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Wake Forest Football: Best Case Scenario for 2015

Can Wake Forest make a bowl game?

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The season is just several days away, which means that everyone is still undefeated. Over the next several days, we'll be giving our season predictions, and also walking through several scenarios for how the season might play out. We'll begin today with "best case scenario," and later in the week we'll go over "worst case scenario" and "most likely scenario." So, if everything goes right for the Demon Deacons, how many games can they win?

Wake Forest's win-loss record completely hinges on the first month of the season. If they get off to a fast start, then going 6-6 is possible.

Wake Forest will beat Elon, but I should add that's the only guaranteed win of the season.  I'm also going to go ahead and say that games against Florida State, Clemson, and Notre Dame are unwinnable, which means that Wake Forest must go 5-3 in the remaining eight games of the season in order to go 6-6. How can they do that?

The most likely way that happens is if Wake Forest starts off 4-0, since those are the four easiest games of the season. I'm not suggesting that will happen, but it's possible. I believe in order to go 6-6 that Wake Forest must go a minimum of 3-1 over the first month of the season. In all honesty, even going 3-1 might not be enough to ultimately get Wake to six wins this season.

The remaining critical games are at Boston College, and home games against North Carolina State, Louisville, and Duke. From most winnable to least winnable I rank those games: NC State, Duke, Boston College, and Louisville. If Wake can find a way to enter the Duke game with a 5-6 record, then I think that game becomes a true "kitchen sink" game, and Wake finds a way to emerge victorious.

If Wake Forest goes 6-6 this season, then Dave Clawson deserves to be ACC Coach of the Year. It unfortunately could be another long year for Wake Forest football fans. This year Wake Forest is a very young team that plays very difficult opponents, and plays a number of teams coming off bye weeks. Even in my "best case scenario" I'm saying that a lot of things would have to go right to have a 6-6 season.

Date Opponent Opponent Ranking (out of 128)
9/3 Elon FCS -Unranked
9/12 at Syracuse 99
9/19 at Army 118
9/26 Indiana 75
10/3 Florida State 17
10/10 at Boston College 69
10/17 at North Carolina 48
10/24 N.C. State 45
10/30 Louisville 22
11/14 at Notre Dame 20
11/21 at Clemson 24
11/28 Duke 60