Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome to this Week in the Atlantic Coast Conference,
the podcast for All Sportsdiscussion dot com. This is Jeff
and you can follow me on x at Talking a
c C Sports. That's at t A L K I
N A c C S P O r T S.
The podcast moderator. The podcast moderator is Matthew and you
can follow him at All Sports d.
Speaker 2: A c C.
Speaker 1: That's at A L L S P O R T
S D A c C. Matthew, it looks like everyone
here is good to speak. I'm going to turn it
over to you now.
Speaker 2: So welcome back to this Week in the A c C.
Speaker 3: This is the podcast of All Sports Discussion dot com.
I'm the longest running independent ACC podcast in the United States,
and I'm sitting here in Ocean City, Maryland. Randomly reached
out to our friend Dan Carrow when I was on
the beach, and it was kind of awesome to be
able to ask somebody to join our podcast in the
evening while I was sitting on the beach. So that
was kind of kind of a cool point for us
here right. Our return guest tonight, Dan Carrow, the owner
and operator of Treadmill.
Speaker 2: Horse dot com.
Speaker 3: You can also follow Dan on Twitter at at treadmill Horse.
That's at t R E A d M I L
L h O R s E. Welcome back Dan the
Flora's years. Tell us about yourself. We get all kinds
of new listeners here all the time. We're getting seemed
to be getting a few more people from Cal and
from Louisville lately. But Louisville keep the Louisville listeners, keep drawing,
keep keep adding. It downloads here to our podcast. But
the the calgarithm certainly loves our podcast.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and see a broduct CAL Like, I really think
they've been a great addition to the conference. Like there
are a lot of fun on Twitter. I've had good
back and forth with them. I even when I went
out for the Stanford game. I even had some good
interactions with some Cal fans out on the West Coast.
So they're definitely a fun fan base to add to
the ACC. So just a little bit about myself. I
run treadmill Horse on Twitter. I've also got treadmillhorse dot com,
which is my blog where I talk about mostly Virginia
Tech football. I do weekly previews of each game, I
do mid season reviews, I do preseason predictions. It's just
a good way to get out all my thoughts on
the Hokies. And on top of that, on the Twitter
account and on Instagram, I also do weekly ACC Power rankings,
So if any of your ACC listeners want to check
those out, they can see from my Virginia Tech perspective
where I see everyone's stacking up each week in the ACC.
So yeah, give me a follow on Twitter and Instagram
and check out my stuff.
Speaker 3: Definitely, definitely, definitely. You've also been You've been a guest
on this show multiple occasions. You've also been a guest
host on this show. You've been part of panels. You've
just been a huge supporter of the All Sports Discussion
ACC podcast and the blog in general, Dan, and so
we really appreciate that. So let's get right into it, man.
Let's look at week eleven and the ACC. Which ACC
football team was the most disappointing team in Week eleven
and which ACC team was the most impressive team. So,
and I'll be fair here, I'm probably looking for I mean,
it would be.
Speaker 2: Easy as easy for us. What do they say, the
low hanging fruit?
Speaker 3: Sure, it would be easy to say Florida State socks
every week and they do right, but because they just
got ransacked by Notre Dame. But certainly go out of
the box here with us. See you can certainly mention
Florida State, but also go out of the box.
Speaker 4: Well. I think Florida State locked up most disappointing team
of the year a long time ago, so I think
we can move on for Florida State. So for me,
the most disappointing team of the week was Pitt. That
Pitt had a really good opportunity to make a jump
this week with Miami losing in their race to get
to Charlotte. Unfortunately, they took a loss at home to Uba.
I just think I was disappointing just because they had
an opportunity to move up in the standings. They had
an opportunity to be in position to be in position
to go to Charlotte, and I think it's that's one
that they should have had. So from my perspective, like
they're the most disappointing. Obviously, as a Virginia Tech fan,
I was disappointed and Virginia Tech's lost to Clemson. I
thought they had a good opportunity there to get their
season back on track and maybe and strong, but they
couldn't take advantage of that either. So I'd say, if
we're talking about disappointing teams, I would have both to those.
But for me, Pitt Pitt's the most disappointing because that
had a good opportunity to get to Charlotte, and I
think that that kind of went by the wayside.
Speaker 3: Who's your most impressive ACC football team of the week.
Speaker 4: It's gotta be Georgia Tech. I mean, so many teams
have gotten close against Miami this year and none of
them have been able to close the deal. Georgia Tech
played well the whole game, long, took took a lead
into the fourth quarter, and then they were able to
close the deal in the fourth quarter, which no other
team this year has been able to do. So that's
that's impressive. I was happy to see the Georgia Tech
fans get a big win, be able to storm the field,
be able to make make away with those goalposts. That's
always fun to see. So like good for Georgia Tech.
I think that was a that was a huge win.
Really impressive for Brent Key and there guys to take
care of business like that, and like I could feel,
I felt like it had been coming for a few
weeks now with Miami, but someone finally finally took care
of business there, and it's it felt like that what
I'd been coming for a while. But Jordia Tech was
a team to knock them all.
Speaker 2: Great statements. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 3: I mean, it felt it kind of felt like Miami
was living on the edge for a while, perhaps getting
a fortunate call here and there from referees. I mean,
then I'll be fair here, right, nobody. You know, when
you get when you get to if you get to
the college football playoff or you get to the championship
or whatever, you are a beneficiary of luck in some
sorts of in some instances here and there, and if
in Miami was rolling seven's on a lot of lucky
getting a lot of lucky, lucky.
Speaker 2: Things happening their way.
Speaker 3: But you're absolutely right, Georgia Tech did do what they
had to do. I know, I know Jeff wants to
say a few words about this as a fan and
a love but I'm gonna turn it over him for
in a second. But I mentioned to Jeff at least
a couple times during the game that this is the
exact tempo that Georgia Tech wants. They don't want to
be raising up and down the field with Miami. They
want to be in a ball control sort of situation
where they have a chance to own the time and
time and time of position and that sort of thing.
And they were doing what they had to do with
not with their starting quarterback, with their starting quarterback out, Jeff,
I know you want to talk, man, tell you it's
your turn here, buddy. I know you want to say
a few words of our Georgia Tech before we go
to the next.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know, I got I got to put
a couple comments from that game. Yeah, what you said, Matthew.
You know, early on in that game was spot on
about Georgia Tech trying to you know, shorten the game,
reduce the possessions. I thought that the only way Georgia
Tech could really pull off that upset was to have
a healthy Haines King, who I thought healthy healthy Haines
King with that offense, their ability to run the ball
could maybe win in a shootout. And that wasn't a
knock at all on the improvement that the Georgia Tech
defense has shown this year. I just didn't think that
there was any I don't know if there's any defense
that I felt like in the country that could really
slow cam Ward and that offense. But they executed their
defensive game plan to perfection. Defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci, you
know when that game was over, and you guys will
remember this game. Finally, in the last fifteen years, when
I think of like defensive coaching masterpieces, I always compare
them to what Bud Foster and Virginia Tech did when
they went to Ohio State and shut down you know,
that Buckeye team that was gonna went on to win
the national championship, you know everything. When I think of
that kind of of coaching, I think of that, and
I felt like Georgia Tech was in that ballpark in
a game, you know, as game planned as well and
his coached as well as as they really they could
possibly do, and then they had to be that way
to knock off Miami. Then you go to the offensive
side of the ball and Haines King was he was limited.
He's still suffering with a shoulder injury. He can't throw
the ball down field. He did not attempt one vertical pass,
you know, over ten yards. He physically could not do
that and Buster Faukner offensive coordinator, and bet Cree. You know,
they devised a system to have King basically be your
primarily your primary running quarterback, and then shuffled in Aaron
and I hope I don't mess up his name, Aaron Fafilo,
freshman quarterback to come in on passing downs. And you know,
this was a severely under under maned Georgia Tech team.
Multiple injuries, you know, all across, you know, both sides
of the ball. Jamal Haynes are starting running back, you know,
hurt early in the game, was out for the rest
of the game, and you know, it was just one
of those days. And I'm glad Dan that you didn't
just put Miami out there as a disappointing team, because
I don't think they you know, they didn't play their
best game and then you definitely they were out coached
by Georgia Tech. But I mean it took really like
a near perfect effort for Georgia Tech to win that game.
You still, cam Warden has the ball with a minute
and a half left, You think he's gonna do it again,
and you know Georgia Tech gets the fumble. I don't
think Miami is done by any stretch. This This does
not appear like, oh, the frauds were explode exposed as
much as like, yeah, they've been playing with fire for weeks.
But that's still a team that can get to the
ACC title game and reach the playoffs. But from a
Georgia Tech fan standpoint, I mean, just just a thrilling
victory and great to see the fans rush rush the
field to see, you know, a team come together that
you know it was just injury riddled and pulled off
an upset like that. So that was great from my side.
Speaker 4: So so job, I've got some great box score knowledge
to share with you from this game, which makes this
even crazier. So cam Ward threw for three hundred and
forty eight yards and three touchdowns. Between Aaron Filo and
Hans King combined, they threw for less than one hundred yards.
They threw for ninety nine yards, and they still came
away with the win. So that I think that just
speaks to what an amazing defensive performance Georgia Tech had
this week. It was just crazy. So like like, hats
off zim those great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and just you look at Brent Key and in
the hiring of Tyler Santucci's just been a fantastic hire
on the defensive side of the ball. You know, the
defenses outperformed what many expected all during the course of
the season, and you know, for the first time probably
sends it the John to nowda days at Georgia Tech.
You feel like the defense is really in a solid
position going forward. But now Georgia Tech gets to enjoy
a bye week, which is probably the best way to enjoy.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, they really get to enjoy that that game
before their Thursday night game and in a couple of
weeks with with NC State and we want to get
into you know what's upcoming next week? Dan here in
the ACC, Which ACC football games are you looking forward
to the most? In week twelve? Yeah? I can't believe
that we're already in week twelve.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Every every week when I'm doing my like my
predictions and my weekly rankings, it's I look at what
week it is, and like I see the like the
week eleven just passed. It's just crazy to me we're
coming up on the end of the season, which is
it just flew by? Yeah, But for me, that Clemson
pit game, I think that's that's the biggest one on
the ACC slate this week basically because it's like the
loser I think plays their way out of an opportunity
to go to Charlotte. Uh, the winner stays in the race.
So I think that's the one, from like an ACC standpoint,
that has the just like it's the big, the highest
stakes this week. I think that's the one that if
you're a fan of the ACC and you're a student,
to see who's gonna go to Charlotte, I think that's
the one you got to be looking at.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's definitely when I have my eye on as well.
And I'm really wondering about about Pittsburgh, like you talked about, Dan,
I mean, huge opportunity this past weekend in a primetime
game and just you know, face planted there against Virginia.
You know, if they don't beat Clemson on Saturday, that'll
be three losses in a row for them and just
you know, have a season drailed and Clemson for their part,
I mean, it's definitely a long shot to reach the playoffs,
you know, get into the ACC title game, but I
think there's a little bit of a path there. It's
a narrow one, very very narrow but you win at Pittsburgh,
you come back and you knock off the Citadel. You're
twenty third in the poll right now. You know, maybe
this week maybe you move up to twenty twenty one.
Beat Pittsburgh, now a couple more spots, Citadel, maybe a
couple more. You're maybe around fifteen or so, and you're
playing South Carolina in the final game of the season.
Who I'm feeling pretty confident is going to be you know,
ranked at that time. You know, you get a top
twenty SEC opponent. You never know with upsets going on
out there, the way they value SEC wins out there,
I don't think they're quite dead. It's on live support,
but I don't think they're quite dead yet. Got to
keep playing and see what happens. I'm also curious to see,
you know, with all the carnage that happened this past weekend,
how SMU response. They're leading the ACC now amazing story
about rhet Lashly and and that SMU team, and they
get a pretty decent Boston College team going down there
and to uh, you know, to SMU, you know, how's
how are the Mustang's gonna respond? Are they going to
kind of take you know, seize control of this ACC
and and really you know, position themselves to get to Charlotte,
maybe make a playoff game. I mean, they're probably a
little bit underrated at thirteen, but they control their own destiny.
So that's a game I'm definitely looking forward to as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think at this point you got to consider
SMU and Miami the leaders in the clubhouse to go
to Charlotte. But it's really at this point, like can
SMU keep it going, can Miami keep it going? And
like can they do like they control their destiny now,
like can they continue to control their destiny and keep
winning out and make it there? I think they'd be
the odds on favorite, But I think, like I said before,
Clemson and Pitt definitely aren't dead yet. So like I
think if they can keep winning, and I like what
you said, Jeff, if I think if Clemson can win now,
they would definitely have consideration for an at large bid
to the College Football Playoffs, So I think that's something
they need to be playing for as well.
Speaker 1: Very good there, Dan, You know which ACC team do
you think could be on upset alert in Week twelve
if they're caught lurking ahead? To a game on their
schedule or otherwise just sleep walking on the field.
Speaker 4: So looking again out that Pitt Clemson game. Clemson's favored
by ten, but I also think Pitt has something to
prove after last week, especially with that game being at
home for Pitt. And also, like from what I've seen
from Clemson and I understand, they got a win over
Virginia Tech this week, and it's it's not exactly easy
to get a win in Blacksburg. I mean, I wouldn't
say it's hard either, but like that was that was
an impressive win. But I would say that I don't
think Clemson is the Clemson of old. The Clemson of
old would have got into this game at Pitt and
just taken care of business. I don't think that they're
that team, and I think they got to look out.
Like I understand, at this point, they're double digit favorites,
but I think Pitt could easily come out and win
that game.
Speaker 1: All right, let's step out of the ACC for a
bid here, Dan, which national FBS game are you looking
forward to to most in week twelve? And we're wide
open with this question. This can be a power forward,
non power four G five game. You can even have
an FCS matchup and then give us a winner of
that game or two that you're eyeing nationally.
Speaker 4: So I'm looking at that Tennessee Georgia game. I think
that's going to be a great game. I think that's
going to be a really exciting one. One thing that
I'm looking for to there is that I think that
a lot of people are not paying a lot of
attention to Tennessee, even though Tennessee's ranked into the top ten.
I think Tennessee could easily go to Georgia and win
that game. I don't think that they're getting the credit
that they deserve. And I think that this is a
really good opportunity for Tennessee to show that they can
beat a team like Georgia. That's the first thing, but
then secondly that that really puts them in the driver's
seat to be in good position to win the SEC
but then also to get a high ranking in the
College football playoffs. So definitely one that I'll be tuning
in for this weekend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that game, Dan, because
you know, if Tennessee knocks off Georgia, that's gonna be
Georgia's third loss. And you know, we'll see if this
becomes an open mic for me in about three weeks
or not. But if Tennessee beats Georgia, as far as
I'm concerned, they're out of the playoffs. I'm sorry. You
can't convince me that that Georgia team that looked horrible
against a really bad Florida team got stuffed in a
locker by Ole Miss and then loses to Tennessee here
in the month of November. And I'm not taking away
anything from you know, winning at Texas or you know,
the beatdown they put on Clemson earlier in the year.
But you know, the job is to identify the twelve
best football teams at the time of the playoffs, you know.
And it's just it's just a fact that games towards
the end of the season are gonna, you know, weight
heavier than at the beginning of the year, especially if
you start losing game. I'm not even sure that the
win at Tennessee or win at Texas is a very
strong win. Don't get me wrong, But I don't. I don't,
I don't if I'm remembering right, Texas doesn't have you know,
a top twenty five win on their entire schedule at
the moment. And you know, we know about Clemson. They
don't have a top twenty five win either, and right
now they're not one of the two best teams in
the ACC. So I think those two wins you could
arguably diminish them a little bit. Now, if Georgia beats Tennessee,
I have no problem if they're worked into the playoffs,
but you throw a third loss up there with the
way that they have played during the month of November,
and I don't see how any reasonable college football observer
can put them into the playoffs. So if they get
in with three losses, you can expect a massive rant
from me on that day.
Speaker 4: I also think that there's I don't know if it's
a thought with SEC fans or as college football fans
in general, but I think teams get a lot of
credit when they beat teams that have been there before,
like teams that have won the national title like Georgia,
teams that have won the national title like Alabama. I
think you've got a little bit more credit when you
when you're able to get a win against those kind
of teams, And I think beating a team like Georgia
would go a long way to building Tennessee's case and
credibility for getting a high ranking in the CFP. So
just something I'm watching out for this week because if
they get that win, I think they're in a really
good position.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm definitely I'm definitely good with with the
position Tennessee would be in because it's still going to
be a tall task to go into. I think the
games in Athens. To win that game, Tennessee would just have,
you know, one one loss to Arkansas. You know they
have the win over Alabama as well, so you know,
if Tennessee goes into Athens, I think they're in a
great position. So Dan, our next two segments, we've kind
of set them up a little bit differently than we
have in past years. I want to turn it over
to you. We're gonna have two open mic segments, but
this next one is going to be strictly for you
and anything that you're thinking, what do you have for
us that's on your mind. You can go Virginia Tech,
you can go National, you can go the atrocious officiating
that's spread across the entire country to every conference. It's
you know, I think it's as bad as we've ever
seen turning over games on literally turning over games on calls.
You know, I know that you all had that happen
to you all. But what happened down at you know,
at Utah B. Why you a game looked effectively over
controversial holding call? Depending on who you ask, it's been happening,
you know, throwing stuff on the field, getting calls over return.
It's just been bananas. Anywhere you want to go. That
might be my rant maybe.
Speaker 2: But anywhere you want it sounded like you already did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, Sorry, I kind of I kind of
went off there on my own. No, this is your time, Dan,
go ahead.
Speaker 4: I'll just double down on that one. Just and honestly,
every time I come on this podcast, I don't want
to talk about acc officials. I want to move on
to other topics, but I think I have to bring
it up again, and I'll just paint a picture like
this is something that I saw yesterday that just boggled
my mind. So I'm watching the end of that Pituva game,
fourth and one. Laid in the game, pick Pit picks
it up on like a QB sneak fourth and one.
They got the first down, but then the officials afterward
blow the whistle and say that play didn't count. They're
going to do a review because one of the officials
was not in position right. I watch a lot of football.
I've watched college football for years. I've never seen that
happen before. I'm sure it does happen, but I've never
seen it happen in like a late game, critical situation.
And all it does is make me think of how
bad the officiating is in this conference. And in my mind,
it's as bad as it's ever been, Like I've never
seen it this bad, And honestly, it looks like I'm
watching high school refs week to week. So I don't
know what it's gonna take. Like if I had to
give the ACC a recommendation, I would say, you need
somebody at the head office that's just a judging officials
week to week. Give them a weekly report card any
mistakes that they make, send it to them like and
hopefully over time that they would improve. But like at
this point, I just feel like there's no accountability, Like
the refs can just continue to be bad week in
and week out. Ress can't spot the ball, like rest
take a long time doing reviews the review don't end
up being like the right call either way, just they
just say call on the field stands Like, I just
think that there is no accountability to get good officiating
in this conference. And I also watch other games across
the country. I watch SEC games, I watch Big twelve games,
Big ten games. I feel like they have better officiating
than we have. So I don't know what it's going
to take for the ACC to get better officials of
week to week than what we currently have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we could definitely go on about the officiating that
goes on really bizarre play that that Pitt Virginia finished there,
and I mean I had, you know, no dog in
the fight as a as a rooting fan, and objectively,
I think Pitt got hosed on that that call because
I've never seen officiating ruling like that that they weren't set.
I know, I was on Twitter and a couple Virginia's
fans said, oh, they were just off sides. Well, I mean,
if they were off sides, you call off sides. If
you're not set, you blow the whistle. You don't let
the play run. I mean they ran that play to completion,
and I mean it's just a tough way for for
Pitt to lose. I'm not taking anyway from from Virginia
in the overall scheme of that win, because they came
in ready to play. Pitt was completely listless through the
entirety of that game. And you know Pitt out, I
mean Virginia. I thought I felt like it was more
physical outplay them. I played with more effort, but still
very controversial and unfortunate way for that game to end.
All Right, Matthew, I'm gonna turn it over to you
for our final segment.
Speaker 3: Definitely, definitely, Dan, I'm gonna use my open mic to
ask you a question and this this may lead to
your open mic. I have written quite a bit about
Virginia Tech this year, and more than I have in
prior years on priy, I should say, and part of
it is I don't think people knew no really, and
you can probably verify this after I'm done talking. But
I believe, if I'm not mistaken, prize contract goes through
the end of twenty twenty seven. SANS contract also goes
through the end of twenty twenty seven. Here we're talking
about the end of the academic years, and I believe
it's twenty twenty nine for with Babcock. So those are
probably some really important, really important milestone's coming up for
the Board of Visitors to consider and what the really
what the future direction of the college is. I mean,
Louisville was in this same situation a few years back
when they hired a when they hired a new provost
and then a new president and a new AD and
they had a lot of key positions that were open
at the time, and they had football and men's basketball
open at the time.
Speaker 2: We're just good right now. Virginia Tech's just in the position.
Speaker 3: Of having to to deal deal with you know'll potentially
deal with the football coach, but an A and an AD.
So it'll be interesting because I think there's probably not
there's probably not many Virginia Tech fans that want to
see whip Babcock have another have a third shot shot
at hiring a football coach, and so you know, there's
a lot. Like I said, the short of it is
that there's a lot of decisions that are coming up
for the Board of Visitors. So that's I want to
get your take on that. That's the first thing. The
second thing is probably more immediate, like right after the
Vandy game. I wrote a post and Jeff Jeff will
attest to this. I said, boy, I think Virginia Tech's
ceiling is at seven and five. I wrote that on
August thirty. First, I could very well be correct. I
don't necessary really think that Virginia Tech will be favored
when it goes down to Duke.
Speaker 2: I could be wrong.
Speaker 3: You'll also have more on that. I'd like your take
on that too, But is that it is seven? Is
seven and five the ceiling for Virginia Tech. I know
I've got a lot of questions out there. I gave
a lot of commentary. I guess I'll consider that my
open mic for tonight. I want to get your take.
Speaker 4: I mean, if I'm being honest, I would expect seven
and five. Like I think that they can get wins
in the next two games. At a minimum, I think
they'll be Bowl eligible to win one of the next two.
But if I'm being just completely, like intellectually honest about
where I stand, like I think that they're going to
go seven and five, I think that's that's realistic. So
I think you'll end up being right. Matthew. When you
wrote that tweet back in August after the Vandy game,
I was like, I felt like you were overreacting to
one game because I really felt like there was a
lot of time for Tech to turn it around after
that game ended up being well, I think you you
will end up being exactly right, which in respect it
feels a little bit crazy to me. But but in
terms of Priye and with Babcock, I don't think anyone
either of them are going anywhere after this season. I
think there's gonna be some pressure on pri to make
coaching changes, like at the coordinator level, or like at
the like at the assistant coach level, like at at
position groups. I can see the those kind of changes
being made, but I really don't see Priye losing his job.
The only time, the only way that that even becomes
a possibility is if they lose the next two and
they finish five and seven and don't make a bowl game.
I could see that question maybe coming up, or like
other than that, I don't think it's going to happen.
And I really think it's like before another coach gets
hired here, there's gonna be a change in athletic director,
and at this point, I don't know when that would happen.
I don't think it's going to happen this offseason. So
I think it would take another bad football season, another
season where we don't see improvement, for something like that
to happen. But I think both of them are safe
through the rest of this football season, and I'd imagine
both of them will still be around going into the
twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3: Do you think Sands will be I mean, do you
think Sands contract's going to be renewed. I'm really curious
about that, only because here's why I say that. I mean, like,
on a lot of fronts, he's done a heck of
a job.
Speaker 2: They've increased and I wrote about this.
Speaker 3: I wrote about this in fact, that they've increased research dollars,
I mean research dollars. They've just gone through the roof
under Sands A. They've got that new center in northern
Virginia and Alexandria. It's probably going to be a major
partner with the intelligence community and the national defense community,
you know. And it's one of those things Dan that
I think could actually potentially put Virginia Tech into the
spot of getting an AAU sort of invite.
Speaker 2: And I know that that's kind of what.
Speaker 3: Sands is shooting for, and if he were to get that,
he probably would change his stock overnight. But you know,
he's done, He's done a lot of good, good things
on that front. Plus you see, you know, multiple programs
that are in the national national rankings and a Virginia
Tack's now on top twenty five public university. Right, I mean,
and this is pretty I mean, these are pretty these
are not insignificant accomplishments. Is pretty terrific. But there are
there there there, there's the football issue. So uh, I'm curious, said,
where where where? Where you where you think where you
think Tim stands with the with the with about the.
Speaker 4: So I'm not super close to the academic side, but
I can just pass along what I hear. It seems
like Sands is popular within like the academic circles at
Virginia Tech. I also think that there's he has enough
fans within the board of visitors that I don't think
anyone's asking to make a change there. And I also thinks,
as it relates to with Babcock, I think Sands likes
with Babcock, and I think they have remained on the
same page for a long time. Obviously, football is really
important Virginia Tech, and I think that's the one, the
one big major strike against with Babcock at this point.
But yeah, I mean, like sands is popularity with the
board of visitors, sans Sands standing behind his guy, and
with Babcock, I really just don't see any changes being
made anytime soon, which if you go, if you follow
that down the line, that's another reason I don't think
PRI is going anywhere either, because Sands is staying where
he's he's going to be. Wits definitely got more time
before change is made there. So I think given those
two things, I think pri is sticking around. I think
WIT's gonna ask Pry to make some changes possibly going
into next year, just because the season has definitely been
a disappointment. But other than that, I just don't see
major changes happening the sum now.
Speaker 2: For sure. I didn't expect him to be out either
after after that. I didn't expect Pride to be out
after this year. I know there were some fans that
are like, Oh, it's gonna be out, He's gonna be out. No,
he's not.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, because I meant and I mentioned I
even mentioned in that I mentioned in that post that
you know, the more likely thing is that that he'll
be required to make some changes at the at the
you know, and some of the major coordinator and position
and major major coordinator coaching positions and the and some
of the position.
Speaker 2: Coaching coaching assignment.
Speaker 3: So, I mean, I think I'm absolutely on board with
what you had to what you had to say there.
But it's like you know the timelines that you know,
the timeline's four years right basically for everybody.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's you want to make you know.
Speaker 3: And it's interesting because you want to make sure that
the president has whoever's hired as president, whether it's you know,
the next time around, whenever Sans contract comes up, whether
it's him or somebody else, he may decide he wants
to go elsewhere. Right, you know, whoever it is you
want that you want that person will want to have
a major play. And who's going to be the head
fotball coach and who's going to be the AD. I mean,
that's that's probably the only fair because you want the
president and the BOV then you know, with their endorsement,
to put their shape on the university. That's generally generally
how it goes, So those are I'm I agree with you,
and I think it's good to have somebody on here
who's reasonably level headed.
Speaker 2: So there you go, There you go. What do you
got for us? Dan? You got anything? I know?
Speaker 3: I know I've I used a significant part of this
open mic asking you questions, what do you got a
second segment that you would like to to add here?
Speaker 2: And then we'll turn it up.
Speaker 4: Sure, So my next one, and I was hoping that
Virginia Tech would come up outside of my open mic,
so thank you for asking me about that. But my
second open mic is gonna be say, I don't think
people are even are ready for how crazy the college
football playoffs is gonna be. I think when the twelve
team playoff was first announced, I immediately started thinking, this
is gonna be March madness but on grass. This is
gonna be football's version of March madness, and it's gonna
be completely insane. And I know that a lot of
people talk about they're not expecting upsets. I think it's
gonna be chucked. They say the same four teams are
gonna make the semi final that we're making it before.
I don't think that's true, Like I think that there's
gonna be upsets. I think it's gonna be crazy. I
think there's gonna be last minute wins on field goals,
like last minute scores that decide those games. I think
those games are gonna be wild, and I don't hear
enough people talking about that. I'm super excited. I think
it's gonna be crazy. And I also think just all
the movement in the top twenty five this year, like
there's no standout team, Like I know Oregon thinks that
they are, but they may not be. So I think
it's going to be really crazy this year. So I'm
excited to see what happens.
Speaker 3: Then, excellent take Jeff, You're a friend.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just wanted to. I'm kind of follow up
on what Dan says as I was thinking about what
to get into, you know, with with the playoffs. I mean,
we're already starting to talk about how, you know, one
big league or something something like, we're going to have
six SEC teams and how do you break it up
into to the two or three or four that are
getting I mean a couple of you know, there's a
scenario I think I saw where you'll have six ten
two SEC teams and you know, they're not all getting in,
and you know, who knows what the playoffs are going
to look like in a couple of years after this
group or after these next couple of years, if Greg
Sanky and Tony Petiti completely destroy it. But I think
for the next couple of years, I'm like, I'm not
really excited, you know, with this current format. I'm getting
really on board with it the more as we go.
You know, if you look at you know, we were
talking about Georgia before and they lost three games, and
you know, there's probably if that happens, If that happens,
then they lose three games, I mean, there's gonna be
somebody from you know, SEC world that's gonna you know,
complain about Georgia not getting in. But the bottom line is,
you know, every team is now having a mulligan and
an opportunity to get into the playoffs. And if you
would have just won, you wouldn't make it. There wouldn't
There's not gonna be any more stuff like what happened
with last year. You know, if SMU, you know, they
control their own destiny to get to the playoff, Miami
still controls their own you know path to the to
the playoffs despite losing to Georgia Tech uh the other
the other day. You know, if you're Clemson and you're
ten and two and you went out and you don't
make it, I mean, at the end of the day,
do you have anyone to blame but yourself? You know,
when you when you face planted at against Georgia or
when you were at home in a primetime game with
Louisville and completely got out played. I mean, that's what
I'm looking forward to, is that you know, the teams
on the on the at large edge kind of like
a bubble team. Like you can definitely, you know, get
frustrated and argue about a bubble team and the NCAA
tournament getting left out, but you cannot get away from
that if you don't probably won a couple more games
along the way that you wouldn't even have been in
that position. So it's it's still not going to be fair.
There's still going to be controversy, but it's never It's
not going to be like it was last year where
a deserving team got left out. You know, the most
deserving teams are gonna make it, and everything after that
is just you know it's gonna it might be controversial,
there might be great arguments for a team's inclusion or not,
but you're not gonna see a P four undefeated team
or even I would say one with one loss likely
to get left out. You lose a couple times during
the course of the year, and you're leaving it in
the hands of the committee. And that's what I think
is gonna be really great about the playoffs. You know,
Miami takes a loss and they can still you know,
work themselves back into the playoffs. You know, one loss
doesn't do you in, and you can you control your
way in now very much more so than at any
time in the past. And so I've really gotten on
board with the playoff format and I'm looking, like Dan said,
I'm looking forward to how the you know it plays out.
I mean, there's nothing set in stone, and who knows
what upset we could have in the final three four
weeks in the season. You know, how are the conference
championship games gonna be weighted? That's one thing I really
want to see. You know, if you make it to
the championship game and you're one of the teams on
the edge and you lose that game in a close game,
you know, are they going to drop you in favor
a team of a team that got to sit at home.
I mean, it's probably gonna happen. I hope it doesn't.
That'll be another rant. I think. I think it's pretty
I'll have a big problem with penalizing a team that
made a championship game over one that got to sit
at home. But we saw that in the fourteen playoff.
So yeah, it's going to be a great next month
of the season. And I think the playoff for the
new playoff format has really enhanced that.
Speaker 3: Definitely, definitely. I have those are very good takes, Jeff Dan.
I have one more question for you, and this time
it's about the rehoe with beach area in Delaware. Have
you tried is a Grotto pizza?
Speaker 4: I don't think I have. I mean it's possible I do,
but it's been a long time. I don't remember it,
and then the name's not sticking out to me.
Speaker 3: Okay, it seems to be something that's all around Delaware
and it seems to be getting high reviews. I will
let you know what it tastes like tomorrow. I'll take
a photo of it, I promise. That's the first thing.
The second thing, I just want to let you know
I hate college football realignment because I just read a
story about North Dakota State possibly leaving f FCS and
going to the Mountain West, and I hate that because
I always feel like that's where the bio, that's where
that's where the Bison belonged. Am I not right? Every
December I want to see the Bison. I want the
nation to see the I want the nation to see
the Bison in December and the Fargo Dome with all
these guys wearing their Bison masks and their Bison gear.
Speaker 2: Am I wrong about that?
Speaker 4: I would say no. I mean I like seeing the
Great Plains teams like really dominate FCS and like that's
kind of like their own separate college football league, which
I think is cool. But I would I would. I'd
be long if I if I said I wasn't interested
to see how they would do at the next level,
because we've seen teams like JMU make the jump and
like have pretty immediate success. Like I could see the
Bison doing the same. So I think they're gonna be
just fine.
Speaker 3: They're gonna do well on the out and West trust me.
But I but I you know what, I hate college
football realignment. I hate what it's done to this sport.
Then I'm I'm upset with NIL as well. And we
probably could have a separate podcast about that.
Speaker 2: So maybe and maybe.
Speaker 3: We will have a special segment where we talking about that. Dan,
thank you so much for joining us on short notice
from the O Shit. We really appreciate it. You have
a great weekend and you enjoy your holiday. And by
the way, thank you to all the veterans for their service.
Speaker 2: We appreciate you.
Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us this Sunday night, Dan and
spending your Sunday.
Speaker 2: Evening with us.
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: You guys have a great week
Speaker 1: Right bye everyone,