The Road Ahead: A Glimpse into Wake Forest Men's Basketball's Upcoming Schedule

Between marquee non-conference matchups and familiar conference foes, Forbes looks to steer the schedule towards a postseason run

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With the first tip-off against the American Eagles fast approaching, Wake Forest Men's Basketball and Head Coach Steve Forbes have a roadmap ahead that can bring the Demon Deacons to their first March Madness appearance since 2017.

Between setting up high-profile matchups at neutral sites and a loaded away conference slate, Forbes and his program have the road set out for them to conquer the 2025-26 campaign.

The Marquee Matchups

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In Wake Forest's non-conference schedule last season, the Demon Deacons faced a few top-ranked teams, including eventual national champion Florida in the ESPN Events Invitational. The Deacs' highlight of the 2024-25 season came in Greensboro, beating the Michigan Wolverines in a nail-biting 72-70 win in the "Wolverine-Deacon Challenge."

This season, the Demon Deacons face the Wolverines yet again, with each squad experiencing roster turnover this offseason. After losing forward Danny Wolf and center Vlad Goldin, Michigan Head Coach Dusty May replaced them with North Carolina transfer guard Elliot Cadeau and UAB transfer forward Yaxel Lendeborg, setting up for a high-profile, neutral-site test.

Wake Forest Men's Basketball has taken advantage of neutral-site games for tournament metrics purposes, as the NET ranking's "Quad Wins" system is altered. Just like the matchups against Michigan at neutral sites, the Demon Deacons will travel to Charleston, West Virginia, to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in yet another neutral-site matchup.

Forbes loaded up on other power conference foes to face, too, accepting a bid into the Baha Mar Hoops Championship in late November. With an opening matchup against 2025 Elite Eight program Texas Tech, and a chance to face either Memphis or transfer guard Myles Colvin's former team, Purdue, Forbes has opportunities at resumé-boosting wins early on in the season.

What Needs To Happen

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A key aspect of the schedule that Wake Forest needs to take care of is, surprisingly, the low and mid-major teams that they play throughout November and December. Playing against the likes of American, Morehead State, UMass Lowell, and Longwood, the Demon Deacons have to take care of business for the sake of their metrics.

Last year, early performances in the first two months of the season put the Demon Deacons behind. In all six games against "Quad 4"-ranked teams in the NET ranking, Wake Forest did not cover the spread, including a five-point win against USC Upstate (where they were favored by over 30 points). The Spartans ended up 6-26 on the season, with 20-point losses at Iowa, Virginia Tech, NC State, and South Carolina- and in the age of tournament committees using metrics like NET and KenPom, Wake Forest needs to handle the early matchups just as much as the high-profile conference ones.

The Conference Slate

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While Wake Forest has had a phenomenal home record throughout Steve Forbes' tenure, the Demon Deacons need to win away from home this year. The ACC schedule has them facing all three Big Four rivals (UNC, Duke, and NC State) on the road, while also visiting tough environments like Virginia and Florida State. The Demon Deacons won just two away games that they weren't favored in last season (at SMU, at Stanford).

Without the chance to face either Duke or North Carolina at home this season, the most notable home games arrive back-to-back, facing a revamped NC State squad and ACC runner-up Louisville in consecutive games. Wake Forest looks to replicate a historic 2023-24 season that saw the Demon Deacons go 16-1 at home, one of the best home records in program history.

Steve Forbes and the Demon Deacons open up their season against the American Eagles on November 3rd at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.