday, Facts and Childress joins the program.
You can hear from now to noon one o five
to five to row in the Upstate Facts on Sports.
That's also the Twitter handle. Go follow him over there,

(20:11):
Facts and My Man. Welcome in, buddy, How are you
doing great?

Speaker 5 (20:14):
Loudon. I always appreciate the opportunity to hop on and
definitely a lot to talk about after a hectic weekend
in the college football world.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yeah, let's talk about that Clemson South Carolina game. Obviously,
you and I had the chance to chat for a
little bit in the press box during it seventeen fourteen.
The final score. I mean, look, we've all been a
part of games where maybe one team had the best
player on the field, the other team might even be
the better team. It just felt like, man, you couldn't
get Lenor's sellers to the ground, and on that final drive,

(20:44):
I kind of felt like, knowing that they had four
downs every time needing a touchdown, it was going to
be extremely difficult to keep them out of the end zone.

Speaker 5 (20:53):
Yeah, I got a similar vibe. You know, Clemson really
dictated the tone and controlled the base of the game
for the first three to three and a half quarters,
and you know, in the fourth quarter, Leonora Sellers got loose,
and I think there were a lot of tired and
banged up legs on the clumpson defense, and that combined
with some questionable personnel and schematic decisions down the stretch,

(21:15):
and a special player made a ton of special plays.
But reality also tells us that Clempson had a fourteen
to ten lead with the ball at under six minutes
left at midfield and went jet sweep run up the
middle and took a shot down the sidelines and punted,
and then it ended up being too little, too late
with the miscommunication with Moffa at the end and the

(21:36):
tips interception. So Tires had every chance to put South
Carolina away. And when you leave the door open for
a really good football team like the game Cocks are
and a really good football player like Sellers is, sometimes
you pay the price for it. And ultimately that's what.

Speaker 4 (21:50):
Happened seventeen fourteen.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
The final score again Facts and Childress with us year
recapping Clemson's lost to South Carolina facts, and one of
the other things that I think we all have to
appreciate is is just how perfectly executed, you know, Climpson
is talking about has talked about finishing being kind of
the mantra of this team all year. That two minute
drive to get down there in field goal range, in

(22:12):
range to score, I mean, outside of the interception, that
was about as well done as I think anybody could
have expected.

Speaker 5 (22:19):
Yeah, I'm in full agreement, and I think Cad Klubnick
has shown time and time again, whether it be the
Gator Bowl against Kentucky, you know, whether it be earlier
this season up at Pittsburgh, which ultimately was enough to
get Clemson into the a SEC Championship game, which I'm
sure we're talking about here shortly, and then once again
against South Carolina. If you put Kate in a two
minute situation, he usually responds really well. And I'm a

(22:41):
believer that Clemson has their offense at its peak when
they are going tempo and when they are going hurry up.
And I think Cad looks a lot more comfortable even
when the Clemson offense is going hurry up. So I
thought there were a lot of encouraging signs from that,
you know, potential game winning drive or at least game
time drive. And then obviously club ended it with a
pretty poor decision. He got to either throw the ball

(23:02):
away there or throw the ball into the end zone
taking a shot. So that was on Cad and he's
got to own it. But up until that point, I
thought he played a heck of a game. He messed
Westco on the slants. That was really his two mistakes
of the game to me was the checkdown to MafA
that ended up getting kicked off and the miss slant
to Westco in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
So then we shift gears to the fact that Miami
led Syracuse twenty one nothing, and it looked like Clemson
season was all but over in terms of the regular season,
just kind of awaiting a bull berth. And then what
do you know, Fran Brown and the Orange turned the
tide on Miami and Clemson's got a chance to now
win the ACC Championship game. As that unfolded, where were

(23:45):
you and what was kind of your you know, your
digestion of that moment.

Speaker 5 (23:51):
Yeah, to be honest, I got out of Clemson and
Death Valley about as quick as possible after the game ended.
So I got out pretty quick. I got back to
the couch immediately to watch the Syracuse in the Miami game.
That was my plan, honestly, regardless of what happened when
or loss for the Tigers on Saturday in the Valley.
So I got back and got the chance to catch

(24:12):
the majority of that one, and man, I have no
idea to this day how they came back from twenty
one zero. I thought it was done. I mean, Dabo
essentially came up in the postgame presser and he gave
what I kind of viewed as a end of season
type of speech, right Like everyone on social media was like, dang,

(24:34):
Miami takes a twenty one to zero lead, Like you
can cut your TV off, Like it's over, Miami's going
to the ACC Championship game. Kings fans are tweeting stuff
along the lines of like even Mario camp Mario this one,
like ha ha, it's over. And then all of a sudden,
Kyle McCord hits you in a whirlwind a touchdowns and
fifty two to forty eight the final with the boneheaded

(24:55):
decision at the end from a Miami defender jumping off
side to kind of clench it for the Orange. So
just an unbelievable game, an unbelievable story of brazilience for
fran Brown's Orange and I think an underrated team nationally
that's now going to be nine to three. Unfortunately for
fran Brown and the Orange, you don't play in a
league where that gets you in the college football playoffs.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Lawton, No, you're right, and there are some leagues that
are on the CUSP, but if not, have some teams
that will slide in with a nine to three record.
But for Clemson, this will make their tenth ACC championship game.
They've won eight in a row. If they win this one,
they'll tie Oklahoma and Alabama for the most consecutive conference
championship game victories. And still a lot of work to

(25:36):
do against an SMU team that I know you like.
But for this team to find their way in, I
completely disagree with the people who said, oh, Clempson back
their way in. Clipson was just offset by the fact
that they're schedule ended in conference play before Miami's I mean,
the Tigers win seven to one. Facts, there's no backing in, right.

Speaker 5 (25:56):
Yeah, No, I'm in agreement. With you, Lawton, and I
think you got to think back to all the times
the Tigers got tested over the course of the conference slate.
I mean, how important does the Cave Club Nick fifty
yard touchdown up in Pittsburgh look right now? Whereas you know,
if Miami was able to beat Syracuse, that would be
largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, It's now

(26:16):
looked back at something that could potentially spark a big
time run and a historic run that could end in
a championship for the Tigers. So it's incredible to just
kind of look back on the moments of the ACC season,
in the moments where Clemson did get tested, like on
the road in Blacksburg after a pretty poor first half
performance coming out of the break and being able to
put your foot down and get a win there. There

(26:36):
was no backing into the ACC title game about this Miami.
Let's face it was a little bit fraudulent all season
with some of the results they had, the Hail Mary
against Virginia Tech, the fact that Virginia Tech held a
thirteen point lead in that game in the late third
quarter and faked the field goal that flipped the whole game.
Then got robbed at the end, and then of course
Cal the following week held a twenty five point lead

(26:58):
on this team. So it's not like Miami wasn't playing
in the fire or all year long. They finally just
got bit. So it is what it is. There was
no backdooring at all about Clemson getting into the a
SEC Championship game, though, don't get it twisted. This was
earned every step of the way by Dabo, his team,
and his staff.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
Faxon Childress again with us here on the program on
a Thursday afternoon with a quick break. We'll come back
with more with Faxon. Follow him on Twitter at facts
on Sports, and listen to him daily on one oh
five to five in the Upstate quick Break. We'll come
back with more from fax and Childress right after this.
Lawton Swine, Clemson Sports Thought the show the Shakespeare south
Land Faxon and Childress on the guest line today. All right, Faxon,

(27:41):
so you like this SMU team at the ACC kickoff
when I sat down with you house, are you surprised
that they would undefeated in the league play? They had
a fairly favorable schedule in my opinion, But nonetheless you
still got to go out there and win the ball games,
and here they sit in the ACC Championship. Kind of
where are you on red line team coming into this matchup?

Speaker 5 (28:01):
Yeah, I think they should be in the College Football
Playoff regardless of what happens in the game on Saturday.
To be honest with you, this is an eleven in
one team. They made the group of five to Power
for leap. They took a limited conference share with the
revenue stuff for a chance to play in the College
Football Playoff and a chance to compete in a Power
four league. And they proved it. They proved that they belong.

(28:26):
They prove that they are championship quality. And you know, lot,
you know how high I was on the team. I
was also pretty high on Virginia Tech. So we'll call
myself one for two with both predictions on your show
in Charlotte. But SMU really just showed up and earned
it every step of the way all season. And I
think a lot of people forget with that loss to BYU.
That was before they had made the switch to Kevin

(28:48):
Jennings as their starter. Their stats and their metrics aligned
with some of the best teams in the country top five,
top ten for almost all categories. Since Jennings made the
switch to be in the starting quarter back in Dallas.
So I think they're good enough to make a run
if they get in this thing, being the College Football Playoff,
whether that's being an at large or beating Clemson on Saturday.

(29:09):
And I think they're legit lot, I really do.

Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yeah, they're a scary team. And obviously they lost r J.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
Maryland earlier this season, and still, you know, I think
that's something else you've got to consider, right, Like we
take into account when a player gets injured and a
team loses, But what about when a team loses a
player like RJ. Maryland and then they continue to win.
I mean that's something about them as well.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Yeah, you know, I thought Maryland was probably the front
runner for First Team All acc at tight end before
the injury. I think he has a valid case to be.
You know, Nanda's the best tight end in the league
went healthy, and that was a big time loss for them.
And it was a big time loss for them too
because that was kind of Kevin Jennings and Preston Stone
security blanket the last couple of years in Dallas. When

(29:53):
they need to check down when things go haywire, they
know Maryland could be that sure handed guy, so losing
him and a couple of those receivers dropping due to injury,
you would think would have set this team back. But
the Mustangs offense just keeps churning. They've been relying on
a really good back and a really dynamic run game
that involves Jennings as well with some designed runs. And

(30:13):
Jennings is a really good scrambler outside of the pocket,
and he's different than Lenora's Sellers. Sellers really scramble and
looking to run and take guys on in open space.
Jennings is scrambling outside the pocket with his eyes downfield,
looking to make plays. So the Tigers have a lot
of tests coming this upcoming week against SMU, and it's
been a pleasure to watch this SMU team throughout the

(30:35):
course of the season with more guys you know, stepping up,
you know, in roles that you wouldn't have projected them
in preseason, trying to replace the production of Maryland and
a couple other players that have dropped.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Backs and Childress every day one of five to five
of the roar from nine until noon in the Upstate.
You can catch them on the tune in app as
well faxon you're a younger guy in this media business
and the younger guy in general. I tweeted out last night,
I said, you know, it would be faster if they
just tweet out what quarterbacks aren't transferring. And I'm not

(31:06):
talking about Clipson specific or you know, South Carolina or
Georgia any teams in general. But as a younger guy,
how do you handle what we see with this portal?
And it just the way it all you know shows
up now every single day, name after name after name
going in.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
It cannot be healthy for the sport, can it.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
No?

Speaker 5 (31:29):
I don't think what the current structure is is healthy
for the sport at all. But at the end of
the day, you know, I have a little bit different
of a lens on a being younger. As you allude
into Lawden and the student athletes currently have all the leverage,
they are capitalizing on that leverage, and technically, like I'm
sitting in the position where I'm a similar age to
a lot of the student athletes, I can't say I

(31:50):
wouldn't do the same thing if I were given the chance,
you know what I mean, Like, if there's life changing
money being thrown in your face to transfer from one
school to another, from maybe even just one year of
playing your sport, and that's the maximum value you're ever
going to have in your life as an athlete, if
you're not going to go pro, like a lot of
these kids aren't. I understand why people are chasing the money.

(32:10):
It's something that's going to exist, and I think right
now what the issue is is there is an unleveled
playing field between the Power four and the Group of five,
and where everybody is trying to pretend that it doesn't exist,
but it does. And we're given the Group of five
a college football playoff berth, which is cool, but it's
really a fake semblance of equality with giving them a

(32:33):
spot every year because you're giving them one out of
the twelve spots in the playoffs, but they're at an
extreme disadvantage in pretty much every other element of the
sport and have no realistic chance to win the championship.
So I think there are a ton of flaws from
top to bottom. I think there are rules and regulations
that are needed immediately, and I do think we're gonna
hit a breaking point at some point where this all

(32:53):
kind of comes back to earth. But I don't know
right now. It's just a scary, scary territory with the
tamperings up and with with all the controversy and transfer
portal stuff going on every single day.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Not only that facts, but I find it. I find
it pretty insane. Just uh, you know, take a kid
like Troy Stillatto at Clemson, right I don't have any
issue with him wanting to transfer, but I'm always just
shocked at the timing of it all. The portal's not
even technically open yet. Why not just you know, I
know he's injured, but why not just be a part
of the team and go to Charlotte and enjoy all

(33:26):
of that.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
I don't. I don't understand. I can't. It doesn't compute
in my old band brain.

Speaker 5 (33:30):
Yeah, you know, on the on the Stilato front, I
can't necessarily say I fully understand the logic guy either.

Speaker 6 (33:37):
I think it's just what it is.

Speaker 4 (33:38):
You know.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
Silato gave a couple of quotes after his departure, kind
of insinuating that he was frustrated with the staff and
didn't understand why he was enlisted higher on the depth
chart after the Virginia game, which is understandable. Like, if
you want to go start somewhere you can go start.
I thought the timing of it was a little bit strange,
but you know, a lot of these kids have agents,
and at the end of the day, if you know

(34:00):
you are going to leave, the way that I'm viewing
it in my brain is, if you know you're going
to leave, you might as well maximize the amount of
time you could essentially auction yourself off the teams in
the transfer portal, because that's what this has turned into, Lawton.
We can beat around the bush and pretend that's not
what it is, but you want to maximize the amount
of time you're in the portal so you can maximize
the amount of offers you can get, and so you

(34:21):
can have the maximum amount of time to have your
agent be able to leverage back and forth between schools,
and that's what acquiring players has become in the modern
era of college football. So if you're a student athlete,
it is probably being advised to you by your agent
to spend the maximum amount of time in the transfer
portal as possible so you can accumulate as many offers
and they can have as much time as possible to

(34:42):
negotiate and see where your best destination could be. That
is for the people that are just involved for the
financial reasons, and those people do exist.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
Again, FAXX and Childress with this year on the program.
All right, quick breat we'll come back. We will put
a boat on the hour. Number one will wrap up
our interview with FACS and Childress from one to five
five the Roar of the Upstate the show fact on Sports.
That's his Twitter account as well. Go follow him today
and again you can listen to him from nine to
noon on one to five to five the Roar in
the Upstate final segment of our number one the show,

(35:11):
The Shakes of South Am. Fax and Childress with us
here on a Thursday. All right, so let's talk about
the college football playoff rankings. I was absolutely flabbergasted on
Tuesday night that war manual came out and said, yeah,
we're not gonna consider you know anything, that there's no
data point for those teams like South Carolina and others.

(35:33):
I was just shocked at that because it felt like
facts and they were saying to Ole miss fans, to
South Carolina fans, to Miami fans, no reason to tune
in on Sunday night. You guys are cooked. Is that
what you took away from that moment? And how surprised
were you to kind of hear such a blunt assessment

(35:53):
of the teams outside of the top twelve.

Speaker 5 (35:55):
Yeah, you know, I thought it was a bit peculiar
the way that Manuel decided to have the whole situation.
There are also a couple inconsistencies with what he said,
which people kind of pointed out on social media after
the fact. I don't know a lot. And to be honest,
like we talked about this on my show this morning.
We spent two of the three hours kind of bouncing
hypotheticals off of what team it could be here and

(36:17):
why would they, you know, rake this team over this team?
And I just think it is it represents a bigger
problem in the college football world right now, and that
is that we have a bunch of conferences that aren't equal.
And to avoid sounding like an SEC homer, because I
am the furthest thing from that, everybody that is in
the SEC with three losses that is claiming that there

(36:38):
is you know, not even this between the schedules as correct.
They're just directing their complaint and the wrong reason. The
way the reason they're correct is because the conferences are
now too big to where there can't be even scheduling
all across college because you get a team like Indiana,
and everybody is going to gripe about their schedule because
guess what, they played seven of the bottom nine teams

(36:59):
in the Big Ten and they're conference slate, and a
bunch of people think that's not legitimate. Is they lost
to the one good team they played in Ohio State
And those people probably have a fair argument. But there's
going to be in Indiana every year because of how
big the conferences are now, you're going to get that
outlier team that plays seven of the eight worst teams
in your league, takes advantage of it and uses it
to go to the college football playoffs and a similar

(37:20):
fashion to what we saw Louisville do to get to
the a SEC championship game, you know, last year against
Florida State. So I think that the SEC teams with
three losses who are saying they're playing a more difficult
schedule than everyone, they probably have a valid complaint. The
a SEC teams like Miami who are saying, hey, winning
should matter, they probably have a valid complaint as well.
I see all the different angles from this scenario. I

(37:43):
just don't know what the committee can do to make
everybody happy. There's going to be somebody frustrated regardless, And unfortunately,
I think we kind of know, as Clemson guys Lawton
that the ACC is not ever going to be the
benefactor of these decisions, and it's going to benefit the
s you seeing the Big Ten. So I don't know
why anybody's actingly surprised Alabama was in the College Football Playoff,

(38:04):
but I thought that was the most obvious and predictable
results of what the committee was going to do. They
were going to go with the brand and they will
continue to go with the brand.

Speaker 4 (38:12):
And the irony.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
I thought two facts in South Carolina because the SEC,
as a quote brand sort of gets that bump. And
then in that brand of the SEC, there are teams
whose logos like Alabama get that bump, and so South
Carolina benefits from it and is also punished by the
branding in college football again, facts and children with a

(38:35):
serial of the program. All right, Faxon, the Tigers are
number seventeen. They're behind Arizona State and Iowa State, who
will play for the Big Twelve championship. The Big question
for people is if if Clemson beats SMW, do the
Tigers vault past those two teams giving them Well, they'll
vault past one, right, They'll they'll go past the loser
for sure, But will they pass the winner of the
Big Twelve championship and get one of the coveted top

(38:58):
four buys in the.

Speaker 5 (39:01):
I would not bank on it. I think the more
realistic path to Clemson getting a top four seed in
the College Football Playoff is UNLV beating Boise State and
the Mountain West Championship game, and I think at that
point Clemson would be a top four seed with a
win in the College Football Playoff. As far as jumping
the Big Twelve champion goes, I understand the argument that

(39:24):
can be made, which is, you know, Clemson has three
I guess more quality losses in comparison to two worst
losses for Arizona State, Iowa State, whoever the winner is.
But you have to ask yourself if the committee is
going to put a three loss Clemson and over a
two loss conference champion elsewhere, which would be a Big
Twelve Conference champion. My personal belief on that would be no.

(39:46):
I guess we'll end up seeing what happens. Obviously, I'm
not a committee member, and I sure as he don't
know what's going on with the College Football Playoff Committee,
but I think Clemson's most realistic path to a top
four seed is probably Boise State. Losing in the Mountain
West Championship game almost ensures that Clemson would be win
and for the top four seed is probably the better

(40:06):
way to put it.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
And final thing for you, Facts and appreciates you again.
You can listen to him every day from nine until
noon one of five to five. The are in the
Upstate Facts on Sports. If SMU loses, do you think
they'll fall out?

Speaker 5 (40:19):
I think they're going to do it to them. I
think the answer is yes. I think that they are
going to find whatever way they can to get Alabama
into this playoff. And I could end up being wrong.
I hope I'm I end up wrong because I think
SMU is good enough to potentially make a deep run.
But you know, if you're forcing me and put me
on the spot and saying I have to pick one
or the other, I think they would put Bama in

(40:41):
and I think they would find a way to get
Alabama in. Yeah, I really do.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
Wow, unbelievable. Faxon Childress. Follow this man on Twitter at
facts on Sports. Facxin always great to catch up with you.

Speaker 5 (40:52):
Buddy, Yeah, I appreciate you on Always a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
There is Facson Childress here with us on a Thursday.
Coming up legendary Clemson sid Tim Beray around the ben
as we talk a little college football, little tiger basketball
as well. Clemson on Tuesday night beating number four Kentucky.
I'll be interested to see where the Tigers are ranked

(41:16):
this week. I mean, look, I guess technically they could
go down to Miami this weekend and lose, But when
you look at the current rankings in college basketball, Clemson
just on the outside of those rankings. Clemson currently in
the AP poll, if you, you know, count up all

(41:37):
the numbers, I think they were like thirty eighth in
the AP forty sixth or so in the Coaches poll,
So you still need to, you know, move all up.
But solid record now, knocking off one of the remaining
undefeated teams in college basketball. I think they're gonna be

(41:58):
a fringe top twenty five team, especially if they go
down uh and beat Miami this weekend, and then they've
got to match up with Memphis coming up, which will
be another opportunity for him to pick up a rank win.
Of course, Clemson lost by two against Memphis a year ago.
Just keep trudging along, just keep winning and see what happens.

(42:20):
All right, I'll tell you what's gonna happen for you
when we come back. Timbre joins us right here on Thursday,
It's time.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
For Clemson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
It is our number two. That's drive time right here
on the show The Shakespa South Lank, Clempson Sportstalt Long,
the one hanging out with you on a Thursday afternoon,
and of course Clemson Sports Star brought you in part
by Mets Plumb in seven three two trip Drip, Drip Drip.
You know the jingle eight oh three four five zero

(43:28):
zero eighty six. Legendary Clemson sid timber Ray joins us
off of the heels of a wild week in Clemson sports,
with the Tigers losing to South Carolina, finding the way
into the ACC Championship with a chance to get to
the College Football Playoff, and then of course Clemson in

(43:48):
Kentucky Tuesday night, the Tigers topping the Wildcats in Little
John Coliseum just a couple of days ago.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
Tim Berray, welcome in man.

Speaker 6 (43:57):
How are you lot doing'sreat? How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
I'm good, I'm good. It's a little chili though, I
don't know. I mean, I know your guy from the north.
This Canadian air is not doing it too well for
my southern lungs.

Speaker 6 (44:11):
Yeah, it's let's see if fintech's supposed to get a
little warmer here on Thursday, but into the mid fifties.
But rest of the week's been kind of chilli. I
know when I left the Little John on Tuesday night
it was twenty five degrees.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
Well it was about a thousand degrees inside. With that
victory over Kentucky's seventy sixty six, I know, I told
you during the break we talk about that last But
let's just start there, Tim, because as you know, I
take the wins and losses in Clemson basketball a lot
harder than I do the wins and losses in football.
What an exciting game in Little John Coliseum on Tuesday night?

Speaker 6 (44:50):
Yeah, really it really was. You know, over the beginning
there they were kind of scoring in touchdown both teams.
I remember we had a o run after they had
had a nine to oh run, and then I think
we've finished a half on a fourteen to two run,
and then of course had a nice run at the
at the end of the game. It was kind of

(45:12):
crazy that we didn't score a field goal the last
four minutes and twenty seconds but still were able to
win the game.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
And for Clemson, you know, I think when you talk
about just kind of putting your footprint on this season,
given last year's run to the Elite Eight and getting
a chance to face off with a fourth ranked Kentucky
team in Little John Coliseum, you know, there's always going
to be questions. I think at some point some teams

(45:39):
get the benefit of the doubt. I don't know the
Clempson basketball gets that just yet. So really one of
those victories where, you know, I think nationally people are
going to pay a lot more attention to Clempson than
maybe they had planned on, you know, this early in
the season.

Speaker 6 (45:57):
Yeah, I think that was a I got text last
night very late from friends from all over the country
who had watched it. You know, it was the last
game that was on college basketball game that was on,
and so that was the type of game that can
really bring credibility to the program, as did the win
in nineteen ninety November of nineteen ninety six, Wily be

(46:20):
the third rank Kentucky team, which is the only non
conference win at higher ranked in the in Clemson history.
So yeah, our top two non conference winsor number three
Kentucky number four Kentucky separated by about twenty eight years.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
Tim Bray on the show with us here today talking
about this Clemson victory seventy sixty six over the Kentucky Wildcasts,
the fourth ranked Wildcats. Earlier this week, I did see
this tweet. I haven't I haven't done any digging on
the details. You may already know it, but I saw
a tweet from Greg Harvey, who apparently covers college basketball.

(46:58):
He said, only one one men's Division one player in
the last twenty five years has put up ten plus points,
twenty plus rebounds in four plus assists in a win
against the top five opponent, and that's Clemson's Ian Shefflin
what he did last night. And my buddy, who's a
Kentucky Wildcat fan, called me early Wednesday morning and said,
how did that dude have twenty rebounds and not a

(47:20):
single foul? Tim, you were in the arena and watched it.
Give me your insight on Ian Shefflin's play.

Speaker 6 (47:29):
Yeah, he was terrific. What a hard working guy who
just has a nose for the for the basketball. I
did take not that too is I would always keep
a score book when I'm broadcast in the game, and
did find it interesting that as hard as Ian plays,
that he didn't commit a foul and all those rebound
actions that he was involved in. You know, I've always

(47:53):
had the theory that that you know, referees, you know,
they followed basketball, and they kind of know, you know,
and they kind of have expectations about certain players and
what they do. And I think maybe he and just
had a positive reputation about being a terrific offensive rebounder
at eight last night, and so maybe he's getting the

(48:16):
benefit of the doubtside in some situations. Although I can't
think of a play last night or I said to myself, oh, well,
he committed a father and they just didn't call it.
I don't remember that music case.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Clemson will open up Atlantic Coast Conference played this weekend
on the road in Coral Gables against the Miami Hurricanes.
That's a noon tip off there, and then obviously they've
got a couple of other games out of the conference
against Memphis coming up in South Carolina and then really
getting into league play.

Speaker 4 (48:47):
And I know I.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Saw a tweet on I guess it was Wednesday morning,
and some of these numbers have obviously changed with the
ACC SEC Challenge moving forward, but it was from Mark Packer,
and he said when Clemson, when that game ended, when
Clemson won, and that was the only victory for the
ACC in day one. The league overall, I think was

(49:09):
two and twenty one against the SEC and basketball going
into Wednesday nights games. I mean, that was just insane.

Speaker 6 (49:18):
I know, it's that's like we've probably ever seen before.
And yeah, I mean, I hate to say it, but
when you look at that stat, it just makes you
think about the money difference between the two leagues and

(49:38):
what SEC teams are spending to get players to transfer
to their schools. I don't have an answer to this question,
but I just wonder what the difference is an nil
money between Kentucky's nine transfers, who basically make up three
quarters of their roster and and Clemson. I'm sure Kentucky

(50:02):
is is spending in the millions on those to get
those nine transfers to to come. And you know everybody's
doing it, but if you that's that's where the inequity
and the amount of television revenue that schools are getting
can really to really make a difference.

Speaker 4 (50:21):
I agree, one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
One more question about basketball, and then will shift to
the palmetto ball this past weekend and ultimately now Clemson
being in the a SEC Championship with Tim Bray. He's
on Twitter at Timbray. Chauncey Wiggins. Tim such a unique
specimen when I see him out there on the court
because of his length, his athleticism, his ability to shoot

(50:42):
from the perimeter. You know, I don't know of a
player that's kind of been in Clemson's program that has
some of the same traits that he does. But how
valuable I mean, what would you say his value is
to this Clemson Tiger team just in his versatility?

Speaker 4 (50:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (50:57):
Well, you know, and during the preseason, with people talking
about Clemson in particular, Seth Greenberg felt that Wiggins would
be the key to Clemson season and he had the
biggest upside potential and because of his you know, all
around abilities. Now you know, coach bron Allen, probably Wiggins

(51:18):
with Dayan Harry, he needs to approve on his rebounding.
He got four in the first half last night. There
was a key offensive rebound on a miss free throw.
Unfortunately that he he got beat on the rebound. But
but overall, you know, his shooting has really been standing
on three point shots and he persent a matchup problem

(51:41):
for the opposition offensively and defensively. So United noticed that
Brea the number four for Kentucky last night, he only
got two three point shots off. He's the number one
three point shooting percentage player in the country. Last year
he made fifty percent and he was sixty one percent
going into last night. But the Wickns for much of

(52:02):
the second half was guarding him in that four inch
tight advantage that he had really kept him from getting
you know, many shouts off.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
Yeah, he moves really well for a size too. Again,
it's gonna be fun watching this Clemson Tiger basketball team.
They open acc played this weekend against the Miami Hurricanes.
But tim is still football season and things didn't play
out the way Clympson Tiger fans would have hoped this
past weekend. In death Valley South Carolina with a late
score with a minute eight remaining in the game to

(52:32):
take a seventeen to fourteen lead on an incredible play
by Leonora Sellers. I noted that of his you know,
I think it was six runs of twenty or more yards.
None of them seemed to be designs. It all seemed
to be plays where things broke down in the pocket
and he just made a heck of a play. We've
seen a lot of great quarterbacks going up against Clemson.
He's still very young. You know, I don't know if

(52:53):
I want to throw the great Moniker on him just yet,
but tim that kid, I mean, if he's at South
Carolina or elsewhere in the future playing college football, he
looks like he's going to be a handful.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
Oh.

Speaker 6 (53:05):
Absolutely no. He was a terrific hundred and yeah, one
hundred and sixty sixth rush in one sixty four passing.
I think something like that. You know, kind of a
different runner than a lot of running quarterbacks. You know,
he's not a woody Danceler type. He's just it's just
so elusive. I mean, I guess Lamar Jackson is the

(53:26):
only thing you can compare into for what I've seen
at at Death Valley, but he was terrific in the
second half of the season. He's been terrific, you know.
You know once that I looked up I didn't see
in South Carolina's notes, but you know, going into last
week's game, for the month of November, he was the

(53:48):
number one quarterback in passing efficiency in the country for
the month of November among power for Conference A quarterbacks.
So he's doing it as a passer in addition to
doing is it a runner.

Speaker 2 (54:03):
Yeah, And and I'll say this, it just felt like
at Tom's even if Clemson got their hands on him,
they couldn't get him to the ground. I mean, he's
a he's a big kid too, really really big. And
so then Clemson gets the ball back to him. Though,
And I thought, honestly about a picture perfect I think
is what I labeled it when I wrote about it
after the game, A picture perfect two minute drive up

(54:24):
until the final play where kay club Nick throws a
ill advised pass to film Offa that gets kind of
tipped and intercepted. Man, walk me through your thoughts as
that final drive is unfolding and kind of the disappointment
for sure that you guys felt watching that interception fall
into the hands of McKnight. I believe the South Carolina

(54:44):
defender and of.

Speaker 6 (54:45):
Course from our vantage point, you know, always saw was
the South Carolina because it was at the other end
of the field, you know, dive for the ball and
I you know, we couldn't tell whether he had he
had caught it or not. And obviously he did and
you know, he just made it. He made a great play,
and it was kind of the story of the game.

(55:06):
I mean, both teams made a lot of a lot
of plays. Uh, South Carolina made a few more, obviously
Stellars did. And and then the play for the interception
on the on Clemch's last possession of the of the game.
It's kind of a shame. It kind of reminded me
a bit of the Georgia Tech game and that Kate
really played well. You'll you'll stump a lot of people

(55:28):
twenty years from now if you tell them that Kate
actually had more yards of total offense than Stellars did
in that game. But but it reminds it kind of
was similar to the Georgia Texans quarter I mean, the
quarterback of Georgia Tech played great against Georgia, but unfortunately
had that fumble that led to Georgia you know, taking

(55:49):
their time in the game and then winning in in overtime.

Speaker 4 (55:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Look, that was a weekend for the Atlantic Coast Conference
because it did feel like two games got away from
them in that matchup with George and Georgia Tech and
then obviously Clemson in South Carolina. But when you're talking
about two top fifteen teams which were in Death Valley,
those games can go either way. It also, I think
was disappointing for people. You know, when you look at

(56:14):
the I think the last three losses to South Carolina,
you know clempsones kind of had a turnover on a
trick play in all three of those. They had the
turnover this year where Phil MafA, you know, on the
little reverse that they were trying to run two years
ago in Death Valley. It was that right after the
safety on the kick return, they kind of did a
little sugar huddle, who's got the ball? MafA fumbled and

(56:34):
then if you go back even further, remember Tim Clemson's
driving and I think they had what Sammy Watkins roll
out and throw a pass and gets intercepted in Williams
Price Stadium. That's the last three losses to South Carolina
almost what some people might label as you know, unnecessary
inflicted wounds, just trying to get a little tricky in
these games.

Speaker 6 (56:55):
Yeah, you're right, of course, you remember the trip that
don't work. Maybe not, Maybe you don't remember the ones
that work when you've you know, won the game. Obviously,
in two thousand and eight, dabos first game that Kaka
dood Will do whatever they called that play where Jacobe
Ford kind of hit on the sideline and that turned

(57:15):
the game around. So there have been trick plays that
have worked and some that happened in the last couple
of years. Obviously some haven't. But aside from trick play,
South Carolina deserved to, you know, to win that game.
It was a close game, but you know, basically they
won that game because they had Leonora Sellers and we didn't.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
Yeah, look, I listen, sometimes you might have the bear team,
but one guy's got the best player. I look back
at that Clemson Alabama game in Tampa where Deshaun Watson
has the ball in his hand late. You know, I
think I'm not sure that Clempson had the best team
that day. They had the best player. I actually think
Clempson's team was better the year prior when they got

(57:58):
beat by Alabama. And I've had a lot of fun
with Tiger fans this week kind of talking about that again.
Tim Bray's on Twitter at Tim Bray. Tim, All right,
let's turn our attention to what did happen after that?
Syracuse trailed twenty one nothing to Miami. Dabo Sweeney for
the first time ever, sounded like he didn't have a
windshield mentality. We were looking in the rear view. It

(58:19):
was really weird, kind of like the season that had
ended and then all of a sudden, you know, the
Tigers were resurrected and now they'll go the ACC Championship.
Your thoughts on this matchup with SMU and how it
kind of came out of nowhere for the Tigers.

Speaker 6 (58:35):
Yeah, you're right, Dabo, when he was doing that postgame
press conference, was pretty disappointed because you're right to score
twenty one and nothing at that point in favor of Miami,
and it certainly looked helpless. But then Syracuse made it
great to come back. They've got a very productive quarterback

(58:55):
and and you know, came back to win and put
it in the ACC championship game against the SMU team
that's undefeated in the conference. They've only lost one game
all year. They're right eighth and the CSP pole. And
you know, when you look at their dats, they've had

(59:16):
an outstanding year. I think they're outscoring teams thirty seven
to nineteen something like that. And they've got they've got
a very dynamic quarterback. Also, now he's not doesn't run
as much as as Stellers. And you know, if there's
some glimps of fans that watch the Louisville SMU game
or what on looking at now, you know that you

(59:36):
look at the Semm quarterback in rush for one hundred
and thirteen yards in that game, is that, oh boy,
here we go again. But you know, the last four
games they've really protected him. He's only got sixteen rushes
for twenty three yards the last four games.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
Yeah, that I will say.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
I think when you you know, think about the fact
to Tim, And this is something I was talking with
Gary Stoking in now our Number one today about in
all of the four Power five leagues, there are new
teams in half of those games. Oregon's playing for the
Big Ten title. Arizona State's playing for the Big Twelve title.

(01:00:15):
You've got Texas playing for the SEC title, in SMU
playing for the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and again they
jumped up to the Power Four this year. So it's
kind of wild that all of these conferences could have
newly crowned or newly newly brought in members bringing home
the conference championship.

Speaker 6 (01:00:37):
Yeah. Absolutely, and and you might if you follow such
things off, all the favorite and in those four games
are all the first year Great point teams. Yeah, so
the uh, it's pretty uh, you know, pretty amazing. I know,
a lot of people you know, could kind of be

(01:00:59):
critical of the HCC as they will see, you know,
SMU comes in and and they're the best team in
the league. But you could say the same thing about
the Big Ten and the SEC. The Texas comes in
and they were in first place in the regular season.
The Oregon is in the first place in the regular seasons,
and then you got Arizona State in the Big Twelve.
So it's just kind of been a crazy year as

(01:01:20):
far as that is concerned. And especially you gotta wonder
how the people out on the West Coast think when uh,
you know, you got Oregon and Arizona, two PAC ten teams,
both you know, with a chance for the for the playoff,
obviously to win their conference.

Speaker 4 (01:01:40):
Again.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
That's Tim Berray hanging out with us here on a
Thursday afternoon, A zero three four five years here, eighty
six ad. We're gonna put Tim on hole, will come back.
Still a lot to get to. A busy week, obviously,
with Clemson topping Kentucky on Tuesday, I wanted to dive
into that pretty hard and heavy. And then man, with
the ACC Championship.

Speaker 4 (01:02:01):
Now, who knew?

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
I figured Tim and I would be just recapping Clemson
in South Carolina, And here we are with another game
coming up on Saturday up in Charlotte at the ACC Championship,
Clemson and SMU eight o'clock on ABC. All right, quick break,
We'll come back with more here on a Thursday afternoon,

(01:02:24):
rocking and rolling along with you on a Thursday afternoon.
Tim Beray hanging out with us here today, talking a
little college football playoff. And Tim, you were talking before
the break about the two PAC twelve teams now in
other conferences with a chance to win those leagues. I
just think about the fact that you know how kind
of poorly that league did in the former edition of

(01:02:46):
the College Football Playoff era, and all of a sudden,
here they are having a chance to maybe place both
teams with as automatic qualifiers. And there in last kind
of my next question for you, Manual, who's the chairman
of the committee, was asked about teams potentially moving who

(01:03:07):
aren't playing, and I thought his answer on Tuesday night,
Tim was stunning in that he basically said, there's not
any more data points for those teams. And look, I'm
the Clemson guy on the radio in Columbia, so South
Carolina fans certainly don't expect me to come here and
champion their efforts to get into the College Football Playoff, Tim,

(01:03:27):
But I was stunned that Clemson winning the ACC Championship
this weekend wouldn't somehow allow the committee to take a
little different view of South Carolina perhaps, and I don't
know that would get them in obviously, But were you
surprised at at how I don't know just how sort

(01:03:48):
of certain that Ward Manual was that there would be
no reevaluation of those teams that are on the outside
right now.

Speaker 6 (01:03:55):
Well, I thought of two things when he said that.
The first thing I said, well, what about strength of schedule?
Your strength of schedule is going to Obviously South Klina
strength of schedule would be enhanced by Clinston winning. But
maybe they've looked at the data and figured that, you know,
one game one opponent is not going to change their

(01:04:16):
opinion that that much. I also felt that there was
a disconnect between Reeese, Davis, and Ward Manual in the
his interpret interpretation of the question. Now, the first he
thought Reese was asking him about just the overall poll,

(01:04:37):
you know, ranking all top twenty five, all twenty five teams.
But then I think in the follow up aspect of it,
Manual thought that what he was asking is whether South Carolina, Mississippi,
and Alabama in that order could change. Could South Carolina
leapfrog one or both of those teams? And you know,

(01:05:01):
I think he feels no that since they're not none
of those three teams are playing, that they could leave Prague.
And I obviously feels the sprink of the schedule metric
is not going to change that much from what they
had already decided to do so. But obviously the order
can change significantly with all the teams that are playing
in the in the Playoff, and the one question that

(01:05:23):
was non answered is, so, what's going to happen with
SMU and Boise if they both lose their championship games?
Are they going to drop from eight to nine out
of the top twelve? You know, could other teams you know,
move up in that situation.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
And that leads me to my next question again, Tim
Ray with us here on the program, or maybe even
maybe not a question but kind of a statement. Rhett
Lashly was asked about that to a degree, and he said, quote,
if our team all got COVID today and we don't
play the a SEC championship game, we're in And I
thought about that, like it wasn't all that long ago.

(01:06:02):
You remember Clemson packed up and down at Tallahassee for
a game one bout during that twenty twenty year of
COVID and Florida State didn't play that game. If I'm SMU,
I really don't know what reason I would have to
win the a SEC Championship outside of being the ACC champs.
And not only that, but you also theoretically, Tim would
keep Alabama out of the College Football Playoff because Clemson

(01:06:26):
would move in if they were the ACC champs.

Speaker 6 (01:06:28):
Yeah, the only thing. Yeah, it'd be interested to see
how the committee would handle that. And now, of course
COVID is not as prevalent. There has not been a
single team to four for the game in college football
this season. I would think at them, you claim they
had their old teammate COVID or just didn't play that game,

(01:06:50):
they would not put them in the playoff at all.

Speaker 2 (01:06:53):
I just couldn't believe that was his answer. I say, man,
he's right though, and there have been talking.

Speaker 6 (01:06:58):
About but yeah, he is right. I mean, and that
is the issue that is a big problem with the
the structure of the uh you know, of the of
the of the tournament and you're in you're you know
you're gonna get now. Of course, I think this happened
actually a few years ago. Wasn't there year where Alabama
got into the playoffs without playing in the YEAT championship

(01:07:20):
game and the loser of the SEC championship game got
knocked out.

Speaker 2 (01:07:24):
Yeah, that that that has happened, and I think it's
it's part of the issue, and I think that's why
at some point, I mean, I don't know what the
perfect system is. I know in college basketball, and I
know you're a big basketball guy, you win that conference
championship and that's the automatic bid.

Speaker 4 (01:07:41):
But I'm not so.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
Sure that in football team we shouldn't consider the regular
season champ to be an automatic bid. And then the
if you're gonna have that conference championship game, maybe that's
another opportunity for kind of a you know, that second
team to earn their way in. I don't know if
that makes any sense.

Speaker 6 (01:07:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think what's to happen next year
is that they'll still have five conference champions to get in.
There'll be seven at large teams, but the conference champions
won't get a buy Your ranking will be what your
ranking is, and that will that will solve the problem,
you know, to some extent. But like we said, if

(01:08:19):
you're you know, if you're if your tenth going into
your conference championship game and you lose, uh, you know
you're gonna get knocked out. Now it's interesting, how you know,
the committee members are kind of kind of indicated they
don't want to analyze people for reaching their conference championship
game and then and then losing. But in nobody, nobody
has really put anything out about the first ten years

(01:08:42):
of the playoffs and what the losers of the conference
championship games have actually done in going in the penultimate
poll to the last pole. That would be interesting to
see to what extent when it really didn't matter when
you only had four teams, but now you have twelve,
what did they actually do to the conference runners up

(01:09:05):
uh in the previous years. That would be interesting to
look at.

Speaker 2 (01:09:08):
The other thing too. And I'll leave you with this
this it's kind of close to you know, your team,
the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, one of your teams, don't
let me opinion, the don't let me batch you in
the Fighting Irish.

Speaker 4 (01:09:17):
Corner your album Mota.

Speaker 2 (01:09:19):
I wonder if they will scrap that whole deal where
they couldn't get the first, you know, couldn't get a bye,
or if they will always just be held to be
in fifth regardless.

Speaker 6 (01:09:28):
No, I think as long as Notre Dame is not
in the in the league, you know, they've accepted that
that's the way it's gonna be. That that they that
they get the fifth is the best they're going to
do as long as as long as they're not in
the league. So I think that's the way it is.
And quite frankly, I think that's the way it should be.
If Notre Dame is not going to be in the
league and have to play that extra game, then then

(01:09:50):
they shouldn't.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
Have a buye Tim Bray on Twitter at tim Bray
Tim Enjoy the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game on Saturday
and we'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 6 (01:09:58):
Thanks, looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:00):
Happy Thursday, Lawton Swine. That was Tim Bray before the break.
Hard to believe, man, we're almost to the ACC Championship
game between Clemson.

Speaker 4 (01:10:13):
And SMU.

Speaker 2 (01:10:14):
I mean, man, to think that the Tigers found their
way into this game is truly unbelievable. And like I
get it, there are people that have said Clemson back
their way in.

Speaker 4 (01:10:30):
That's just that's just not how it works.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
The Tigers got to this game because they went seven
to one in their matchups, and you know, they were
almost completely cooked when it comes down to the College
football playoff because of k Klubnick failing to make a
big play late finishing. And I know it's not all

(01:10:55):
on K, but when you're the quarterback, when you're the
the straw that stirs the drink, you get the criticism
and you get the praise. Well, K club, they met
with the media on Wednesday, it was asked what it
was like after the game on Saturday.

Speaker 7 (01:11:10):
Yeah, it was a it was a roller coaster for sure,
of emotions, I mean, full of vulnerability. I mean I
didn't you know, I probably sat in my car for
about a hour hour and a half outside of facility,
just by myself, not wanted to talk to anybody, not
want to go do anything. You know, a lot of
family in town just not want to do anything, and
just a lot of emotions that you.

Speaker 8 (01:11:32):
Know, I was going through.

Speaker 7 (01:11:33):
Kind of got home and had my roommates home and
saw the wind that uh that Syracuse put up and
walked in with like two and a half minutes left
and saw that, and you know, kind of did a
complete one eighty of emotions and got really excited, so
excited to go play another game.

Speaker 4 (01:11:50):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:11:50):
I remember I was stalking to somebody, and you know,
it's like you're you're outside playing with your with your
siblings or your or your friends or whatever, and your
mom tells you you got to come in, and she
gives you five more minutes, and we're getting five more
minutes to go play. So we're getting one more game
to go play and just another opportunity, you know, and
we're so excited. I think that there's only eight Power

(01:12:12):
four teams in the country that are going to play
a game this week and one, and we're one of
those eight, and everybody else is at home, and we're
excited to go play. We're excited to go play for
a championship and something that we've earned and in a
big league.

Speaker 8 (01:12:24):
Like we have to be in. This championship is definitely
a big deal, and we're excited to go be in it.

Speaker 4 (01:12:28):
Kay Club.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
It was also asked about the energy and the emotion
that was kind of in the facility this week after again,
as I've said, CLIPS is now playing with house money.

Speaker 7 (01:12:38):
I think all of that, Yeah, I mean, I think
that there's an excitement and also, you know, another emotion
of coming off of what we came off of. So
all of those emotions that you're trying to balance. You know,
it's definitely tough at times, especially on Sunday and Monday,
and then and then you get the team meeting Monday
and you go practice and it's off to the next

(01:13:00):
one and the opportunity to right ahead of us, and
you know, I remember sitting in the you know, Swingy
Council meeting on Monday, and I'm like, guys, if we
would have if I told you, you know, in January or
in July or going to fall camp, have we finished
the twelve weeks of our season that we're given. And
I tell him, we're going to play an a SEC
championship game, and if we go do that and we
go win it, we're in the playoffs.

Speaker 8 (01:13:20):
That's a pretty exciting place to be.

Speaker 7 (01:13:22):
So we're going to you know, play what we're playing
on Saturday and excited for it.

Speaker 4 (01:13:27):
And it really is.

Speaker 2 (01:13:28):
It's the fact that Syracuse came back from twenty one
points down is just unbelievable because it really did. And
I think it's the reason Dablosh Woeney had such kind
of a the anti negative kind of vibe that you
never see from him. I mean, it was like the
season was over. Here's Kate club to being asked about

(01:13:50):
what that twenty twenty two a SEC Championship game meant
to him and what it means for him to get
another opportunity there in Charlotte.

Speaker 8 (01:13:59):
Yeah, I'm I'm really excited to get back there.

Speaker 7 (01:14:01):
You know, it's what you chase and everything goes through
that game, so to definitely go back there and I
remember the emotions that I felt that night in pregame
and and during the game and after the game.

Speaker 8 (01:14:14):
You know, that feels like just a couple weeks ago.
It's just still very raw.

Speaker 7 (01:14:19):
So you know, bringing back those emotions is is definitely
something that I'll be doing and something I have And
you know, I'm excited to be back. I'm excited to
be back in that game. And yeah, I'm pumped.

Speaker 2 (01:14:29):
It's awesome k club that they were talked about being
back in the ACC championship game. He was also asked
about what's called the unfinished scoring drives for Clemson's offense recently,
obviously the biggest one that interception against South Carolina.

Speaker 7 (01:14:45):
Yeah, well, I mean this past week, you gotta give
credit to South Carolina. I mean, they're one of the best,
They're one of the best teams in the country, one
of the best defenses in the country if not, so,
you know, you got to give credit to them. You're
not gonna, you know, go put up sixty on us
a team like that. But definitely sometimes we just you know,
we didn't. There weren't eleven guys working together, and that's

(01:15:08):
kind of what I said that we needed to do.

Speaker 8 (01:15:10):
And last week's press conference was.

Speaker 7 (01:15:14):
We need eleven guys to go do our job, and
at times, you know, there's ten guys doing their job,
and maybe I was eleventh and I didn't make the
throw that I need to make, or you know, just
just little things that we didn't have everybody working together,
and that times that hurt us, especially on some third
downs or up plays that we were gonna have a
big play.

Speaker 8 (01:15:33):
And we just had something go wrong.

Speaker 7 (01:15:35):
So I had to just kind of eliminate that and
just make sure everybody's just dialed on the plan, just
kind of everybody coming together and playing four quarters.

Speaker 2 (01:15:44):
So one of the other connections that a lot of
people may have forgotten. Of course, Garrett Riley, clemson O
offensive coordinator, was the opensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at
TCU just two years ago, and Kate Clemte was asked
about his relationship and coach Riley's connections two s MU.

Speaker 8 (01:16:01):
I think what I got here.

Speaker 7 (01:16:02):
If you would have told me you'd be playing s
m U in the a CC Championship one day, I
would probably look at you a little funny so that's
that was definitely something I probably wouldn't have envisioned in
my time coming to Clemson. But it's definitely cool, you know,
just you know, them being up there a couple of
hours north of where I grew up, So definitely pretty cool.

Speaker 8 (01:16:23):
And uh, you know, I got a couple of people
that I know they're and.

Speaker 7 (01:16:28):
So it would be a cool game, but definitely something
I never would have envisioned. But they're they're a great
team and there's a reason they're in the AC Championship
game and you can't forget that. And definitely not not
a team that are overlooking at all. Their their a
heck of a team with they got some dudes, so
you know that they've they've got a great coach and
very well coached and very well disciplined and just play

(01:16:48):
with the fire in them that that I really enjoyed
to watch on films.

Speaker 8 (01:16:51):
So you know, it's it's gonna be It's definitely a
fun opponent.

Speaker 4 (01:16:54):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (01:16:55):
Clemson quarterback k club Nick given his thoughts on the
Tigers matchup in the ACC Championship coming up on Saturday
night against SMU. Again, thank you to Facts and Childress
and Tim Beray and also Gary Stoken for joining us
here on the Thursday. All Right, quick break, We'll come back.

Speaker 4 (01:17:15):
Hard to believe.

Speaker 2 (01:17:15):
We're putting a bow on the Thursday edition. That matchup
between the Tigers and SMU coming up on Saturday, eight
o'clock on ABC. Clemson opened as a two point favorite
in this ballgame. They have now fallen to getting two
and a half points of this game against SMU. We'll
put a bow on the Thursday edition right after this.

Speaker 9 (01:17:36):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture, don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately? And what have
you done?

Speaker 4 (01:17:55):
Always are the same.

Speaker 9 (01:18:02):
We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:49):
Final segment on a Thursday afternoon. Lots of guests on
the program, thank you for being a part of the
show again. Eight oh three four five zero zero eighty six.
The text line in the phone line. As we get
closer and closer to Clemson and SMU in the Atlantic

(01:19:11):
Coast Conference Championship. The championship game football gets going tomorrow.
Three matchups Western Kentucky taking on Jacksonville State. That game
is at Jacksonville State Stadium. The game Cocks favored by
five points in that one. In the Conference USA Championship game.
Also coming up tomorrow night a significant game potentially for Clemson,

(01:19:38):
and that is Boise State and UNLV. That game's gonna
be played at Boise State Stadium on Fox. Kickoff set
for eight o'clock. If Boise State were to lose the
Mountain West Championship and Clempson were to win the ACC Championship,
the Tigers would not only slide into one of the

(01:19:59):
top four seeds, but could potentially be the number three seed.
Boise favored by just four points over UNLV. Again, that's
eight o'clock on Fox tomorrow. Then the final game tomorrow
night eight o'clock on ABC. I guess technically they start
at the same time, but it's Army and Tulane in
the American Conference Championship game. Then on Saturday at noon

(01:20:19):
on ABC, it'll be number sixteen Iowa State taking on
number fifteen Arizona State at AT and T Stadium in
the Big Twelve Championship. And this one's interesting as well
because I think how this game plays out like if
it's a tight ballgame and say Arizona State squeaks by e E.
Shoot me, Iowa State squeaks by Arizona State. Since Iowa

(01:20:42):
State is just a single spot ahead of Clemson in
the rankings, I think if the Tigers were to play
very well against SMU later that night at eight o'clock
on ABC, I think Clempson would pass the Big Twelve champion.
I think the Tigers would pass the Big Twelve champion
and move into the top four spot. The only issue
is both of those teams have ten and two records.

(01:21:03):
Obviously Clempson is nine to three, but I think depending
on how that game plays out might determine. And again,
CLYMPS has got to do their part whether or not
the Tigers move past them. At Ford Field in Detroit
on Saturday at noon, it'll be Miami of Ohio and
Ohio facing off in the MAC Championship. Then at four

(01:21:24):
o'clock on ABC, you've got the SEC Championship over at
Mercedes Been Stadium. We talked earlier with our good buddy
Gary Stoken from the Chick fil A Peach Bowl. That's
number two Texas and number five Georgia. Again four o'clock
on ABC, Texas, currently a two and a half point

(01:21:44):
favorite in that game. Then you've got the rage of
Cajuns of Louisiana and Marshall facing off in the Sun
Belt Championship game. That game is going to be played
at Louisiana's home field, Cajun Field there in Lafayette. Seven
thirty on ESPN, eight o'clock on CBS. Going ahead to
head with the ACC Championship game will be the Big

(01:22:06):
Ten Championship as Oregon and Penn State faceoff at Lucas
Oil Stadium there in Indianapolis, Oregon three and a half
point favorites in that game. And then you're Tigers and
SMU facing off at eight o'clock on ABC. The Mustangs
early dogs, now the favorite by two and a half
points over Clemson. And the final thing, speaking of conferences,

(01:22:27):
Oh boy, the ACC SEC challenge in basketball. The SEC
clinched it on Day one when they ran out a
nine to one record against the Atlantic Coast Conference in basketball,
pushing their yearly total out too as I mentioned twenty
one and two. Well yesterday it didn't get any better.

(01:22:47):
The ACC falls in all but one game on Wednesday,
going one in five versus the SEC fourteen to two.
The SEC knocked off the Atlantic Coast Conference in the
second annual acc SEC Challenge. Weirdly, both days were bookend

(01:23:11):
by or not bookend, but ended by Atlantic Coast Conference victories.
Clemson's seventy sixty six victory over Kentucky on Wednesday, and
then last night Duke's eighty four seventy eight victory over
number two ranked Auburn. Here's a quick rundown of those games.
Georgia beat Notre Dame sixty nine forty eight, twenty one

(01:23:31):
point victory. South Carolina with a twenty two point victory
seventy three to fifty one over Boston College. Arkansas beat
Miami seventy six seventy three. Clemson plays at Miami this weekend.
Missouri beat Cal ninety eight ninety three. Tennessee beat Syracuse
ninety six seventy a twenty six point victory. Texas A

(01:23:53):
and M beat Wake Forest fifty seven to forty four,
a thirteen point win. Old miss hammered Louisville eighty six
sixty three, a twenty three point victory. Oklahoma beating Georgia
Tech seventy six sixty one, a fifteen point win. LSU
beat Florida State by ten eighty five seventy five. Clemson's
victory over Kentucky, of course by four seventy sixty six.

(01:24:17):
Virginia lost to Florida by eighteen eighty seven to sixty nine.
Alabama beat North Carolina by fifteen ninety four seventy nine,
Mississippi State beat Pittsburgh by thirty three ninety to fifty seven.
Vanderbilt beat Virginia Tech by sixteen eighty to sixty four.
In Texas beat NC State by four sixty three fifty nine,

(01:24:40):
and then Duke beat Auburn by six. Domination by the
SEC in basketball absolute domination. We'll be back tomorrow to
talk more about Clemson than SMU. Until then, as always,
I'll take care now and goat Tigers