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The final game of the regular season is finally upon us and Wake Forest (11-18, 4-13) heads to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech (12-18, 5-12) with the 13 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament on the line. The winner of today’s game at 12 (RSN) will grab the 13 seed, while the loser will be the 14 seed in the Tournament.
The Deacs will play either Syracuse or Boston College regardless of what seed it gets, who will be the 11 or 12 seeds.
Atlanta has been a house of horrors for Wake Forest recently, as the Deacs have not won at Georgia Tech since 2003-04, losing its past 11 games. Georgia Tech was ranked 18th when Chris Paul and Justin Gray led Wake Forest to an 80-76 victory.
Today will feature two less successful teams, with Georgia Tech and Wake each having years they would like to forget.
Tech has seen its head coach Josh Pastner get caught up in a sexual assault case, its two leading scorers suspended for the start of the year due to a booster issue, and a loss to Grambling.
Wake Forest had hopes of returning to the postseason in back-to-back years, but started 0-3 with losses to Georgia Southern, Liberty, and Drake to start the season.
KenPom projects Georgia Tech as a one point favorite, while Vegas likes the Yellow Jackets by 1.5. The Deacs won the first matchup between these two teams, played three weeks ago in Winston-Salem, 79-62.
Doral Moore had 17 points and 12 boards in that one, while Josh Okogie led the Jackets with 20 points.
Georgia Tech snapped a seven game losing streak on Thursday night with a win over the N.C. State Wolfpack, while Wake Forest has not played in a week since a 76-71 loss to Notre Dame in what was yet another ridiculous late game collapse.
The quick turnaround for Tech could be something to watch since it has been playing with a pretty short bench after the season ending injury to freshman PG Jose Alvarado. Three Jackets played 38+ minutes on Thursday night, while 6 players played 27+ minutes and just one other player played 2 minutes.
For some reason I am optimistic about this game and am picking Wake Forest to snap its losing streak in Atlanta. I think Wake matches up well against Tech and the week long break has done some good for the mental state of the team.
The goal today is to get a win and try to get some momentum for a shock run in Brooklyn next week. I think the Deacs get that win today to get some much needed confidence late in the season.