What does the best case scenario look like for ACC teams record-wise?

Cover Three Podcast, CBSSports.com. My man.

How are you? I am very careful not to speak out of line about media rights and media rights companies because I reviewed our discussion last week. Oh really? It was right as when I stuck my pretty little nose into what certain big, massive media rights holders might want with conference realignment that somebody pressed a button on me. So we're just going to go just on the field, right? Just going on the field.

Well, for the most part, yes. Because I do want to ask you just to kind of revisit the idea of Stanford, Cal, and maybe SMU because I think that there's going to be a revisiting of that particular discussion in the ACC. It might end up making financial sense even if it makes no logistical sense. And Anson Dorrance had, by the way, Anson Dorrance is sort of walking back. I hope they die on the vine.

It's like, whoa, wait, wait. I respect them. He doesn't want to add them for basically competitive reasons. It's like because Cal and Stanford, Stanford more so than Cal, are two of the powerhouses of women's soccer and I don't think he wants to have to deal with them on a regular basis. Didn't Cal beat North Carolina women's soccer like this in the last two years? They lost to UCLA in the semifinals, was it, last year when they had a 2-0 lead or a 1-0 lead late and they allowed a couple of goals.

I think it was a 2-0 lead late and they allowed UCLA to tie it and they won it an extra time. But look, you're talking about historically two of the best programs in women's soccer. So not that this is about women's soccer, but maybe we'll get to that if we- That's not disrespect to women's soccer, but that is not at the heart of any of these conversations. I enjoy it. I watch it. I'm never going to denigrate it.

I love, I love the beautiful game. All right, let's get to best case scenario, worst case scenario. And people are going to go, did goal really say that Carolina could win 11 games?

I did say best case scenario, didn't I? And in the best, the best case scenario, there isn't anybody that Carolina can't beat. Outside of Clemson. Outside of Clemson.

So to me, that is the best case. You and I have talked about North Carolina, South Carolina, and I'm, we can make great arguments for LSU and Florida State to be the most important game for the league because of what it means for Florida State and being back and a national contender and all of that. And I'm not that, that I agree with that, but from a big picture ACC North Carolina standpoint, if you can't beat South Carolina, I just think it says that you're just not ready for this. Right.

Okay. So if from a North Carolina standpoint, there is more significance tied up in that, I just don't think it extends to the ACC because I don't think that the national perspective on North Carolina is as an ACC contender. Right.

I agree. Perspective on North Carolina is a definitive tier two team with the potential number one draft pick. And that is the intrigue.

That is the selling point. I think that the national media does not associate South Carolina's success or lack thereof with the sec. I think that the both of these teams exist in places where the win or the loss is going to be incredibly significant. Like I, I have talked to people um, with a good view of the South Carolina program who have indicated that it is a team and a program that really can ride high where they beat, uh, you know, if they beat North Carolina, if they get a couple of wins early, then you could see them having a really special season, but they also don't have a whole lot of depth. They lost some key players to the transfer portal. If they lose to North Carolina, take a couple of losses early, it might be the kind of team.

What is it? I guess that qualifies as a front runner a little bit. Yeah. I mean, Shane Beamer is a vibes coach. It's great that he's gotten the Gamecocks to back to back bowl games.

That's not something that historically is going to happen all that often. And he might have them back in the, uh, the post season, but I think that North Carolina and South Carolina ties more into the importance of each individual season than it extends to the conferences that they represent. I think the LSU Florida state, either one of those teams have massive games left on the schedule that they could battle themselves back into a place where individually you are great and you are successful and you're feeling good about the season. But I think that the ACC SCC of it all, I think is more significant with Florida state LSU, just because of where each of them occupy, you know, up in the national ranks. You're talking about two top 10 teams and the winner of this game is, you know, a player for the national championship and the loser probably cycles themselves out. Florida state, I would argue has an opportunity to get it back with a trip to Clemson, right?

You gotta be. I mean, that's the other thing about the Florida state Clemson dynamic is that, you know, if, if we really do believe that those two teams are existing on a tier above everybody else, it's not just going to be one Florida state Clemson game on September 23rd, death Valley. There's going to be another one.

Um, and it's going to be another one in the first Saturday of December. And when you texted me and you said best case worst case for the ACC, was that other ACC teams or the ACC as a whole? Uh, w w could be ACC as a whole. Yeah. Because the worst case scenario is they split the series and played themselves both out of the college football.

Absolutely. Uh, Clemson has a, uh, you know, they lose that game, the Notre Dame and they lose the second game to Florida state, in which case, uh, Florida state, uh, Carolina, we're not Carolina, I guess Florida state would go to the orange bowl possibly. Uh, who knows? It's uh, it is potentially a bad year. Real quick about the league as a whole. If North Carolina has a good year, as does Florida state, as does Clemson, is there a chance that with three top 15 teams and maybe another team at the top, you know, 20 that the ACC has looked at a little differently over the course of this season? Who's the fourth I think is important pit or NC state. Yeah, I think an NC state or a pit or would it be better if it was Miami?

Well, it'd be way better if it was Miami that in terms of just the overall perception of it. But you know, right now the Pac 12 has five teams in the top 20. They could have a great year.

What a swan song it would be. ACC has two. Yeah. You know, big 12, just as Texas at 11 and Oklahoma a little bit further down. Um, you know, I think that being able to add another team to that picture is going to be very, very important, but the same way that too much emphasis is placed on bowl games for us to draw conference wide conversations, Florida state against LSU, uh, Clemson against Notre Dame, you know, like those, those spots are going to be as important data points as anything else.

If, uh, the conference has looked a little bit differently and I don't think that the conference has looked at as though it is a horrendous league at this moment. You know, there are only three teams that are in the top 25, but when you, when you take a look at a pit or an NC state, um, or even a wake forest, given the recent success under Dave Klassen, I don't think that you see a lot of disrespect. I think you just see the absence of national championship contention.

Right. The ACC has only had one team in the last decade, really that has contended. I mean, with, with, you know, Florida state at the very end of that timeframe, very beginning of this timeframe decade certainly did and won.

Uh, but Clemson is the only real contender we've had, uh, really in the last several years. Um, so Carolina best case scenario, 11 and one potentially playing for the conference championship. Worst case scenario, seven and five. Oh no. Worst case scenario.

Six and six. Ooh. Yeah. I mean, there's a worst case scenario where you start one in three because of Minnesota. Yeah.

Yeah. At Pitt, at Pitt, like that could be a loss. Lose a South Carolina beat app state. Minnesota comes into town, um, just plays bully ball. Frustrates you that offense never gets into a rhythm.

Then you're, you aren't, you get beat twice as they say, can't get back off the mat. Like sure. You've got that nice little, um, it's like a Vegas residency, right? Anytime we get three home games in a row, I like to call it a Vegas residency. You know, you get Syracuse, Miami, Virginia, like you're probably going to pick up, you know, a couple of wins, but you're not guaranteed to get all three. So yeah, the worst, this is a bowl team, but worst case scenario, six and six, 11 and one to six and six, the North Carolina football experience, man, no offense. Like I think Duke's good, but if you're North Carolina, if you're going to make something out of this season, you got to win six in a row, have to win six in a row between the beginning of October and the middle of November. And, uh, just before Thanksgiving, uh, to the Wolfpack, what do you think their best case is? Best case? Uh, I think that this is a group that can beat Notre Dame.

I would, yeah, I didn't even put that down as a possibility. Who's Notre Dame's quarterback? Sam Hartman.

Right. And how many wins does he have in Carter Finley stadium? Sam Hartman has as many wins in Carter Finley stadium as I do.

He's coming into Carter Finley stadium. And that is a defense that is going to be ready. And that is a Notre Dame passing attack that shh.

Don't tell any of the Notre Dame fans around here. Wake has better wide receivers. Wake's always got good wide receivers. One of the things, yeah, pass catchers that they are getting going to Notre Dame, but much better offensive line, uh, much, much, much better.

And they'll run the ball tremendously. Well, uh, Clemson's a loss like, I mean, you can tell me 10 and two. Yeah. I mean, absolutely.

That's what I have. I have best case scenario, 10 and two worst case scenario, six and six. Yeah. The triangle football experience. And I actually think the biggest factor for NC state is what will Dave Doran allow them to be offensively is, is, is he going to put a governor? Is he going to put restrictor plates on NC state's offense and let his defense do the heavy lifting? Or is it going to let him go and just say, you know what, we'll let, we'll let our defense pick up the pieces if we have to, because I think that mindset can allow NC state to be better. Do you remember when Matt Canada was the offensive coordinator at LSU?

He, you know, obviously, um, you know, the NC state experience, they had some good offenses at Pitt. He gets hired away to LSU and you know, all the, you know, the, the motion, the jet suite, or these are, Oh, no, give me all dizzy out there. Oh God, I don't like it.

I don't like it in the, in the middle of the season at Odron pulled the plug on it. It's like, no, no, Matt, Canada stop. We go downhill. We don't make them think this is our players are not comprehending everything that you're trying to do. This is leading to turnovers, pre snap penalties.

This is, you're trying to do too much. We have better players like let, let's just go get it done. If Robert Nye's offense with a reloaded group of pass catchers, um, you know, some good continuity on the offensive line, couple of good running backs and obviously great tight end in, in Pennix. Um, if it leads to pre snap penalties and mistakes and turnovers, you're not going to be aggressive, right?

You're going to pull the plug on it. You're going to regress. You're going to go right back because I do think the defense, which has one of the best secondaries in the entire ACC, which is going to be filthy along the defensive line, right? Um, the defense can still go get seven wins. So I, yes, you can say like you can put the onus on Dave Doran, but I kind of think the onus is on that the players to go out there and be able to execute what can be a very complex offensive scheme, a creative offensive scheme, the evolution that Dave Doran himself has said he's been looking for over the last couple of years.

But if it leads to mistakes, then you're going to go back to your core programming of let's not make mistakes and that, and that will be a mistake for NC state. I Brendan, Brendan Armstrong throws more interceptions than Devin Leary. Don't take for granted the way that I love Devin Leary.

I loved Devin Leary. I really think it's about mindset. Let it go.

Deal with it if it goes bad, but let it go. I think there'll be better in the long run for it because I just don't have any ingredients to a chicken parm, but no one said a chicken parm is bad. No one has ever said a chicken parm is bad. Chicken parm, but chicken parm is eight and four. That's yep.

Look, I checked the parm is eight and four chip. Oh, that's a segment right there. We're going to do this. Do you think that this depth chart, like we said, 10 and two is your best case scenario, but like you, that's a ton of coin flips on this roster. And when you like look at the ups and downs and the years where you're supposed to go for it. Like this is when we've got all of this returning production. This is when we've got multiple players that we think are going to be, you know, at the NFL draft caliber.

Like I, I just don't think that I don't, I'm not sure that this is a group that is all primed to say that this is, you know, a capital T the year type spot, right? So chicken parm eight and four is just fine. It is just fine.

It is just fine. And I would order chicken parm a lot winning football. You gotta go, just go play winning football. Sometimes I like, you know, lobster, uh, Friday, a little, a little spicier, just a little spicier.

I'm a, I'm okay with that. Uh, best case scenario for the Duke blue devils seven, five, eight, and four. Oh, I think their best case scenario is better than that. I know the schedule is hard, but I think their best case scenario is potentially nine wins. I give them a chance on opening night. I know most people don't, but game one, I give them a chance. I think that much of Riley, uh, Leonard, I think that much of the offensive line. Um, I think they're good.

I think they're good on both lines. That's tough. That's real tough stuff. How about beating Clemson, but then losing to Lafayette.

That ain't that 100% is happening. Not under the, like the, the thing that is so, um, you know, impressive about that first year is just how many players were there and just needed to be put in the right positions to succeed. And I, I think that, you know, most of those players from last year success are back, but it is undeniable how much of a jump you have from playing teams that according to their power rating would be middling G five teams and playing teams that are at the top of the conference. The bottom, the bottom of the ACC coastal last year would show up in the sunbelt and go seven and five. Now it's, it's arguable that Duke will play the best five teams in the league, not named Duke, right?

Clemson, Florida state, Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and three of those teams are on the road. Yeah. And let's also see that, uh, you're going to throw a Thursday night against wake into the mix as well. Yeah.

It's a, uh, it's, it's a very difficult, we, yeah. And they do have to play Notre Dame. Uh, so like I said, best case scenario, worst case I think they could lose. They could win four games.

Yes, correct. Yeah. They, they are going to be a four to five win team.

Like they, they have a high floor, but a low ceiling in my opinion. Uh, do you, uh, are they a bowl team? Yes.

Okay. Will they make a bowl game? You can be a bowl team and not make a bowl game, not have six wins or people eligible. I think five and seven, five and seven. We'll get Duke into a bowl game.

Uh, let's go seven with a good APR score. Uh, wake forest. Best case losing Donovan green hurts.

Yes. That's a disappointing situation. I, I see the best case is eight and four here. Um, we've had a couple of injuries on the defensive side as well. And I believe that Mitch Griffiths will be successful, but it's hard for me to get to 10 wins and ACC title contention, which by the way is the wake forest ceiling under Dave Doran is winning double digit games and being in the mix to play for the ACC championship. I just don't see this as being a ceiling of the program type season.

Yeah. I think they could go eight and four. I think they could the worst five and seven. They have the fewest number of games that I am unsure of one way or the other.

I only see like three swing games for wake forest on their schedule. All right. Uh, one more thing before I let chip Patterson go joins us every Wednesday. I know you've thought about it. I have thought about it a ton. I've, uh, I'm obsessing over it because we are a month away from it. Oh man.

Yes. Uh, so we know our, we know our first six Scotty Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Koepke, Max Homa, Xander Shafley. Who are your next six?

Who are your captain's choices for Zach Johnson? They are not in order. Okay.

Um, but it's going to help me fill it out. Sure. Brooks JT Spieth. Yes. In that order for me, actually Brooks Spieth JT, but in that order for me, yes. Um, and then we, I, I am not in the, uh, you have to take Lucas Glover. Oh gosh. No, you don't have to take, I know I would not take Lucas Glover.

It's not even a don't have to take. I would not take Lucas Glover is Ricky Fowler. Yes. Ricky Fowler's.

Yes. Colin Mark. I was a little, okay.

So now we've got one spot. I'm Sam burns. It's burns would be my pick, but if I'm closing my eyes and saying, who do I want to get, get on that plane? It's Dustin Johnson.

And I don't care if he hadn't played well in a month and a half on live. I'm going to roll out to Rome with that group with Dustin Johnson on the plane and they love Dustin. Call it more. Call us in last year. I missed him at the president's cup. We missed us.

That would be my group. No offense to Sam burns, but, uh, he would be the guy I leave home. Sam. I was, I was coming down to and I like Sam burns.

I was coming down to a Sam burns cam young thought, but I'll go Sam burns. Okay. That's fair. And I would, I would accept that he can easily leave DJ home because he hasn't really played all that well and he didn't play all that well in the majors. He flashed a little bit, but ultimately didn't play well in the majors.

Um, but I put him on the plane. Um, yeah, I, I, I faded young cause I feel like Young's floor and ceiling are so far apart. He's just been okay. Just been okay this year. He has not been great.

Uh, he was much better a year ago. Uh, all right, chip, we will, uh, we'll talk again next week. Sounds good. Y'all be well. We got it.