Wake Forest (13-4) (NET: 78)
1-4 (Q1), 0-0 (Q2), 6-0 (Q3), 6-0 (Q4)
A resume strangely lacking any Quad 2 opportunities is actually in better shape than it first appears. Wake Forest certainly is out of the Tournament field right now, but that Quad 1 win in Greensboro over Michigan looks way better than it even did when they won the game back in November. What’s unfortunate is that the second-best win isn’t very impressive and at this point might be this week’s win over Stanford.
What’s keep this resume afloat is that the Demon Deacons have only lost games against Quad 1 foes, losing true road games to Xavier, Texas A&M, and Clemson while also falling to Florida at the ESPN Events Invitational. It’s not exactly ideal that they lost all four games by double-digits as solid underdogs, but there’s no bad loss here to pull that NET even further down.
The big picture is that Wake Forest is 5-1 in conference play but haven’t really been tested outside of a tough road trip to Clemson nearly a month ago. They didn’t waste all of their opportunities, as that Michigan win keeps them around the bubble, but they certainly need to add another Quad 1 win or two in the weeks to follow.
After this weekend’s tilt at Virginia Tech, Wake Forest will have a ton of opportunities, including three straight Quad 1 games at the end of the month. The Demon Deacons host North Carolina, Duke, and Pittsburgh all in the next two weeks and must take advantage on their homecourt. Making an impression in those games, not to mention at Louisville or SMU in the coming weeks, could go a long way towards getting this program back in the Big Dance or slamming the door on their chances.