The ACC has announced the opponents for the 2017-2018 Wake Forest basketball season, though the time and dates have not yet been decided. Let’s take a quick look at the teams we’ll be playing and then break down the schedule a little.
Like always, the Deacs will take on both Duke and NC State at home and on the road. The other two conference teams Wake will take on twice this season are Georgia Tech and Syracuse.
The Deacs will play the rest of the ACC teams just one time in the 2017-2018 season. The schedule will breakdown as follows.
Home Games: Florida State, Clemson, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame
Away Games: Miami, North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt, Boston College
Just by quickly glances at the schedule, this looks pretty favorable for the Deacs. Our repeat teams are Syracuse, who finished just above Wake last season at 10-8 in the ACC, and Georgia Tech, who finished just below at 8-10. These should be 2 very winnable games at the Joel and good chances to pick up ACC road wins. The games against the Wolfpack shouldn’t be too tough, considering the turnover they have had this off season. That leaves the two Duke games, which will, as always, both be pretty tough. Overall, the home/away games should feature 6 fairly winnable games. I think the Deacs could go at least 5-3 on these games.
The road schedule actually works out pretty well too. Two of our road games are Pitt and Boston College, which frankly should be wins no matter where we play them. The other games are 3 of the likely top teams in the ACC next season, and would be tough to beat regardless of arena. The Deacs likely go 2-3 on these game.
By playing the 2 easiest teams and 3 of the best teams on the road, it works out that most of our home games are toss up games (the games we would probably lose on the road and win at home). Notre Dame is likely the toughest team on that list with UVA being right behind them. I think the Deacs should be able to do no worse than 3-2 here, potentially beating Clemson, VT, and FSU, while dropping 2 games to ND and UVA.
This comes out to a final conference record of 10-8, which seems to be a reasonable expectation for the Deacs next season. Keep in mind that it is still too early to get an accurate prediction for next season.
Do you think 10-8 is reasonable for next season? Think the Deacs will do better? Worse? Let me know in the comment below.