The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out, and the Deacs have moved up to #16.
While beating an FCS team by 77 points probably didn’t move the needle for the committee, Wake got some help from a few teams ranked just ahead of them. Last week’s #10 Ole Miss got blown out by #2 Georgia, moving them to #19, #14 LSU got destroyed at home by #5 Alabama, moving them to #23, and
#12 Ohio State lost to #23 Oregon, dropping them back to #20. The results weren’t all good this week, however, as Miami losing to Notre Dame and dropping from #1 to #7 may hurt Wake’s chances of an at large bid in the scenario where the Deacs finish 11-2 with 2 losses to the Canes. Miami dropping from 1 to 7 for losing their first game on the road to a current top 5 team feels a little harsh by the committee.
Whether it’s getting an autobid by winning the ACC Championship Game or an at-large bid at 11-2, any scenario where Wake Forest makes the playoff starts with the Deacs playing in Charlotte on December 5th in what will be the final ACC Championship Game ever. That means that this week’s game against SMU is one of the most important games in program history. A win hands SMU a 3rd conference loss and would give Wake tie breakers over SMU and Louisville, while a loss ties Wake in the conference with 4 other teams and gives SMU the tie breaker over the Deacs.
The odds for Wake to win the ACC Championship Game and make the playoff both improved slightly this week. FanDuel currently has the Deacs at +320 to win the ACC Championship Game (up from +410 last week, likely due to the Malachi Toney injury) and +105 to make the College Football Playoff (up from +115 last week).
Go Deacs!
