Wake Forest All-Time Tournament : Elite Eight Day One

With the first round in the books (and the results of the right side the bracket forthcoming) the Odom and Tacy regions prepare to battle for coveted spots in the Final Four. The overall number one seed, the 1994-95 Demon Deacons, cruised by the 2000-01 team by 20+ points and will square off against the 1976-77 Deacs who fended off the 1983-84 squad in a matchup of Elite Eight teams. In the bottom part of the bracket the lone Final Four team in Wake Forest history kicked things off with a 15 point victory over the 1980-81 Deacs and will face the 1996-97 Demon Deacons in what may be one of the best games of the entire tournament.

Odom Region

1. 1994-95 Demon Deacons v. 2. 1976-77 Demon Deacons

At a Glance:

1. 1995-96 Deacs (26-6)

Starters:

Randolph Childress

Jerry Braswell

Travis "Scooter" Banks

Ricky Peral

Tim Duncan

Key Contributors:

Rusty LaRue

Tony Rutland

AP Rank Entering NCAA Tournament: 3rd

NCAA Tournament: Sweet Sixteen

BSD All-Time Tournament Results: Beat 2000-01 Demon Deacons 84-61 (First Round)

2. 1976-77 Demon Deacons (22-8)

Starters:

Larry Harrison

Skip Brown

Rod Griffin

Jerry Schellenberg

Frank Johnson

Key Contributors:

Leroy McDonald

AP Rank Entering NCAA Tournament: 9

NCAA Tournament: Elite Eight

BSD All-Time Tournament Results: Beat 1983-84 Demon Deacons 62-59 (First Round)

The 1976-77 team will be looking to knock off Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress in a game which features a relative who's who of Wake Forest basketball. The 77 squad is stacked with familiar names in Skip Brown, Rod Griffin, and Frank Johnson and this is a team which should not and cannot be taken lightly. The major problem for this team, as all other teams will likely experience as well, is how to matchup with the cold-blooded Chill in the backcourt while maintaining control of an athletic sophomore Tim Duncan. Teams may have a tendency to try and lock down Duncan inside leaving Chill and Peral open to knock down the outside shot, or Chill may penetrate off the dribble allowing for easy looks inside as guys collapse to help out defensively.

This may end up being one of the better games of the tournament as Griffin looks to add to his 25 point, 11 rebound performance in the opener. Similarly, Timmy D will look to continue to crash the boards hard as he put up an impressive 13 point, 16 rebound game against the 2001 squad. Who will win this battle of the titans and advance to the Final Four?

Tacy Region

1. 1961-62 Demon Deacons v. 2. 1996-97 Demon Deacons

At a Glance:

1. 1961-62 Demon Deacons (22-9)

Starters:

Bob Woollard

Dave Wiedeman

Billy Packer

Frank Christie

Len Chappell

Key Contributors:

Bill Hull

Tommy McCoy

AP Rank Entering NCAA Tournament: Unranked

NCAA Tournament: Final Four

BSD All-Time Tournament Results: Beat 1980-81 Demon Deacons 75-60 (First Round)

2. 1996-97 Demon Deacons (24-7)

Starters:

Tony Rutland

Jerry Braswell

Ricky Peral

Tim Duncan

Sean Allen

Key Contributors:

Loren Woods

Steven Goolsby

Joseph Amonett

AP Rank Entering NCAA Tournament: 9

NCAA Tournament: Second Round

BSD All-Time Tournament Results: Beat 1959-60 Demon Deacons 80-62 (First Round)

The 1996-97 Deacs knocked off the 1960 Deacs to ensure that there would be no clash of the 1960's between two Bones McKinney led squads. Led by senior Tim Duncan and a healthy backcourt featuring Jerry Braswell and Tony Rutland, the 1997 squad delivered a dominating performance in an 18-point first round victory. Duncan was able to take care of business against sophomore Len Chappell but will face a considerably larger challenge in the Elite Eight as the two senior versions of arguably the best two bigs in Wake history face off for a spot in the Final Four.

In order for the 1962 Deacs to continue their run in this tournament, Chappell will need some help from Billy Packer outside to stretch the defense a bit in order to alleviate some of the interior pressure from the fundamentally sound Duncan. If the 1962 team can get their half court offense going like they did during their run to the Final Four back in the '62 season they will be a very difficult team to beat. The 1997 Deacs struggled against balanced attacks throughout the season and ultimately fell to the Stanford Cardinal in just the second round of the tournament as they were unable to keep four guys from reaching double digits (led by Brevin Knight). Tim Duncan was allowed to get his 18 points and 20 boards and Stanford still cruised to victory after taking a six point lead at the half.

Will the 1962 team be able to replicate a successful game plan to keep Duncan in check or will the health of the 1997 backcourt allow the Odom-led squad to break through and reach the Final Four?

Let us know who you think will win by voting and telling us why you voted for each team in the comments below. If there are any other questions, comments, or concerns, we would love to hear them and as always go Deacs!