Wake Forest Football: where should Deacs be ranked?

With an unprecedented start of 8-0, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are looking to make a playoff run. Where should they be ranked today?

Per usual for this 2021-22 college football season, the AP Top 25 poll has been shaken up by this past Saturday. However, Wake Forest football was, once again, an exception to the rule.

With their 45-7 win over rival Duke, the Demon Deacons are now 8-0 on the season. Such a start has never been seen before in the typically-mediocre program’s extensive history. But while Wake was dominating, multiple teams ranked above them received some rather rude awakenings.

The sixth, ninth, 10th, and 12th teams were all defeated this weekend: Michigan, Iowa, Ole Miss, and Kentucky, respectively. With Wake obviously being expected to climb no matter what (along with the fact that all of those teams have worse records than them now), the Deacs should now be number-9 in the country at the lowest.

One could even argue that Wake Forest football should be eighth, as Notre Dame not only has a loss but also struggled with an unranked UNC and should therefore be jumped. That feels a little far-fetched, though.

With all of this going on, the new top 10 should look something like this come Sunday afternoon: Georgia, Cincinnati, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, and Michigan.

I feel that the Wolverines should not fall too far, as their loss to the aforementioned Spartans was only by four points, and on the road. Not only that, but MSU gave them their first loss of the season. In other words, Texas A&M–who has two losses and is coming off of a bye week–should not be ranked higher than Michigan.

Speaking of teams who should not be ranked where they are, many CFB fans are displeased with the praise that Wake Forest has been getting (as they have been all season leading up to this point).

In fact, some of the said fans have even gone as far as declaring that the Demon Deacons would be undeserving of a playoff spot regardless of how their year may turn out; that includes obtaining a perfect 13-0 record and conference title.

Some others, however, feel that if Wake Forest football — as a Power 5 team — does its part in running the table, then it should be given the same opportunity that fellow ACC power Clemson has been given for doing so over the past several seasons.

But I’ll take it a step further: Clemson would sometimes make the CFP even if it had a loss. So yeah, the Deacs should make it if they still have a goose egg in their loss column by the time selection day arrives. Keep in mind that you cannot blame Wake Forest for their league opponents being down this year; they’re still playing Power 5 competition week after week.

Let’s save the rest of that discussion only for when it’s necessary, though. All that matters now is that the Demon Deacons should be a top-10 team for Sunday’s updated AP poll. And if you’re someone who is going to spaz out and continue to deny their worthiness of such a placement, I can promise that you’ll be just fine.