For most of the season, the ACC looked like a one-team playoff league, with Miami carrying the conference’s best shot at the College Football Playoff. Wake Forest just changed that conversation.
After hammering SMU 49-7 on Saturday, the Demon Deacons have pushed themselves into the thick of the CFP race and suddenly look like a real threat to join Miami in the 12-team field. In the final year of the expanded format, Wake Forest has built a resume that may not jump off the page at first glance, but the way it has handled opponents lately has forced the committee to pay attention.
The résumé starts with the obvious limitation: Wake Forest’s best win came against Louisville on Sept. 26, and the Demon Deacons also needed double-overtime to get past Purdue. They took their lone loss to No.
5 Miami in September. That’s not the kind of schedule that usually screams playoff contender.
But the results since then have been impossible to ignore. Since that loss to the Hurricanes on Sept. 18, Wake Forest has ripped off seven straight wins, and none of them have been close:
57-3 over Stanford
38-14 over NC State
41-7 over California
51-7 over Virginia
77-0 over Merrimack
49-7 over SMU
That run has already moved Wake Forest from No. 16 in the first CFP rankings in Week 10 to No. 13 in Week 11, and Saturday’s blowout gives the Demon Deacons another chance to climb when the next rankings come out. Even without a ranked opponent in that stretch, the committee has been watching the margin of victory pile up week after week.
Jake Dickert’s team has also won over the advanced metrics crowd by doing the same thing every week: overwhelming whoever is on the other sideline. If Wake Forest finishes this stretch hot, its body of work could become hard to dismiss, even without the kind of signature win that usually anchors a playoff case.
The bigger question now is what this means for the ACC as a whole. In 2024, the conference landed Clemson and SMU in the first 12-team playoff, with Clemson getting the No. 12 seed and SMU the No. 11 seed after a regular season that ended 11-1. In 2025, only ACC champion Miami made the field, earning the No. 10 seed.
This time around, Wake Forest may be the league’s best shot at a second bid. The path is there, but it is narrow.
With a lighter schedule, the Demon Deacons may need to keep winning in convincing fashion and could still need help from other at-large contenders like Tennessee, Texas Tech, Kentucky, BYU, LSU and more. An ACC Championship Game matchup with Miami could be the swing point, whether Wake Forest wins it or at least keeps it close enough to impress the committee.
For now, the Demon Deacons sit squarely on the bubble. If they keep steamrolling teams the way they have over the last two months, an unexpected playoff berth is very much on the table.
Wake Forest’s remaining regular-season schedule is straightforward:
Nov. 21 at Georgia Tech
Nov. 28 vs. Duke
The Yellow Jackets are 3-7 but come in off a win over Clemson, while Duke is 7-3 after falling to Miami on Saturday. Wake Forest has a clear shot to reach 11-1 and set up a conference title game against the Hurricanes.
Nothing is locked in yet. But after another lopsided win, Wake Forest has turned itself from a long shot into one of the most interesting teams in the playoff picture.
In Other News...
Georgia Tech Just Delivered The Win Fans Have Been Waiting For
Georgia Tech finally got the kind of road result that can reset a season, knocking off Clemson at Clemson Memorial Stadium and snapping a four-game losing streak. It was the Yellow Jackets first win there since 2008, and it came with a performance that looked nothing like a team searching for answers. The defense set the tone early, squeezing Clemsons run game and making the Tigers work for every inch.
Georgia Techs front and pressure package did the heavy lifting, holding Clemson to 1.6 yards per carry in the first half and piling up three sacks. Justice Haynes, Grady Adamson and Chris Corbo were among the names showing up on a night when the Jackets needed contributions across the board, while Spaulding and Tawfiq Thomas helped keep the pressure on. For a team that had been waiting for a signature response, this was the kind of win that can linger well beyond one Saturday. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Techs Fast Start Puts Scott Cross Early Formula To The Test
Georgia Techs 3-0 start has already offered an early look at what first-year coach Scott Cross is trying to build, and it has not come with the same script twice. The Yellow Jackets have had different players lead them in scoring, rebounding and assists in each game, a sign of both balance and the kind of lineup flexibility Cross is hoping to establish as the schedule tightens. Now the challenge shifts to a home matchup with UNC Asheville, a team coming in after a close win and one that has shown it can spread production around.
For Georgia Tech, the appeal is obvious: the offense has not been dependent on one hot hand, and the roster has already shown it can win in different ways. UNC Asheville brings a similar kind of collective threat, with balanced scoring and a style that has kept opponents honest, which makes this a useful early test for a Yellow Jackets team still taking shape under a new coach. It is the sort of November game that can either reinforce a teams identity or expose how much work is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Techs Clemson Win Put One Big Question On This Defense
Georgia Techs 20-6 win over Clemson was the kind of result that changes the conversation around a program, especially when it comes in Death Valley for the first time since 2008. The Yellow Jackets leaned on a strong ground game from Justice Haynes and Grady Adamson, but the bigger takeaway may have been what happened on the other side of the ball. Under interim coordinator Vinnie Sunseri, the defense looked noticeably sharper and held Clemson to just 86 rushing yards.
The performance raised a real question about whether this group has finally found something it can build on after a season of uneven stretches. Clemson never found much rhythm offensively, and Georgia Techs ability to control the line of scrimmage made the win feel less like a fluke and more like a statement. Still, one strong night is only part of the picture, and the next test will say plenty about whether this defensive surge is a short-term spark or something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]