The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-4-4, 4-3-3 ACC) were selected to the NCAA Tournament field yesterday, earning the 7 seed in their quadrant and a home game in the first round. They will open tournament play by hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-4-5, 4-2-4 SEC), who were in the top 15 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the vast majority of this season, but a poor run of form to end their regular season and a first round exit in the SEC Tournament has them traveling to Winston-Salem for the first time
since 2017. This will be Tony da Luz’s 23rd trip to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure at Wake Forest and the Deacs’ 4th tournament berth in the last 5 years. Last year, the Deacs had their best ever performance in the national tournament, making it to the national title game for the first time in their history. As for their path this year, a win in the first round against the Gamecocks would likely set up a matchup with the 2-seed in their bracket, the Michigan State Spartans (12-3-6, 7-1-3 Big Ten), who host the Horizon League champion Milwaukee Panthers (13-4-3, 8-0-2 Horizon), a team they beat 9-0 earlier this season. The Deacs are 1 of 9 ACC teams to be selected to the NCAA Tournament this season, but there is only one other ACC side in their quadrant of the bracket: the 1-seed ACC Champion Stanford Cardinal (16-1-2, 9-0-1 ACC).
The Demon Deacons will open tournament play on Friday, 11/14, at Spry, with kickoff set for 6:00 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
