Mayo Madness: Why Wake Forest Should Be Happy With Their Bowl Placement
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The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are going bowling again! This phrase is certainly music to Wake Forest fans' ears. The Deacs will help ring in the New Year as they are slated to play Mississippi State in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Friday, January 2.
This season has certainly been a successful one for the Deacs in the first year of the Jake Dickert era. Now, they will get another chance to prove themselves against a high-major opponent. Some fans may be irritated that other ACC teams appeared to get picked for games ahead of Wake. However, I honestly do not care because this game sets up great for the Deacs. Let's find out why:
Favorable Location
When discussing possible destinations for the Deacs, we said it couldn't get any better than Charlotte. Wake will have just a short 1.5-hour commute for their game against the Bulldogs. This will be great for the team to be in routine and not have the hassle of traveling cross country. It should certainly provide an element of comfort.
Demon Deacon nation should also show up in droves for this one. With such a short distance from Winston-Salem, Wake Forest can expect a great crowd in the Queen City. This will be great for a team that has exceeded expectations all season to get to play one more game in front of a lot of Demon Deacon faithful. I am not calling it a home game, but those stands should be majority black and gold in my estimation.
Primetime Matchup
Some other bowl games may be more prestigious than the Mayo Bowl, but I would be hard-pressed to identify a better game setup. Fellow ACC opponents such as Pitt are playing on December 27 at 11 am. Louisville is playing on Tuesday, December 23rd, at 2 pm. The Demon Deacons have the luxury of playing a primetime game at 8 pm, on a Friday, televised on ESPN. It simply cannot get much better than that. Expect a big TV audience as the Deacs are one of the final bowl games taking place, so all eyes will be on Charlotte.
Major Opponent
Now I know what you are going to say. Yes, Mississippi State did go 5-7, but got into a bowl game because the SEC could not fulfill all their bowl obligations. Some may find this upsetting, but I say, who cares? Wake Forest gets a chance to prove themselves again to the entire nation against an opponent from the best conference in all of college football. The Deacs will go into this matchup with a chip on their shoulder in a very winnable game. Beating an SEC opponent would be a great way to cap off a successful 2025 season.
Dickert Doused in Mayo?
Forget the Gatorade. The Duke's Mayo Bowl has one of the most unique, yet somewhat disgusting, traditions in all of the college bowl games. The winning coach gets doused with, you guessed it, tubs of Duke's Mayo.
Coach Dickert has brought an incredible sense of energy and enthusiasm to the Wake football program. Can you imagine how much fun he would have this? Deacs fans should be excited about this bowl game just for the fact they could see their head coach covered in mayonnaise!
There you have it. I hope that after reading this, all Deacon fans can see why this matchup is definitely a win for the Demon Deacons. Credit to John Currie and Jake Dickert for all their hard work all season long. Now we have one more job this season, let's take over the Queen City Deacon Nation!
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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.