ACC Conference Deep Dive

Pat and Keeton dive into the ACC Conference going into the 2026 Football Season. 

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The ACC enters 2026 with a national championship contender at the top, a defending conference champion replacing its quarterback, several traditional powers under enormous pressure, and one of the most interesting coaching hires anywhere in college football. Miami believes it can finish what it started. SMU has lost only twice in ACC play since joining the conference. Louisville may have one of the most complete rosters in the league. Clemson is trying to prove it still belongs among the elite. And James Franklin is beginning a new era at Virginia Tech. And those are only the headliners. There are legitimate dark horses at Pitt, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State. Major questions surrounding Florida State and North Carolina, and quarterback changes that could reshape the entire conference race. Today, on the Campus Report, we're going to break down all 17 ACC programs: the championship contenders, the pressure points, and the players who will define the season and the teams that can surprise everybody. Welcome to the Campus Report, presented by Campus Sports Network. I'm Pat alongside Keaton. If it's on campus, it's on CSN. This is our 2026 ACC football deep dive. We are going team by team through the conference, but before we get to all 17 programs, I feel like we need to establish the biggest stories that will shape this season. Well, the ACC may have a clear preseason favorite, but it does not have a single or have a simple championship race ahead of it. We're going to begin with Miami. This is not going to be a conversation of whether Mario Cristobal can restore Miami to its former glory. Miami did reach the national championship game last year, and they added transfer quarterback Darien Minsa from Duke and enters 2026 with what may be the most explosive collection of skilled talent over the entire conference. Well, I think the question's changed. Like you mentioned, it's not can Miami become relevant again? It's evolved into cany, Miami handle being the favorite and finish the job. Miami's greatest advantage is its combination of Mensa, receiver Malachi Tony, and running back Mark Fletcher Jr. The concern is up front. They've got four new offensive line starters that have got to protect the new quarterback. The defense on the other side of the ball, they got to replace the frontline impact of departed edge, Reuben Bain. So we'll see how that plays out, shapes up for the herd. I just think they will. They recruit unbelievably well. That's never been a problem for them. Mario Christopher's a hell of a coach, and he's got a great support staff around him. So they're going to be fine. My question for you, Pat, would anything short of an ACC championship and a deep, deep playoff run be considered a disappointment given last year? And I say that because, like, as previously mentioned, like, yes, this conference can get a little wild. As we know, Miami was the best team in the ACC last year and didn't even make the title game. But I think that it would be definitely a disappointment in Miami if they don't win the conference title and make another deep playoff run with the roster that they have, especially with uh Darion Mensa and Malachi Tony alongside Mark Fletcher Jr. Like that that's just an extremely talented offense, and we know that they're going to be good defensively. Like, I don't I don't see why they should consider anything else a success. I agree. They've got from everything I've read, they've got pretty deep funding at Miami, and they and you know they've got supposedly a $45 million roster. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but I mean, you've got the money, you've got the previous talent, you know, to help bring players in. So I think from here going forward, Miami's gonna be a long time household name. I mean, they've always been a household name. We all know that, but they're back to being relevant, and I think they're gonna be back to being on top pretty consistently. Yeah, I I agree with that. Mario Cristobal's got him going in the right direction. Now, it may not have happened as quickly as the fans in Miami wanted it to, but uh, I think he's getting them there. And yes, this is this is definitely a team that can compete for a national title this season. I agree. So, this what I'm reading now shows they're at 44.9 million for the 2026 season. So that's pretty much they've invested. It'll be interesting to see. Um it's the second most valuable roster in college football behind Texas. So see if they can close the deal this time. Anybody but Texas. All right. Well, let's move on to our second storyline. Is SMU a permanent contender? So SMU's arrival in the ACC was initially treated, I think we can all agree, as an experiment. Uh, two seasons into said experiment, the Mustangs are 14-2 in conference play. So that's a pretty successful experiment, in my opinion. Uh, I agree. Uh Kevin Jennings returns at quarterback. Uh Coach Rhett Lashley continues to build through the transfer portal. And SMU avoids Miami during the regular season. Uh, so that m that means SMU might have the cleanest pathway to the ACC title game out of any of the major contenders. Uh the offense has its had a high, excuse me, has a veteran quarterback, an experienced offensive line, and proven transfer playmakers. Uh, the uncertainty is the defense. They're replacing a lot of production from last season, but SMU has already earned the benefit of the doubt as a championship level ACC program. My question for you, Keaton, is has SMU already become the ACC's most dependable program outside of Miami? I think it's a little early to tell. Yes, 14 and 2 and conference is a solid record. Um, but like we kind of joked around pre-show, it's amazing what what can happen when you're actually allowed to pay the players now. So I think they're I think they're shaping up to potentially be the most dependable program. And you want to talk about deep pockets, the boys at that SMU, they're gonna have deep pockets to go get the players that they need. So maybe not right now. Uh maybe saying that is a little premature. I think give it maybe we'll see how this year goes. And then very possibly, yeah, I think they could be the most dependable. Okay, well, let me pose this question to you. If it's not SMU, then who is it? Because I mean, Clemson has basically gone on a downward slope ever since the introduction of NIL. And Dabo Sweeney doesn't look like he has uh the ability to put it back together and make Clemson what they used to be pre-NIL. Like if it's not if it's not SMU and it's not Clemson, who is the most dependable? You're gonna say Louisville? Duke? Probably I I think maybe golly, maybe Duke. I mean, Duke ended the the season last year on a four-win streak. So they were six and two in conference, nine and five overall. I mean, hell, even Virginia had a pretty pretty solid record last season uh at 11 and 15. That's the first time in a while. That's the first time in a while for the Cavaliers. But I don't know. I I my my money's on, or my my take is it's either gonna be Duke or I don't know, I might even go as far as saying Pitt. I I'm gonna I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree and say that SMU is already that most dependable program outside of Miami in this new era. The conference itself, no offense, ACC. It's not terribly strong from top to bottom. I mean, no. Back back in the day, if you asked me this question several years ago, I'd say Florida State, but Florida State's pretty much abysmal. And so 0-5 record on the road last year, that's pretty terrible. Two and six conference record, that's pretty terrible. So beat Alabama. Well, take your roses where you can get them, but I don't know. I you may have a good point. I may be misspoken. Um I just think this early into the into their career, SMU's career in the ACC, I think it's a little premature. But again, after this year, they very well may be 100%. You I'm probably wrong, and I'll put my foot in my mouth happily. But I don't know, we'll see. I guess we will. Anyway, the third storyline we're gonna talk about is this quarterback carousel in this league, and that could decide who wins this league. This conference might actually be determined by which transfer quarterback finds his fit the fastest. Darren Mensa leaves defending champion Duke for Miami. Lincoln Teinholes takes over at Louisville. Ashton Daniels makes his way down to Florida State. Alberto Mendoza replaces Haynes King at Georgia Tech. Bo Privula takes over at Virginia, and Ethan Grunkemeyer follows James Franklin from Penn State to Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, Clemson has a competition. Boston College is taking a chance on a Division II transfer, and North Carolina is counting on Billy Edwards Jr. staying healthy. Syracuse is hoping for Steve Angelli's return from injury, which would change everything. So I guess the this question is which new quarterback is gonna make the greatest difference for his team. So I want to go back to your previous question about the most dependable program. If we're gonna, if we're gonna go ahead and jump early bandwagons, I'm gonna change mine to Virginia Tech. I am a big, big fan of James Franklin. And I think this is gonna follow into this current question. I really think Grunkemeyer is gonna be the difference maker for Virginia Tech as well as James Franklin. So don't sleep on Virginia Tech. They may become the most dependable outside of Miami. And then as I stated, I think Ethan Grunkemeyer is gonna be he's gonna be a difference maker for for Virginia Tech and James Franklin and that system he's gonna pose there. Wow, that is a take out of left field for sure.

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Yeah, that's where I like to live.

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Virginia Tech um obviously has not been very good for a while, and they are definitely hoping that James Franklin can restore some life back into that program. And they they've already recruited well, they had a good transfer portal class. Um I just I don't know if I'm ready to jump on that bandwagon of them being title contenders this season, especially since, you know, and I hate to say it, while I like James Franklin, he can't win big games. And he proved and he proved that over and over and over again with one of the best rosters in all of college football for a decade at Penn State. Well, and and that's a very valid argument, but I'm a firm believer that sometimes you know you can't fit a round peg in the in a square hole or vice versa. So maybe Virginia Tech and a new start and maybe not quite the pressure um that he was feeling at Penn State will kind of boost his ability. I mean, I'm looking at their schedule, and I've gotta say, I mean, it's not this is not a tough schedule, but again, the conference doesn't pose a huge threat from top to bottom. But I don't know. I I just I like James Franklin, so I'm gonna stick out my neck and and live and die by what I said. Like I said, I like to live out in left field, and so that's where I that's where I'll be. I guess you can consider me a safe Sally on this debate question about the which quarterback's gonna make the best difference for his team, and I'm gonna say Darien Minsa at Miami coming over from Duke. He was one of the most talented quarterbacks in the ACC last year uh at Duke. He won them an ACC title game. Uh I really like his ability to um make plays with his legs, uh, extend the pocket, and when you got weapons like Malakai Tony, I mean, yeah. Not not much more to say there. I I like Darien Minsa. Can't play it safe forever, Pat. Can't play it safe forever. I'm gonna play it safe in this lead. That's for sure. Well because I don't know much about it, and I I really I just I like Miami's roster. I really do. Well, they're they're a powerhouse for sure. But that leads into our our fourth storyline, and I don't is the ACC race possibly deeper than it looks? Miami may be the favorite, but there are at least eight programs that can make a credible argument for reaching the ACC championship game. Well, this is probably not a league with five national title contenders, um, as we well know, but it's definitely a league where one bad Saturday can eliminate anybody from going to that championship game. Um now, my upper tier in this league is Miami, SMU, and Louisville. Uh Clemson still does possess uh championship caliber defensive talent, but offensively, it seems like they've been lost for a while as to what to do there. Um Georgia Tech, Pitt, and NC State have had strong identities and they have realistic ceilings this year. Georgia Tech's really been uh consistent over the past couple of years as well. Um, maybe not title contending consistent, but they've gotten better and better. Pitt's always good for an upset uh when you least expect it. Uh NC State uh looks to looks to bounce back and still uh grow that program. And you know, we talked we touched on a little bit earlier. Virginia talking about out of left field won 11 games last year. And Virginia Tech got did get James Franklin with a huge transfer portal class. Um, so I I guess the question is realistically, how many of these teams have a chance to get to Charlotte and the ACC championship game? Uh, these are really tough questions, especially when you have so many transfers, so many new systems come into life in these programs. Uh again, you touched on Clemson and their offensive just lack of identity. Lack of identity, inability, just disappearance, it seems like. I I'm gonna still keep them in in that path because I think if Davo Sweeney can figure it out, if he can buy into the NIL system, and I know he's adamantly against it, but unfortunately that's where the game's at. And if he wants to keep his job, I would venture to say, I would venture to say very strongly, he's on the hot seat at Clemson. Like I don't think he's on the hot seat. I I don't think they're gonna fire him. Like you well, I mean he won two national titles at Clemson, and Clemson was abysmal before he got there. Like sure, but they've tasted, they've tasted it and they want more. And and given just the culture of the team, and the and I just don't think that they're gonna allow Clemson to reach the top twice and then just snowball down to the bottom without making some changes. Um, but I'm gonna keep them in there. So I'm gonna say Clemson. I I like Duke. Obviously, Miami's a guarantee. I like Louisville. So I'm gonna say five, maybe six. Six being with the inclusion of let me just run through my five Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Miami, SMU, and I like Pitt. And if you don't like Pitt, take out Pitt, so you're at five. But I like Pitt for on the bubble on the outside. Um I I'm gonna agree with you. Five or six teams, Miami, SMU, and Louisville for sure. Um, I like Virginia in there. I think that they'll keep um keep moving forward and building on what they did last season. So I I'll like I'm gonna put them in there. Um Clemson defensively, I I won't write them off entirely, so I I'll I'll leave them in my uh in my realistic path teams. And you know what? Since uh I I like Georgia Tech to compete for an ACC title this year. They they've been really consistent. Uh they've they've built a good program there in Atlanta, and and I think that they realistically could squeak their way in there if they if the chips fall right. You know, I'd like to say it's a seven-team path if you could include Notre Dame. I mean, given they already play a a schedule that they play a scheduling agreement with the ACC, so just join the ACC and throw your name in the mix. But that's a whole nother argument. That doesn't even I mean that just we can do a whole segment on that. Yeah, it's silly. But I like six. I like six. Six is my number. Five or six. Anyway, that is gonna lead us into our next storyline of the traditional programs in this league are facing some serious pressure. Um, the most uncomfortable conversations in the ACC is probably taking place at Florida State, like you mentioned, Clemson and North Carolina. Uh Florida State has gone 7-17 over the last two years, and they have a brutal schedule ahead of them. Clemson is coming off of a 7-6 season and has to find its quarterback. And North Carolina enters year two under Bill Belichick and had just an abysmal uh 4-8 debut season last year. But they've handed the offense to Bobby Petrino. Shout out motorcycles. So which program do you think is under the most pressure entering 2026? Now, I've got mine, and I kind of just looking at these, I don't really feel like it's a close second, but let's go ahead and hear yours first. I think mine's Florida State. Agreed. I I think, yeah, they've got to figure it out. I mean, it has got to be figured out quickly. 7 and 17 over the last two seasons is if I'm a if I'm a Florida State Seminole fan, I'm I'm really worried. I'm not happy. You know, you gotta assume boosters probably feel the same way. Right. Um you're you're not hurt, you're not, you're definitely not helping yourself when it comes to recruiting. Uh, even if you throw them a a bunch of money. I mean there's other teams that have more money. And so if even though these players want money, they also want to win. And seven and seventeen, it's it's not showing that you're you've got it figured out. So hands down, Florida State. Yeah, it's it's a no-brainer for me. For me, it's it's Florida State as well. It's now or never for Mike Norvell to get but I do think I do think Clemson's not far behind. I really do think I know you don't think Dabo Sweeney's on the hot seat, but I do think he's going to feel some pressure from the powers that be at Clemson to figure it out or go find another job. I I believe that. I think they're both feeling some some major pressure but I do think Florida State's feeling it the most now North Carolina like is it just me or do I feel like North Carolina hiring Belichick was like a similar move to Colorado hiring Dion. Yeah I agree. It doesn't really like the the winning is not really the big priority right now. It's more so just how many eyes can we get on the program? And then him 20 year old girlfriend really boosted the eyes on North Carolina. It was it that paired with Colorado's ordeal it just seems like publicity stunts almost and I don't think even at in the deepest pits of of their hearts they knew that Belichick was the right fit for them but again maybe just trying to get relevance in the social media space was more important for the future long term I don't know it just it didn't feel like a results driven hire. Right. And and I agree with that. So that's why I would say that North Carolina is not under the most pressure to turn it around immediately even with uh Bobby Petrino coming over to take over the offense. But that's going to lead us into the coaching changes. Yep. So there's several new eras beginning across the ACC as we've previously mentioned. And some of those changes are are long-term projects and others are expected to produce right off the bat um Tosh I'm gonna absolutely just butcher this Tosh Lupoy takes over at Cal. Tavita Pritchard is now at Stanford James Franklin as we've touched on is now at Virginia Tech. Bobby Petrino has uh taken over North Carolina's offense uh Clemson has reunited Davo Sweeney with Chad Morris on the offensive side and Bill O'Brien is taking play calling duties back uh at Boston College for the offensive side of the football there. So I mean which new coach or coordinator do you think is going to have the greatest immediate impact I'd like to say I mean you know where I stand James Franklin but I think if not him probably Bill O'Brien taking back the offensive point calling at uh BC but I I'm more so inclined to lean towards James Franklin and maybe I'm putting far too much stock and buying too much stock in James Franklin but because he did he really struggled to win big games in in in big moments at Penn State but again you're getting into a weaker conference so you did get a good portal haul yeah so I mean I'm gonna I I'm gonna stick with Franklin man. I I am and people are gonna probably be like this guy's an idiot and I am you're right I've been called worse but that's that's my pick um you know I'm gonna have to out of the new coaches I'm gonna actually have to agree with you now I'll believe that James Franklin is going to win the big game when I see it but that doesn't mean that he's not gonna win you know seven or eight games in year one in a week or conference. Outside of Franklin I'm very intrigued to see if Chad Morris going back to Clemson on the offensive side of the ball really um changes some things for them now I know you said Bill O'Brien taking back the offensive play calling duty like I mean it's Boston College fan they are not good I'm gonna have to stick them in with Kentucky shout out Wildcat fans you know remember y'all get ready for basketball yeah yeah lights them up in layup lines uh but yeah I'm I'm really I I'm it's I'm excited to see Chad Morris and what he can bring back to Clemson. Uh if you pair a good offense with a good defense and Clemson is definitely right back in that mix. So I agree I like I like I like Chad Morris uh outside of James Franklin being an immediate impact. Well I think those are some great storylines. What do you think if we start diving into some of these teams a little bit and talk about what we've got to look forward to and maybe not look forward to all right let's do it let's start with uh let's start with Miami the team that everybody in the ACC is chasing right now. And like as we have uh as we have previously mentioned I I think they have the best offensive trio in Darien Minsa, Malachi Tony and Mark Fletcher Jr. Minsa already knows what it takes to win a conference title after doing it at Duke and Tony's an absolute star at receiver and return specialist um that question is going to be whether four new offensive line starters can come together quickly as well as on the defensive side of the ball you've got to be able to replace Ruben Bain he was an absolute disruptive presence and so yes offensively you know you're gonna be all in decent hands but you've got to figure out a way to replace Bain um and his presence on defense talent and depth talent and depth are not the issue as we know um I think for me the issue is whether Miami can handle a season um in which every opponent views the hurricane obviously as you know its biggest game putting stars stars by their name on the schedule and they're gonna see everybody's best that's just the way it's gonna work. Right. So can they handle that? I think they probably can given just the conferences being kind of a mid-level conference in my opinion in terms of just like just like the Big 12 like Miami's in the same spot as Texas Tech now I will say that Miami I think is a better team overall in terms of talent and I say that as a Texas Tech fan but they're in a similar position uh they're the heavy favorite to win this conference uh win their conferences and everybody is chasing them so they are going to get everybody's back um or everybody's best excuse me um now I guess that that is a good question are they gonna be able to handle that and I think that they do um they might have a they might have a slip up maybe once or twice but um I I really like this team I think at worst they're gonna be 10 and 2 and a night and a in the college football playoff but they can definitely go uh go undefeated this year and win a conference title and be a true threat to win a national championship do you think they could top the Georgia Bulldogs let's say that the the Bulldogs and and the Hurricanes match up in the national championship teachers how do you think that matchup looks um man that would be a hell of a game in terms of just looking at the rosters um but you know and I I Sue me but I think Miami's better at quarterback than Georgia and that's a key but as we previously touched on um the offensive line at Miami is going to determine whether this is a good season or a title season for Miami how quickly four new starters can mesh and uh protect Minsa. Well and then and then also it's gonna depend on how well he takes to the system that Chris Ball's got um I mean you can't put it all on the offensive line. I think you still got to have production and and and leadership from the quarterback position. Yes he did it at Duke but it's a totally different ballgame down there in Miami. And so I think several things you're gonna have to quit for him which I don't think they're huge, huge things. It's not like a whole new identity has to come together for the Hurricanes but I've got them as a their ceiling I think we all know is 12-0 with an ACC championship and at least a appearance in the national championship worse comes to worse my opinion 9-3 and that's gonna be if the offensive line rebuild takes some time and if the quarterback position struggles a little bit which would go hand in hand but I do think ultimately you know Miami is the favorite but yeah that offensive line's gonna determine you know if it's a good season or if it's a great season. Agreed. Well that's the hurricanes let's move on to SMU all right so at some point we got to stop calling SMU a newcomer to this conference and call SMU's one of the ACC's defining programs. Ay uh I I'm with them uh Kevin Jennings at quarterback is one of the nation's most experienced and accomplished returners at that position. Uh their fast tempo offense uh is going to be very dangerous behind the experience of Kevin Jennings and an experienced offensive line. But them having to completely rebuild their defense, that is a concern. They only return eight starters and they've got to replace important pieces in the secondary and the front seven but their schedule does matter and they avoid Miami in the regular season. So they don't have to beat the conference favorite to reach the title game. No but they do have a nine conference game schedule so I don't know if that's gonna be tougher for them or you know if that's gonna if that's gonna prove that last year's success wasn't a fluke uh I don't know but that's not easy. I don't think conference games I I like SMU um they've they've proven over the past two years that that they can compete at a high level in this conference and um genuinely I think at the end of the year SMU is going to be playing Miami in Charlotte I do. I think there's a pretty good chance of that as well. So they might have the conference's best combination of quarterback stability coaching and schedule opportunity to get there and like who who's to say like say the SEC beats up on each other worse than than people think that they will because you know they now have to play nine conference games in that league. So there's a there's a scenario in which maybe SMU even if they don't win the ACC can sneak into the playoff if the cards fall right what do you think their floor is if things if it is a fluke if last year was a fluke deal and this year things don't go right what do you think realistically a floor for them is if they can't rebuild that defense quick enough um I think nine and three eight and four ish maybe seven and five if it's just really bad but I still think that this is a bowl team regardless of which way you slice it. Yeah I agree. I think seven and five we got a we got a big problem on our hands. Yeah yeah and I even think maybe there's a problem if you look at it if if eight and four ends up being the the record I think there's a something went wrong at SMU um not I like nine and three better than eight and four for a floor. As do I but I don't think you're gonna see a 9-3 SMU team I think you're gonna see them 12 and oh I don't know if they go undefeated they haven't done that in a very very long time but I'm gonna say their their ceiling is still an ACC title appearance uh at 11 and 1. I think they'll slip up somewhere I mean their schedule's looking pretty favorable they've got a lot of good home a lot of their tougher games are home stands so I mean I don't know you go to Virginia Tech no I'm sorry you're Virginia Tech's so you got to go to Louisville and you got to go to Florida State I still like them over Florida State that game against Louisville is intriguing though on the road yeah if they're gonna slip that might be the one um don't say that too early November 21st at Notre Dame if they're gonna slip that's the one I think you're probably gonna I forget that SMU's got them on the schedule this year. Yep that so okay so maybe 12 and oh is a bit ambitious but I don't think 11 and 1's off the table no I like 11 and 1 10 and 2 i I'm still eyeballing that road game against Louisville uh as a as a potential slip up point for the Mustangs how do you think the Mustangs would match up against Miami in in the conference championship you think Miami would pretty handily take them no SMU beat them last year and Miami arguably had a more talented roster especially on the defensive side of the ball last season and SMU beat them i I wouldn't and over granted I'm a win's a win it is it sure is you're you're right but I mean I wouldn't think it's gonna be a blowout now would would I favor Miami in the game sure but like it wouldn't be it's not gonna be a hand a handy victory for Miami if that is in fact the matchup well I mean in that game last year Kevin Jennings 329 for 44 for 365 yards and one passing touchdown that's that's a pretty solid but I mean offensively you put up a goose egg in the first quarter seven in the second quarter ten in the third and three in the fourth and then you scored a touchdown and overtime so hey again a win is a win overtime not overtime like it they got the dub you're all right you are right but if that is the matchup uh it's not a it's not an easy game for Miami by any stretch of the imagination. Well I don't think it's an easy game for either program which will make it exciting and hopefully we're able to see that uh come late into this you mean you don't want to watch a title game like Texas Tech blowing out BYU last year? Oh I loved it I was there and it was incredible but uh I'm not as invested in the ACC as I am the Big 12 so it really makes no difference to me. Good point. So let's jump over to a team that I think has caught your eye a little bit the Louisville Cardinals. I do like Louisville I think they're the most balanced alternative team to Miami in the SMU um Isaac Brown at running back is going to give uh Jeff Braum an elite rushing centerpiece. They're deep uh at the front seven on defense uh led by Clev Lubin, TJ Capsers, uh Stan Kwan Clark and Antonio Watts but the passing game is ongoing another transition uh Lincoln Keinholz has to establish chemistry quick with new wide receivers including Trey Richardson and Lane McCoy. But the appeal is that the quarterback position may not have to carry this team right off the bat. Isaac Brown and the defense can give him time to grow into that role. I like this team um now I believe they have a championship roster in terms of conference championship. Now I don't necessarily think that this is uh a team that can make a deep playoff run if they were to make the CFP uh maybe quarterfinal maybe maybe semifinal if they get the right matchups but I think quarterfinal would be with this roster as far as they could go um but it's definitely gonna depend on how quickly Keinholz and can get chemistry with the new receiving core and whatnot and get things going in the passing game. But yeah they they have a high ceiling in this conference they could be 10-2 11 and one and and uh get to the ACC title but if the if the passing game and the offensive line are inconsistent it could be a long season yeah I think it's a lot's gonna depend on your quarterback position um I think one thing to be leery about and and really keep your eye on for Kineholz is his transition to Jeff Brahm's offensive scheme you know they run that pro style system right so it mixes like traditional snaps under center with modern shotgun snaps so whereas was um I keep blanking on his name Kineholes was that what Ohio State before I believe so and when do you ever see Ohio State go under center I mean not a lot so I mean that it may sound like small potatoes but that's a big transition that's a that's a big puzzle piece for them to have to figure out this year and and being able to mix the fluidity and and of both of those systems so that'll be a big question mark for them but I like your ceiling the floor I think seven and five is a really really really poor season but I think especially with the roster overall but that defense is that defense is going to be really good. I think seven and five it's it's a bad bad situation but I don't think you go any worse than that yeah I I agree um now this this like I said this is a team that I do like um and but it definitely depends on the quarterback this is this is this might be that team that like it truly does depend on the quarterback situation if they're successful or not I agree. Let's talk about Ob Davos Sweeney and the Clemson Tigers. All right. They are entering a season in a position that they're not accustomed to entering a season in. And that is they're not the favorite. They're not close to the favorite. And they have to prove that they still belong at the top of this conference. They also have a dangerous perimeter athletes and potential breakout running back in Gideon Davidson. But everything, this is another team where everything is going to come back to the quarterback. They still don't have a starter solidified. Christopher Vizina and Tate Reynolds are competing to lead that offense with a brand new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris, and three new offensive line starters are have to settle into the system as well. Now, if they get quality quarterback play, the roster is good enough to win this conference. But if Clemson only gets average quarterback play and average offensive line play, this literally looks like it could be a repeat of last year. Clemson really scares me and concerns me more so, not scares, but concerns me for a lot of reasons. They haven't finished inside the AP top 10 since 2020. So you got to think that that's going to increase the urgency for that return to elite national contention. But look, Clemson's not got an easy start to the schedule. They have a season opener on the road against LSU. And so that's that's not a great start to that season. And they're looking for their first season opening win since 2022. Like that's why I say there's a lot of pressure on Dabo Sweeney to figure it out and get on board with the modern approach to building these teams. And I don't know, man. They I see I see another I see another dud of a season for Clemson. And then I'm gonna say at the end of this season, if it is a dud, you're gonna see Dabo Sweeney looking for a new job. You think they'll fire him, or do you think they'll just ask him to move on? I think they'll fire him. Wow. I really do. So you think that this is definitely it's a it's like a Mike Norvell situation. It's a now or never for I mean, yeah, I do. I don't think there's any reason. Uh I mean, again, you haven't finished in the top eight top ten on the AP polls in this year, if you in six years. In five years, six years if you don't do it this year. I don't think you're gonna have a lot more patience in Clemson as the boosters, the AD at Clemson. I don't think there's a lot of leash left to give. There's no reason why we're not talking about Clemson and Miami in the ACC championship game more seriously. We talk about it as like, oh, what if everything goes right? There's no reason why that's not an actual legitimate conversation. And it's not if it's not a legitimate conversation right now at all. So I don't know, man. I think they do have a tough schedule. They really do. I mean, at LSU, that's rough. Rough opener. Um, especially being that's not a neutral side game. Um they gotta play Miami on October 3rd. They do have Virginia Tech at home. Again, another one of those Charleston Southern. What are we doing here in mid-October with Charleston Southern? What are we doing? At Florida State, I don't, I mean, now the back half of their schedule, I think, is pretty favorable to them if they get quality quarterback play. I mean, their hardest games, in my opinion, on the back half are gonna be Virginia Tech, uh Georgia Tech, and maybe South Carolina. I know we touched on them last week. Like that they're a wild card in the SEC as to whether they're gonna be like really good or mid, as the kids say.

SPEAKER_02 49:17

Um but they get them all at home.

SPEAKER_01 49:23

So but you do gotta go and play Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham. I don't think that's gonna be an easy game. Oh no, because Duke Duke's gonna be one of those, like I mean, shoot, they made the they made the title game last year. Um I think in the first five games of the season, if you go three and five, three and two and you drop them to LSU and you drop it to Miami, I still think that's a pretty good start. Um yeah. But if you somehow come out and you drop one to UNC or you drop one to California, I don't see either of those happening. Well, I don't either, but I don't, you know, I didn't think Bitcoin would ever trade it, however much it is either. But that's true. That is true. I do think I do think LSU game, man, if you come out and somehow, which again, as we talked in the previous episode, there's a whole new whole new roster there. Yeah, and so if you're gonna pick one up, pick that one up early, steal that one away from because I don't think you got a chance to steal one away from Miami. Um, but boy, that'd be a lot of momentum. That'd be some good momentum starting the season with a win over LSU on the road. But you gotta also think LSU's, man, they're gonna be so hype for the opening game. Yeah, that that play, especially it being a night game, that place is gonna be nuts. Yep, it's gonna be rocking. Yeah. I'm gonna say Clemson's ceiling here is probably 10 and 2 and possibly an appearance in the title game, but I mean, if they can't get that offense figured out uh again, that seven and five in a bowl game, and they're having serious conversations going forward. I'm gonna go a little lower on the ceiling and say what you say, 10 and 2. Yes, I'm gonna say 9-3. I think you I think you're gonna lose to Clemson. I think you're gonna lose to LSU, probably. Clemson's gonna lose. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 51:39

Yeah, you're gonna apologize.

SPEAKER_01 51:42

You're gonna lose to Duke, you're gonna lose to Miami, and I think you're probably gonna lose to LSU. Um, hell, you may even lose to Georgia Tech. Or, hey, I'm gonna ride high on James Franklin. You may lose to Virginia Tech. But I'm gonna say I'm gonna know. So are you saying that when we when we get our dynasty, our CSN dynasty going on college football 27 that you will be rocking with James Franklin and the Hokies? I can neither confirm nor deny, but I'm gonna lean more towards denying. But I just I'm excited to see what takes place at Virginia Tech. All right. Let's let's move on. Uh, another team that I personally like, uh, to be one of the more consistent could possibly sneak in if things go right. Georgia Tech. Um they were 8-0 before just collapsing last 2025 championship game hoax. Uh their challenge now is proving that the first eight games of last season were the real Georgia Tech and not the final five. Uh now, Justice Haynes and Malachi Hosley give the Yellow Jackets one of the league's best backfields. Uh, and Brent Key's program should remain physical and capable of controlling uh games on the ground. But the transition is considerable. Haynes King is no longer there at quarterback uh to you know be the meathead that he was and just run people over. Um both the offensive and defensive coordinators have changed, and Alberto Mendoza coming over from Indiana, uh, brother of Heisman winner uh Fernando Mendoza, we should we should mention, uh, is expected to bring balance to that offense. Uh their linebacker Kyle Efford becomes really important as the leader of the defense that struggled to finish those games consistently. Uh but I I like this team. Uh looking at their schedule, I mean, they do avoid SMU and Miami both. Um now their first two games are gonna be interesting. They get them at home, Colorado on September 3rd, which I believe is a Thursday or Friday night game. Uh but I I like them in that one. Uh I'm as you guys know, I I'm not particularly high on Colorado. They are a wild card, but I'm not overly high on them. Uh Tennessee. I I don't know if Georgia Tech can win that one, even though they've got them at home.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

But they get Duke at home, they get Louisville at home.

SPEAKER_01 54:52

Man, looking at Georgia Tech's schedule, what do you what do you think? I I like their ceiling at 10 and 2 and sneaking into the ACC title game. But I they could have a really rough floor. They could. I I don't know what I think. I think well, one I I did read some buzz that there's possibly DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, do you get the play on that? DeAndre Hopkins is gonna join the coaching staff as an assistant, so that that would be something to keep an eye on for your receiving core development. I don't know that that's gonna have an immediate effect, but uh, but looking at the schedule, let me take and take a look here. Uh, I think you're gonna wipe the floor with Colorado because that's just the Deion Sanders show. Uh Tennessee got a lot of question marks there. I like a win there for Georgia Tech. Okay. Oh, you like the upset over Twitter? I like the upset. Dude, I it's we talked last week. Tennessee is just searching for a lost identity, and Josh Heipel has got to get it figured out. They're gonna beat the hell out of Mercer. Again, what are we doing? I get it's the third game of the season, but come on. Um starting conference play with Stanford. I like I like Georgia Tech. I think the Duke and Georgia Tech game ought to be pretty good. That's intriguing. Pretty good game. I really I think I'm gonna give the edge to Duke. So that puts Georgia Tech at one loss. I'm probably gonna go Georgia Tech over Virginia Tech. Oh, really? Mr. James Franklin himself. I know, I know, I know. Um, I hate to see Georgia Tech playing Georgia. I do hate to see that. But they always, I mean, that's an annual one. I know. I just I hate to see it. Yeah, that's gonna be a rough one. For the yellow jackets. As previously discussed, we we really like Georgia on this podcast. Uh that roster. I think Louisville's probably gonna steal one in Atlanta. So what is that, a nine and three? That's I believe so. That's what that's what you're saying. I think they could I think they could go 10 and 2. I do. I think they could they could beat, I think they could get Louisville. Uh hell they might even beat Duke. They really might, because that's a home game. I mean, so I will say that that Tennessee game for Georgia Tech is very intriguing because if they win that game, I think you're gonna see pretty early on how good Georgia Tech really is. And it's another home game, and so that's why I like Georgia Tech over Tennessee. Their road schedule is really not that treacherous. Yeah, they've got to go play Clemson. They gotta go to Pitt, though, and Pitt is only that uh surprise, gotcha, squad, you know. And it'll probably be cold. Probably be cold in Pitt, I'm sure, on October 31st. So I I still stick with the 9-3. 10-2 is definitely possible. Uh floor, if if you have a low floor, though, looking at that schedule. They they could they could go 10-2 and surprise a lot of people, but boy, they could definitely lose a bunch of those games. Six and six, maybe, yeah. Yeah. Um, they do have a championship level running game, but uh I guess their biggest question on offense is going to be whether uh Alberto Mendoza can make defenses respect a passing game of any kind for this team. What are your thoughts on Alberto? I mean, you're coming off the heels of a Heisman trophy and national championship winning brother. That's you've got to play with. Well, Martin Smart played with last year. America's quarterback last year. Everybody loved him. You've got to think there's a little bit of an identity struggle for him to go out and make his own story and make his own hype around himself, or do you think he's always gonna play a little bit in the shadow of Fernando? Well, in terms of like media personalities like like us and the national people on ESPN and on three, of course, everything he does is gonna be compared to Fernando Mendoza. Like, because I mean, that's his brother, what Fernando did last year, winning a national title in Indiana and winning a Heisman, going undefeated at a program that has been significantly terrible for most of his history. I mean, how how do you not compare him when you're a media personality? But I I do think that that Georgia Tech gives him a good place to settle in and really make something his own and go from there. Like I'm excited to see what he does. Do you think that was his driving factor in leaving Indiana was to not live in Fernando's shadow and be able to create his own story, basically? Maybe a little bit, but I also think that Indiana is just I don't necessarily know that Alberto was totally ready to take over at a team that is immediately going back into the national championship conversation. Uh I think that Indiana was always gonna go to the portal and get another quarterback to try to get them back to that national title game. So I don't necessarily think that it was a lot of living in Fernando's shadow at Indiana that caused him to transfer. I think it was uh I could stay here and continue to be a backup at a championship level program, or I can go somewhere and play. Well, and that is true. But like you touched on, it's it's gonna be really neat to to see what he can what he can do. Now, because I I I've got to ask this question because I I haven't watched a Georgia Tech football game in a long time. Do they still run that unbelievably horrendous offensive formation where they're do you remember that long way back when it seemed like they were running the triple option? I mean, they took a play right out of the Army and Navy's playbook. Um they kind of run a similar type of offense, it's very run-heavy, very option heavy, but they're doing it a lot out of the shotgun, and it does make it a little bit intriguing. Um it's not like a true old school triple option, I would say, but it is a very run-heavy offense. So would you would you think that uh Alberto Fernandez, or I'm sorry, Alberto Mendoza would fit into that scheme, or would you need a quarterback that's a little more agile on his feet? Because I think we can all agree Fernando wasn't the speediest of QBs in the backfield. So I'm assuming his brother's probably the same. Well, to be honest, I've never seen the kid play, so I don't know how he's gonna be in a system where it's gonna require him to run the football a lot. Um, but I do think that Georgia Tech brought him in because they are such a run-heavy team that they need somebody that can make them respect this team's ability to throw the football, and they haven't had that. Like, even with Haynes King, like they just they didn't have that. Like everybody knew that Haynes King was gonna run the football, and he wasn't a great passer, so I think that that's a lot of the reason that he's there is he's gonna make teams respect the pass. So I wonder if a lot of these uh plays and these formations are also designed as like RPO style, where he has the ability to to pitch it, hand it off, but he can also pull it and throw if he needs to. So in that instance, yes, his arm and passing ability would be a really great asset for the Yellow Jackets. So yeah, I'm excited now. Now that now that we've talked about him, I'm gonna have to tune into some Georgia Tech games and for sure keep an eye on things. Agreed. Let's move on to the team that likes to play spoiler in this conference. I like this team. Pitt might have found its next star quarterback before most of the country even realized it this year. Uh Mason Heinstal. Heinstell? Heinstahl? Heintschell? I don't know. Sorry, I'm butchering that. Uh changed Pitt's 2025 season after taking over as a true freshman. He's very mobile, he's got uh good playmaking ability, and he's got the potential for a big sophomore jump. Um they can give that can give Pitt a legitimate chance to sneak in to that ACC title game. Um they've got three returning starters on the offensive line, and once again, Pat Narduzzi is probably gonna feel the physical defense as per usually. Uh the receiving corb is a major unknown, and linebacker production is gonna have to be replaced. Um but Pitt doesn't need uh Hank Shell to become the best quarterback in the country, but it does need him to be one of the best quarterbacks in this league. Um, looking over at their schedule, it looks very favorable at home. They've got a very favorable home schedule. Yeah, I no backyard brawl this year. I don't see a loss until October second. Maybe That's Virginia Tech. How about James Franklin? But even then again, I think that's a huge question mark. I'm probably going to lean more towards the Panthers in that game. And you're you're even on the road there. But I mean, your home stand, your first three games are at home. Sorry, your first four games are at home. Against Miami, Ohio. Shout out to Maction. A little Maction action. UCF, which again, they get at home. I think Scott Frost, like, as we touched on a little bit in the in the Big 12 preseason deal, uh, I think he's the right fit, but I don't think it's going to be a drastic change in year one. So I like Pitt against UCF. I do like him against Syracuse as well. And then Buck Buck, what are we doing? I know. What are we suing? Whoever makes the schedules. Like, we don't, we're at a point in football, we don't have time or room for these give me games. It almost makes me want to say that I wish every team that scheduled one of those just got their teeth kicked in by said she. It's an embarrassment. And I get it. You you pay the teams money to come play them, but like, dude, let's let's come on. What are we doing? No, I I get I get that. But at Virginia Tech and then home against North Carolina at Boston College. I mean, they very well could be You could be 7-0. Yeah, 7-0 going to Miami. Now, I don't think you win that game. Sorry. No, but I don't either. And then I'm sorry. Your next biggest game, in my opinion, is Georgia Tech at home. Yeah. And then you got, but I mean, you do have that road game at Louisville. That's a yeah, that's a concern. I don't I don't necessarily think Cal is going to be one of those great teams. I mean, they could sneak one on you if you're not careful, I guess, but uh Cal, I don't know much about other than they have a new coach. Um so I think there's a realistic chance if you can I think it goes right, yeah, 10 and 2, and maybe and sneaking into that title game is still a possibility for this team. And I know we've said that about all of the teams so far, but this is the nature of this conference. Anyone can can sneak in there. Could they be 11 and 1? Could you top Georgia Tech and Louisville? Again, I'm sorry, Pitt. I'm gonna chalk you up as a loss against Miami. They do like to be spoilers, so maybe something happens there. Maybe Miami has a really off day. I doubt it. But I don't think 11-1 is out of the possibility. I mean, you've got to play. It's really not out of the possibility, but yeah, you've got to play consistent and you've got to play really well to do it. Uh, I'm gonna say 10 and 2. Um 10 and 2, 9 and 3. My biggest questions are I obviously we've chalked Miami up to a loss. Um, my biggest questions are that Georgia Tech game and at Louisville for Pitt. Which makes it hard to give them a floor because I don't see a world where even like a I don't even know where you could come up with a seven and five floor or an eight and four floor would be. I mean, I think your ceiling and floor kind of need to be around the same area to be honest. But that like, but that that also depends on how quickly or if but that's a big if the receiving targets just don't pan out. Well, because you still got to score points. They're gonna have a good defense, but you still got to score points. Yeah, you got to get across the goal line for sure. But you've got a really, really favorable and let's be honest, easy first four games. Right. Uh so you get that figured out and you get some momentum going into Virginia Tech, and you win that game, and you just keep building that momentum. Your toughest games are on the back half of your schedule. I like I'm a big fan of momentum and I'm a believer in it. So I don't know. We'll see. I think 10 and 2 is pretty realistic, and I'm gonna say 11-1 is very possible. Very possible. Let's jump over to N. Yeah, I agree. But our last verdict before we jump over, our last verdict on Pitt is Pitt is gonna be the team that make all of these preseason predictions look foolish. Yep. Which is why we're standing on 11 and one. All right, moving on. Go ahead with NC State. NC State Wolfpack. The NC State Wolfpack is rarely the most glamorous team in the NC, or I'm sorry, in the ACC, but it is almost always one of the most dependable. CJ Bailey gives the Wolpack proven quarterback production, while many conference opponents are beginning new eras at the position. The Wolfpack has won at least eight games in five of the last six seasons and enters with a manageable path into the title race. Uh the concern for me is around Bailey. It's everything is around Bailey, right? So only two offensive line starters return. Uh the top five receivers for the Wolfpack, they're gone. And on the defense, you're only returning two starters. So you're gonna have a lot of fresh faces out there that need to prove themselves. So some pretty big concerns, in my opinion. Um, I think this is either going to be a quarterback-led sleeper or a roster that quite frankly has lost too much. Um, there's really not a lot of middle ground, in my opinion, there. I'm kind of agreeing with you. I'm looking over their schedule. Now they do avoid um Miami and SMU. Uh, they also avoid Clemson, which is wild because that's a pretty big rivalry game in that conference. Um but they start the season with a conference game on the road at Virginia, who won 11 games last year. Um they are they gotta replace a lot on the defense. Um yeah, I like Virginia in that one. I I mean you're gonna have to, you're you're basically relying on your quarterback to carry you through this entire season, and I I don't know, man. I man, this is one of those teams that just I think they're gonna be a middle of the road, a middle of the road team because you're asking, like, yes, he's proven production, but you're asking him to do a lot. And they've lost he's lost all of his receivers, he's lost three of his five starting offensive line, and their defense only has two returning starters. That is a lot to put on the shoulders of one guy. Yeah, I don't I think this is definitely going to be what I would consider consider a grinder season for the Wolfpack. I think you grind it out, you try to get better one game at a time, get a little better here and there, and look to build into the upcoming seasons. But yeah, I think you've got you've got too much on CJ Bailey. Um, and I just don't think it's gonna bode. I think their ceiling probably is eight and four, nine and three. I mean, I mean, look at the thing. They've got an okay schedule, so like it's they do get their harder games at home. They get Duke at home, they get Louisville at home. Um, they don't have to play uh James Franklin. Uh they they avoid they avoid Miami and SMU as previously mentioned. They they don't have Clemson. I mean, they don't have Pitt. They're gonna rack up some ways. Yeah. I I I don't know. Like they're definitely gonna win some games. I I like them at 9-3, 8-4. Um maybe, maybe 10-2, and that would be an absolute just surprise. Uh but they could also have a pretty low uh low floor if this team fails to develop. Yeah, I think 10 and 2 is a quite a bit of evidence. That's that's that's a stretch. But it's like but I only say that looking at their looking at their schedule, it's favorable to them if that defense especially grows up quickly. Agreed. I I I'm gonna lean more eight and four, best case scenario nine and three. Uh if if your supporting pass fails to develop in any way, six and six, maybe, probably. But again, looking at the schedule, I mean, you you look at it and you're like, uh, I I think you can win more than six games. But yeah. Generally, just because I think the bottom half of this conference, like, no offense to the ACC, because I mean, Big 12's in the same bolt, the bottom of this conference is just bad. Yeah, they're just they're not they're just not strong, is what it comes down to. And looking at the majority of NC State's schedule, a lot of the conference games that this team drew are just the bottom of this conference, and those and teams that are just, in my opinion, bad. Well, I'm gonna give my verdict. Have you given your verdict? I I have. I'm gonna say nine and three is their ceiling floor six and six. So I I I like that. I think Bailey gives them a chance, but in order to have that chance, he's gonna have to be one of the conference, conference's best players. Like week in and week out, he's gonna have to play spotless football. There's no room for mistakes in order to give them even the slightest chance to reach Charlotte. Like, it's gonna have to be flawless football. Yeah, I I agree. Um, but here we go. Virginia, the Cavaliers. Now, they were one of the best stories in college football last season. They won a school record of 11 games and made the ACC championship game, in which they ended up falling to Duke. Um now, Tony Elliott's team is still going to be a physical one. Uh, the Cavaliers are returning the inexperienced offensive line, and they possess a deep running back room, and they'll be able to support the transfer quarterback Bo Prebula. However, only eight starters are returning. They're replacing Chandler Morris, uh, its leading receiver, its leading running back, and important defenders at every position. Uh, linebacker Cam Robinson is gonna be the face of that defense and perhaps the program as a whole this season. Um let's I'm looking, let's look at their schedule here. I think they're gonna be sitting pretty good the first six games. Game seven is when you run into your first, in my opinion, your biggest test in SMU. Your first, and then you follow that up with Duke. Um you do avoid Miami. Yeah, you do avoid Georgia Tech. You avoid Clemson and Clemson and Pitt and Pitt. So I think worst. I think their ceiling is the I mean, uh realistically, if things pan out the way they did last year, 12-0 could be your ceiling. Do I think that's realistic? Probably not. I think more maybe 11-1, 10, and 2. I think make you're probably gonna have your hands full with SMU, the Duke game following the SMU game. I think a lot of they do get that at home, and that's a re that's a chance for revenge. I actually like Virginia in that game. I think if you yeah, I like I like Virginia too. An early game that I think that they'll that they'll lose at, and it's just because I'm high on this team. Shout out Rich Rodd. I like uh West Virginia to top them on the 19th of September. I am gonna respectfully disagree. I don't think West Virginia has what it takes yet to beat Virginia. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm probably wrong. Who knows? It's all predictions, but yeah, I like I like the Cavs against the Mountaineers. And like let's let's let's be honest with each other. Like it's very, very hard to predict these things preseason, especially now with all of the transfers, all of the coaching changes that are happening so rapidly. I mean, I believe it was Rhett Lashley himself, SMU's coach, that said at ACC Media Gaze, like, why are we even doing like preseason predictions and polls and whatnot? Like, I get why we do it in the media because it's stuff for us to have content for. But like, I do agree with him in the aspect of like, why are we making preseason polls that actually affect like how the poll looks going into the playoff seating poll, you know? Yeah, it does it doesn't make a lot of sense. You don't know who these teams are until now because they're all so different every year. So uh, but that's uh that's definitely a a segment that we could dive into later, but back to Virginia. Um I don't think you drop against West Virginia. West Virginia was four and eight last year, they're on a two-game losing streak. Give me the Cavs. Okay. All right. Um Virginia. I'm gonna say they could be they could make another title appearance in Charlotte uh with a 10-2 schedule. I don't see them being any better. Uh, because I mean I think they lose to SMU, especially that one being on the road. And that Duke game is questionable for sure. Um, I like them in that game that they have it at home. But I I still like West Virginia. We we can fight over that one. Hell hell, maybe we'll have a we'll have a live uh a live stream of watch party, throw some money down. There you go. Well, listen, Virginia proved they can win. They're a winning, they're their their program can win. Uh now this season, in my opinion, you gotta prove that it's sustainable. Yeah, it's not a one-off. So yeah, not much else to say about Virginia. Uh, I'm excited to see them. They're definitely intriguing. Uh I love their logo. I love their logo. I think it's clean, I think it's really neat. And they're good at basketball. Oh, god. Yes. We don't want to talk about that. We don't want to talk about that. Bringing up PTSD right now. No, I know. I was there with you in that restaurant. It's just awful. Anyway, moving on. Willie, take it away. This is your team. All right, James Franklin. No program in the ACC made a louder move than Virginia Tech this offseason. James Franklin arrives after a pretty abysmal three and nine season with major institutional investment and an aggressive transfer class. Ethan Grunkemeyer takes over a quarterback joined by former Penn State tight end Luke Reynolds and running back Marcellus Hawkins. The upside is considerable, but both lines remain unproven. And the staff must blend a large group of newcomers quickly. This is not in it's not being treated like a slow rebuild. Uh, Virginia Tech hired Franklin to make hokies, the hokies, nationally relevant again. Uh I think they need to tread lightly a little bit. Like, yes, they can become nationally relevant, but I don't think it's going to be immediate. So you're saying that they shouldn't go ahead and change their name from the Virginia Tech Hokies to the Virginia Tech James Franklins? I think they should hold off. I definitely think they should hold off. Um looking at their schedule, it's that's tough. You don't schedule you don't avoid pit. You do not avoid Georgia Tech, you don't avoid Clemson. Like all of the major contenders, Virginia Tech, you gotta play them. Like you have to play Pitt, Georgia Tech, Clemson, SMU, Miami, and Virginia. Yeah. It's gonna be a great, a great opportunity for James Franklin to prove he can win some big games and some big situations. This is going to be a favorable uh schedule for that. Uh you think that that's favorable with those teams I just listed off? No, I'm not I'm not saying favorable in terms of wins. It's favorable for James Franklin to prove that he can win some big games in big mode. Okay. Okay, I agree. I'm not saying he's gonna win them all or even maybe any of them. I'm just simply saying the stage is set for him to prove all the doubters and haters wrong. Like I can win games in big situations, and I think this schedule is favorable for that. Well, uh looking at their schedule, I do think they'll be 4-0 going into Pitt on October 2nd. Or sorry, they get pit at home, excuse me, going into the pit game. Uh I mean, who knows? But we both like Pitt. Uh yeah, I'd still go with Pitt. I think I did when we talked about Pitt. I've got my I would put money on Pitt there. Uh at Cal, I think they'd win that one. Georgia Tech, they do get at home, so depends on how good Virginia Tech turns out to be. And I mean, I think by that point in the season, we'll definitely know how good this team is. But I mean, looking at the back half of that schedule, man, that that's brutal. That's tough. It's tough. And I wish some of those games were sprinkled in a little earlier in the season, just you know, so you weren't riding a wave of success early on to be potentially just smashed. I mean, your la three out of your four last games are against top teams in this conference. Absolutely. And and even four out of your last five, if hell, six out of your last six, eight, well, six out of your last eight. Yeah. Depending on how Clemson shows up, is not easy. So you know five out of your last six are just title contending game teams like at least in terms of preseason looks. Virginia Tech's got their hands full um in the latter half. Pretty much after September 26th, you're gonna be you better have things that's rough. You're gonna have games. In my opinion, Virginia Tech might have drawn just the worst schedule. Probably, in my opinion, the schedule in the conference for a quick rebuild that they're trying to uh to accomplish here. They are intriguing. Out of your last eight games, you realistically have two games in which you may get you know a little bit of sigh of relief, and that's at Cal and home against Stanford. Against Stanford. And the other ones, the other six, you you better play. You better bring it, and you better play well, or they're gonna mop the floor with you, possibly. Possibly. Again, Clemson question mark. But Virginia question mark, as we just discussed. Uh but Miami S abuse man, a ceiling for them. I'm gonna say eight and four is this team's absolute ceiling. Yeah, I I like that. I really do. Ten and two is not realistic. Nine and three is probably not realistic. Their floor, though. I don't think that, like, and as big of a question, Marcus Clemson is, I don't think they get that win on the road there uh over Virginia Tech. So I think eight and four is this team's absolute ceiling. Well, in my opinion, Virginia Tech is this conference's most fascinating team because it seems like almost any outcome between six and ten wins is like it's believable. So it makes it worse than actually disagree with with ten wins being believable with that schedule. Well, I mean, hey, never doubt. I mean, a blind squirrel does find a nut. We we know they got a great transfer class coming in, so but they gotta blend that group quick, man. And that's a that's a tough, tough schedule. Oh, it is. It it absolutely is, but it's still not out of the realm of possibilities, and that's what makes it fascinating is it's it's it's believable. Is it obtainable? That's another question, but it is believable, and that's what, in my opinion, it makes them kind of like a fascinating team for this conference this year. Fair enough. Well, I'm gonna be honest with you guys. Uh our next team is Cal, and outside of them getting a new coach with Tosh Lupoy, I know nothing about this team. I don't either. Just bluntly honest, we got some notes here. Um Jron Kiway Sagapul Tele. I don't I don't know how you say that, forgive me, uh, is the reason for optimism at the quarterback position. Uh, he's got armed talent to become a top quarterback in this league, and he's surrounded by a rebuilt group uh featuring Adam Mohammed, Ian Strong, Chase Hendricks, and Dorian Thomas, but they have to improve the offensive line play and a defense that allowed an average of 31 points a game in conference play last year. Um that's gonna have to have immediate results. Um not much for me on this team. Um I'm not high on them. I don't, I think their ceiling is maybe 6-6 in a bowl game, maybe. Well, easy now. Don't sleep on them. They did they did top SMU last year and Louisville. So they can't be terrible. No, I mean it may be a little bit higher than than their history suggests, but they got a they got a young quarterback, which, yes, very talented, but man. They've got a tough schedule this year. Yeah, I I don't know, man. UCLA right off the bat, uh, which, you know, they were terrible last year, so that that's a toss-up. Uh at Syracuse, like again, that's another team that I'm just I'm not very high on. They could win that one. Wagner again. What are we doing? When you figure it out, you let me know. Listeners, if you've got any opinions or please email us, let us know. Something we're missing. Yeah, like what why are we doing this? Like, oh Clips you and L. I'd rather see him schedule or schedule a scrimmage between the blue and the gold team, the starters and the backups, than watch them play Wagner. Come on. Yeah, yeah, that's just I I don't know, man. They gotta go on the road to SMU at Virginia at NC State. And round the season out with Pitt at home. Yeah. I like Pitt in that one. I mean, they got a road game non-conference, of course, at UNLV, and I think that that UNLV is gonna be one of the better G5 teams this year. Maybe, maybe it may be the team from the G5 that sneaks in to the playoff from that group. We'll have a little, we'll have a G5 deep dive for you upcoming on the campus report uh at a later date. But yeah, I'm sorry. I'm I'm not high on Cal. I'm gonna say their their ceiling is six and six, floor five and seven. Like their ceiling and their floor for me are similar. Six and six, five and seven, and yeah, that's about all I got on Cal. Yeah, I'm pretty um pretty unversed on the Cal Bears, which I guess let's move to somebody we do know a little bit more about. How about we talk about the old Duke Blue Devils? All right. Now, they did win this conference last year, uh, but everything about this team has changed. Uh Darien Minsa transferred out late, and that forced uh Manny Diaz into an unexpected quarterback reset. Uh Walker Eggett and freshman Dan Mahan are their primary options right now. Uh running back, their running back Nate Shepard, who rushed for over 1,100 yards last year, is going to become their offensive centerpiece. Uh tight end Jeremiah uh Hasley provides another dependable option for them. Um but defensively, they only return three starters. Um can they can Manny Diaz's uh program culture absorb another major turnover in terms of the transfer portal and just graduates again touching back on what you said earlier how do you make predictions? You know, you I mean there's so many transfers, there's so many changes, there's you just don't know. And their schedule, I mean, I don't necessarily think it's terribly easy, but it's also I mean, it's not easy. No. Tulane at home. I mean, that's not an easy game. You look at Tulane, like that's that's not an easy game. They're another top team in the G5. Yeah, Tulane's always consistently good. Illinois on the road at Illinois. Now that's a that's a that's a game I think you can win. I I'm not big on Illinois, but I'll get into that in our near 10 deep dive. Your first four games, with the exception of Tulane, probably should win. Then you're on the road at Georgia Tech, followed by Rivalry Game, which it's North Carolina, another team that like spoiler alert, Tar Heels fans. Uh, you're in another position just like Kentucky. Lace them up, get ready for the hardwood. You guys suck. You guys suck. Um not big on you for football. Uh, I think your your football program is going to be more interested in Bill Belichick and his 20-year-old girlfriend than what's actually going on in the field. So I think uh they'll win that one. At Virginia, I mean, tough road game. Boston College is another one of those bottom teams that I'm not big on. Uh can get a win there. At NC State, definitely, as we discussed, that's a big question mark. They might be the biggest question mark uh of the season for this conference. Uh, but at Miami and Clemson, that's tough. Uh they get Clemson at home. Then you get you finish the season at Wake Forest, which is another team I just I don't think is any good. But uh I mean I I like nine and three for a ceiling. I I I think, yeah, nine and three, eight and four as a ceiling for me. I don't think that they can beat Miami. Um I genuinely think that they could lose this game this opening game to Tulane. Like I've I've got that one circled. I do, and that's and that's solely because it's the first game and you've had to completely rebuild your defense outside of three players, and you have a quarterback situation that you're not a hundred percent on.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:22

So that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:25

They are well coached, but uh if they're gonna somehow repeat as the ACC champion, then they're gonna have to reload fast. And it's gonna have to be one of the best ones that we've seen in this NIL transfer portal era. Yeah. Maybe eight and I'm I'll say nine and three, eight and four.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:47

That's my ceiling for them. Floor.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:56

A losing record? Five and seven, six and six, maybe an even record? Yeah, I mean, I I don't I don't think they'll have a losing record, maybe. I I think six and six is still this team's floor just because I I think that Matty Diaz is just that good of a coach. Um but but yeah, this is uh I I think they'll finish in the top half of this conference, but I I don't necessarily think that they'll be repeating as ACC champions. We'll see how things come together there in Durham. No, not that's not in Durham. Yeah, that's the Durham. Raleigh is interstate. Chapel Hill is North Carolina. Anyway, moving on. Wake Forest Demon Deacons, huh? And another team. I mean, I'm not high on them. They won nine games last year, but I mean, they were one of those kind of like TCU where you like look back on them and you're like, shit, they won nine games. Well, I can tell you this off the rip, their opening schedule uh is or their first half of their schedule is not favorable. You got Akron to start off, then you go to Purdue. Which Purdue's terrible, so they can win that one. Then you have Miami and Louisville back to back. And Louisville. And then, you know, you kind of get a little bit of a break, which I guess in Wait Forest is standards. Maybe they're not uh a break per se, but you got Stanford at home on the road at NC State, on the road at Cal, then Virginia comes into town, and then, oh my god, Merrimack comes to town in November. You know what? I'm gonna say this, uh, Demon Deacon fans. I hope you get the break speed off you by Merrimack, and then I hope the following weekend against SMU, your teeth get smashed in just because you played Merrimack on November 1st. In November. What are we doing? Dude, I don't know. Holy Lord. I don't get it. Oh my goodness. And then after, I mean, your last three games as a demon deacon are not easy. No, at SNU at Georgia Tech and Duke. I mean Duke at home. Good luck. I don't see them winning nine games this year. No, no. They might be as a team that nobody wants to play because they're just gonna play hard and they're gonna fight hard. But I just I do not think that they're winning nine games. Well, I mean, they were supposed to be rebuilding last year, but instead, Jake Dickert's first team won nine games and a bowl. So they have eight defensive starters returning. They've got one of the league's most experienced units. The defense, in theory, should remain disciplined and difficult to play against. I mean, their quarterback Gio Lopez reunites with coordinator Rob Izell, but the offense, they've got to replace the four offensive line starters that they lost. Um and all of its receiving production. Yeah, I mean, they're they've got some work to do this year for sure, and probably years to come. This this might be their actual rebuild season. It may be. Maybe last year was that one-off peak season and I I think ceiling is eight and four. Eight and four, seven and five. I'm just I'm not I'm not high on this team. I'm sorry, Demon Deacons fans. I don't see I don't see the last three games of the season being a win. I don't see you getting a win in the column on those three. I don't see you winning either your two games at the end of September either. Miami and at Louisville. Yeah, it's gonna be that is I like that. That's a rough schedule, though. I like it because it's balanced. You don't, I mean, you're heavy in the at the end of the season, but you've also got some testing games in the start of the season, and it seems like a trend we've seen with all these teams previous is easy, easy, easy the first six games, heavy on the last. And so I like to see a little bit of balance. I like to see right some some easier and tougher games sprinkled in there. Uh, so I guess Wait Force, you get some brownie points from me on that. Your schedule seems to be the most balanced. You get some difficult games throughout the entire thing. So good on you for that. But minus 15 points for scheduling Merrimack in November. Yeah, but then but you know what? They may need that because that may be the last win of the season. And maybe that's why they did that. Uh maybe, maybe so. Maybe so. Anyway, that's enough about Lake Forest. We we yeah, I I got nothing else on them. Let's go to Saracoose, the orange. Another basketball school. Syracuse's 2025 season changed when Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Um, so its 2026 season is going to depend a lot on what he looks like returning from said injury. Um now, a healthy Angeli gives Coach Fran Brown a proven offensive leader. Malachi Nelson and Amari Odom provide experienced quarterback insurance should things not go great. Um, but they have substantial concerns. Um, they allowed 38 sacks last year. Uh and a unit that gave up 38 sacks returns only two starters. Yeah, that's gonna be an uphill battle. Um and a defense that surrendered six and a half yards per play um defensively. That's that's tough. I mean, this is a uh man. I I'm I I don't know a lot about Syracuse. I'm gonna go out on a limb here though and say that they're probably gonna be at the bottom of this conference this year. They're ceiling, looking at their schedule, maybe seven and five, maybe eight and four if they get one in there. Maybe they got Notre Dame on the schedule. You've got Pitt, you've got Virginia, Louisville, SMU, Clemson, Notre Dame. Good luck. NC State, yeah. I'm not coming up with even eight and four would be I don't know. New Hampshire. They can sneak a win there. This has got to be one of the few ACC teams that have uh as wide of a gap between their floor and their ceiling. I mean, their floor is probably like three and nine. If that. I mean I mean they could lose to Cal. I mean, goodness gracious, Boston College, that's another one just a toss-up of who's worse, in my opinion. And UConn. Yeah, yeah. Well yeah. Well, I mean, by all by all definitions, they should beat Yukon. Yukon is absolutely terrible. I'm gonna say this with all due respect to these programs that we kind of bash on, but it seems like the farther northeast you get, the less and less good football you are. And basketball seems to take precedence, and that's completely fine. We'll when we get to the basketball season and we do our basketball, we will glaze you. Oh, yeah, we'll glaze you all day long because you deserve it. But right now in football, yeah. That's that's dude, Syracuse. Good luck, guys. Yeah, moving, moving on. Yeah, good luck, Orns. All right, and the big question Florida State. Now they're gonna enter the season, and this season, as we previously discussed in the opening of this podcast, uh, this season is gonna determine the direction that this whole program goes in. Um Mike Norvell is 7-17 over the last two years. Their schedule this year um includes Alabama, Florida, Miami, Clemson, SMU, Louisville, and Pitt. They have no margin for error here. Um now their skill group has legitimate explosiveness with Deuce Robinson, uh Makai Danzi, and a deep running back room. Ashton Daniels arrives to try to stabilize that quarterback position, but the offensive line and transitioning defensive groups are major concerns. Uh Florida State doesn't necessarily have to win this conference, but it's gotta it's gotta look like they're moving in a positive direction for Mike Norvell to keep his job. And genuinely, I think that uh looking at Florida State's schedule here, um there's a very real chance that Mike Norvell doesn't make it to November as the head coach of this program. Well, I yeah, I think you know, if you look at some transfers they've got, they've got the talent for a rebuild, but I don't know that they have the timeline. Mike Norvell doesn't have the timeline for a rebuild. Uh I think he's got you know just a bad draw. Uh and this being the the year that you know that all eyes are on him. Yeah, and they're gonna cash in on him and say, you know what, it didn't work out, and I mean we're gonna move on. I mean, you've got to play SMU the second week of your season. And then you Gotta go play in Tuscaloosa. Yeah. In mid-September. Now you should, by all intents and purposes, beat New Mexico State in Central Arkansas, because if you don't, then good God you might not have a job after week one. You're not making it out of September. Yeah, yeah. Um, but Virginia, then you go on the road in back-to-back weeks to Louisville and to Miami. Uh, you get a bye week, but and but then you got to play Clemson coming off a bye week at Boston College, which you should win, but you got to go on the road to Pitt, and then you have NC State and then Florida, the rivalry game to round out the year. Now, like, I'm not unbelievably high on Florida, but I think I mean roster-wise, Florida's still better than you if you're Florida State. Uh man, this is just rough draw, rough draw for the the Knowles and Mike Norvell. Um, the good thing for them, though, is like you mentioned previously with the with the Wake Forest schedule, there's some balance in there between when they're facing their hardest games. Two of them are early, two of them are in the middle, and two of them are at the end. So, you know, there is some of that balance there, but I would venture to disagree. I think you've got the month of October. Mike Norvell may not have a job uh come October 31st at 11th. When they play towards it. Yeah, he he might not. Like that's a and that is a legitimate concern in Tallahassee. It really is. Um, because I'll I'll I'll be blunt. I don't think you'll beat SMU. I don't think you'll beat Alabama on the road. Nope. Uh I don't think you beat Virginia. I don't think you beat Virginia, and I definitely don't think you beat Miami or Louisville on the road. Like, you might you might beat Clemson. You might. Yeah. I think you'll beat Boston College just because I think you'll have you have more talent overall. But I don't see you beating Pitt. I don't see you beating Florida. Like NC State is a maybe because you get them at home, but like I don't think you'll beat Florida either. I mean, this is just kind of a rough. I think that this is a I think this is a brutal, I think this is gonna be a brutal, a brutal schedule for Florida State. And I think Mike Norvell gets fired before the end of the season. That's that's my take. Can we go as far as saying the ceiling is four and eight? I won't say that that's their ceiling because the talent that they have, they could definitely win one of these games that we've predicted that they won't. But um, I mean, genuinely and call me crazy, but if they go in and they lose and and they get absolutely demolished by SMU in the second week of the season, like you're just praying to get to the end if you're a fan of Tallahassee. But I don't know, big changes. Like we've touched on, like, it's very hard to predict who these teams are now with all of the with all of the changes uh that that constantly are going on. But I mean, I just genuinely don't think that Mike Norvell's a good coach. I think that that season that they went undefeated and still missed the playoff was a lot because the ACC overall that year was just not good at all. And they were able to luck out and just having more talent than everybody else. I don't I but I don't I don't think Mike Norvell is that good of a coach. And I I'm I'm in the camp that Florida State needs to move on. Yeah, I think I think we're gonna see um I do think we're gonna see some change in Tallahassee this year. I think that's almost inevitable at this point. I I think I I think he would even be shocked if he made it through the season as their head coach. Well, I mean the and they have the talent to rebound, they they really do. Um, I mean, but Florida State's always one of those teams that has talent because people want to go play there. Sure. But like that that's where it falls down to. Like, you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have the right coach, you're not gonna win very many games. And I don't think that Mike Norvell is the right coach. Uh probably not. Seven and seventeen is not indicative of a good fit. No, it's not, especially in a conference that's considered one of the weaker ones of the Power Four. Because there is because this conference, honest to God, might have the most drastic gap between its top tier and its bottom tier teams. But with that being said, I mean, speaking of teams that have a coach that doesn't fit in, North Carolina. Yeah, well, he's there for publicity, as we've already previously touched on. Which makes it hard to give any points because it's he was trying to revamp his image after realizing that without Tom Brady, he was useless as an NFL coach. Uh, but I mean, goodness gracious, four and eight for year one, opening the season with everybody being so hyped up and MJ in the building, and all those studs that played for you at New England, and then you go out and let TCU beat you at home by almost 40. I mean it wasn't a great look. It was not.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:08

And didn't make a major offensive challenge.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:10

I mean, they do get TCU again to open the season, but they get them in Ireland, if I'm not mistaken. That is in Dublin. That is 100% in Dublin. I their schedule's tough. I mean, Clemson at Clemson. Uh you get Notre Dame coming to your house. That's gonna be just an absolute. Notre Dame is one of those teams that I think is just one of the best. It's one of the better teams this season. Definitely should compete for a national title with their roster. And they're gonna make the playoff because I mean they don't schedule anybody but high school programs. So Well, when you're not in a conference, you can do that. Yeah, yeah. I think in the I mean, Shad, if you if you were if you were Notre Dame, why would you schedule somebody hard? Like when you're in their position, hey, if you're ranked in the top 12 at the end of the season, you're guaranteed a spot in the playoff. Like, why would you not schedule 12 high school teams and go 12-0 every year and make the playoff? I think in the entirety of North Carolina's schedule, they're they've got a chance to win one, two, three games. That being against Yukon, Syracuse, and East Tennessee State. And okay, and let me let me say, and possibly North Carolina State. So you may look to repeat another four and eight season. Yeah, I'm not again, we're we're not high on this team. Lace them up, boys. Get ready for get ready for hoops. I think if you're the powers that be in uh at North Carolina, if you repeat four and eight, you've got to be able to do that. You gotta move on. Yeah, you've got to pull the plug. Yeah, just I'm not a I'm not a fan of this team at all. No. We'll move on then, because I don't have much more. I don't got much there, and then another team that there there's just there's not a lot to talk about. Boston College. I mean, Bill O'Brien has taken play calling back over. I mean, they went two and ten last year.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:21

I mean, not a new either.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:27

Not an easy schedule. They're using they're bringing in Mason McKenzie from a D2 school to be their starting quarterback. Uh they got to replace four starters on the offensive line, and their defense was really bad against speed and explosive plays last year. And like, I mean, I'm not I'm not high on this, on this team. They could they could definitely um they could definitely repeat as a two-10 program. Uh I mean you got to start on the road at Cincinnati now. Like, I don't think Cincinnati's like overly good, but I just I think Boston College is just really bad. I I see two wins almost guaranteed Rutgers in Maine. I don't know if you'll beat Rutgers. Rutgers has built up a lot of talent over the past couple years, and they've won some games that they shouldn't. I would not look at Rutters and say that that's an easy win. God almighty, do you go 1 and 11 with a win against Maine being your only victory? I mean, you could. That's a very real possibility. And I mean, you might you might beat Florida State at home just because they may not have a coach and their whole team might be just at a loss at that point. But uh yeah, uh another one of those, like God help you guys. But even if they didn't have a coach, I think Florida State's talent far surpasses what Boston College can produce. So I think even then Florida State's gonna win. But I mean I I don't like this team. Uh they got a brutal conference schedule. Like I just I don't understand what this team can do for Bill O'Brien and the Eagles to say that they've even restored some semblance of credibility. Yeah. But you know, we're getting to the bottom of the of the conference, and like our next is Stanford, and they're in the same boat. Yeah, another one of those just they haven't had a winning season since 2018. Brand new coach. Only four. I mean, they do have four offensive line starting starters returning at Stanford, so that's that's pretty good. Um but you know what I think Stanford's biggest, one of the biggest obstacles for Stanford is, and it's to no fault of their own. Think about the distance they have to travel to get to these games. They're going across the country. That plays a significant role in well, I mean, your your time change for one uh is drastic. What, three hours? And so four and some four if you're four for a lot of these because you're going all the way to the eastern seaboard. Yeah, and so or three hours, excuse me. Three hours. You're right, three hours. But that's significant, man, and I don't know. I think on the flip side of that coin, like the teams that have to go play there have to deal with the same stuff. Yeah, I mean it is it's a two-way street for sure. Um I don't know. I think really the biggest metric for Stanford at this point is look respectable. Yeah, I mean you you can't really the the progress can't really be measured more so by your conference standing. But it's gotta be I think you've got to stay consistent and just just compete. Like do not go out here and get blown out every single game. Yeah, find find a sustainable identity and and build off of it. Because your schedule's not favorable, you've got a tough schedule. Yeah. So that that's gonna wrap up the individual team coverages for us. We'll we'll get through this last bit here. We're running a little over two hours now on the ACC. Um, so we've covered all the 17 teams. Now let's make some some decisions here. Um ACC championship game picks. Um I like Miami SMU. That's gonna be my my favorite to make the title game. Um, but the dark horse selection, I'm gonna say, is Miami versus Pitt. What about you? I I concur with Miami versus SMU is obviously the favorite. Um I'm gonna uh I'm gonna kick it a little old school and go Miami vs. Clemson if SMU shits the bed. Um, but that's given that the traditional the the old Clemson we knew comes back to the table. I'd like to see Miami and Clemson um fair enough. But uh just picking the conference champion. Um my ACC champion is Miami. I I think that they have a better coach, they have a better roster, uh, and they're coming off of a national title experience title appearance. Um they're gonna be hungry to get back to that, to back to that point. And uh I just I really like the hurricanes this season to to sweep this league. Yeah, I'm gonna concur with every point there. I don't there's nothing to take away or add to that. I think every point there is spot on. Um now we have some offensive player of the year candidates. Kevin Jennings, quarterback at SMU, Darien Minsa, quarterback at Miami, CJ Bailey at NC State, uh Isaac Brown, the running back at Louisville, Mason Heinzstell, uh quarterback at Pitt, and the new quarterback, Jaren Kaway, Sega Polotui. I'm sorry, so sorry, man. California. Um my offensive player of the year, I'm gonna go ahead and say, is going to be Kevin Jennings at SMU. I'm gonna go with Darien Minsa at Miami. All right. Defensive player of the year candidates, Sammy Brown at Clemson, Will Helt at Clemson, Cam Robinson at Virginia, and Kyle Efford at Georgia Tech. Uh for me, it's pretty easy. Sammy Brown, Clemson. Mm-hmm. I concur. Uh, some breakout players, uh, Gideon Davidson Clemson, Malachi Tony at Miami, Mason Heinzdale Pitt, and J-Ron, uh, the quarterback at California. I'm sorry, I'm not going to butcher your last name again, man. I'm like, and Ethan Grunkenmeyer at Virginia Tech. Um another one that's pretty easy for me. Uh, Malachi Tony at Miami. Yeah, I agree there, but I also like Mason Heinzstill. Uh, most likely surprise team, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Pal, Virginia Tech, or NC State. I'm going Pitt. Same. I know I talked very highly about James Franklin, but just after our discussion about Pitt, I really like Pitt this year. Um, yeah, I'm going Pitt. Uh, all right. Uh, and then Clemson, um most likely to disappoint. Sorry. Clemson if the quarterback play remains unsettled, Florida State because of their schedule, Virginia because of roster turnover, Duke after losing Darien Minsa at quarterback or Miami relative to national championship expectations. That's tough. I'm gonna say the most likely to most likely disappointment here is gonna be Florida State because that schedule is brutal for them. I I I like that point, but I'm gonna say I think we're already disappointed in them. So yeah, I like that, but I'm also gonna go with Clemson. But Clemson was your pick. Clemson was your pick to go to the title. Yeah, I know, but I mean But they're also you're most likely to disappoint. All right. Yeah, yeah. But that's why if you play both sides of the fence, see you can you can either be excited when they play well and they make it to the title, or you can be like, yeah, well, I figured you were gonna disappoint. I figured you could do this. Um, anyway. Now the coach coaches facing the most pressure in this league. Dabo Sweeney at Clemson, Bill Belichick at North Carolina, Bill O'Brien at Boston College, and obviously Mike Norvell at Florida State. For me, the coach facing the most pressure this season is by far and away Mike Norvell, and it's not even close. Yeah, I agree. I don't I don't think Dabo Sweeney's far off, but Mike Norvell's got the that hot that seat is on fire right now. Yeah. I mean, it's not even hot. Yeah, it's uh yeah, that's that's scorching. Anyway, uh the ACC, as we discussed, enters 2026 with a clear favorite in Miami, but not a very predictable season. No, Miami has the roster and the expectations of a national championship contender. As we talked, SMU has already proven it can win consistently in the ACC. However, Louisville may have the balance to challenge both of those teams, and Clemson, as always, has the defensive talent to force its way back into the conversation. And behind those teams, Pitt, Georgia Tech, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech all have some realistic paths to becoming major factors. Uh, Florida State and North Carolina both face defining seasons, and Duke attempts to defend his championship after one of the most consequential quarterback transfers of the entire offseason. The ACC may ultimately be decided by the quarterbacks. They established the established veterans and high-profile transfers and the young players being asked to take over immediately. Now we want to hear from you guys uh who wins the ACC? Which team is being overlooked by maybe ourselves and the rest of college football, and which program is headed for its biggest disappointment. Yep. Y'all go follow Campus Sports Network across social medias, subscribe to the Campus Report, and share this episode with the college football fan who is already preparing arguments for the season. For Keaton and everyone at Campus Sports Network, I'm Pat. And if it's on campus, it's on CSN. We'll see you in the next edition of the Campus Report.