Where Does Wake Forest Baseball Fall in the Most Recent ACC Preseason Polls?
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are a week and a half from getting baseball season underway! The Deacs will begin the season Friday, February 13, when they take on Houston in Puerto Rico. With all the excitement brewing, let's check in on expectations for this year's club.
So far, it seems like most media outlets are picking Wake to finish middle of the pack in what is sure to be a loaded ACC. According to D1 Baseball, the Deacs are projected to finish 7th in the conference that includes 16 baseball members.
Georgia Tech topped D1's projected standings. Louisville and North Carolina made up the #2 and #3 spots, respectively. After that, Florida State, NC State, and Clemson followed before arriving at Wake Forest in the 7th position. They are just ahead of Miami and Virginia, who slot in behind to make up 8-9.
According to D1Baseball, the ACC is slated to be one of the top conferences in the country. They have a projected 10 teams in postseason play, up from the nine they had last year. Eight ACC teams are featured in D1's preseason top 25.
In these two categories, the ACC is second only to the SEC, which has 11 teams in the preseason top 25 and 13 projected bids. These two are clearly the most competitive conferences in the country, so the Deacs should have ample opportunities for big wins.
Switching gears, the coaches are less kind to Wake in the ACC preseason coaches' poll. They have Wake Forest slotted in at the ninth spot in the 16-team conference. This is two spots lower than D1Baseball featured the Deacs.
Both Miami and Virginia were put ahead of Wake Forest in the Coach's Poll, which explains the two-spot drop. The poll still features Georgia Tech at the top, followed closely by North Carolina. Notably, Boston College, which was 13th in the D1Baseball poll, finds itself all the way down at the bottom spot in the ACC Coach's Poll.
Excitement Building
The season is now just around the corner, with the first opportunity to see the Deacs play coming next Friday, as they will travel to compete in the Puerto Rico Challenge. As mentioned, they take on Houston on February 13, followed by games against Washington and Indiana State on the 14th and 15th, respectively.
Opening Day at the Couch will be on Tuesday, February 17, when the Deacs take on High Point at 4 pm.
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Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.