Wake Forest Basketball: ACC Schedule Released

The ACC has released the official conference schedule for all teams, and that means it is officially basketball season.

Forbes and the Deacs kick off the next era of Wake Forest hoops with an absolutely grueling opening ACC slate, playing #4 Virginia twice and #9 Duke on the road in their first 5 games. Talk about being thrown into the fire. The ACC opener will be at home against the Cavaliers on December 16th.

Things will get a little easier for the Deacs after those first 5 games, but Wake will still have some really tough match ups with Louisville, at #16 North Carolina, at #21 Florida State, and #9 Duke between January 12th and February 16th. That’s better than three top 10 opponents in 5 games I guess, but that’s just life in the ACC.

The Deacs will finish up with what, at this point in time, should be the easiest portion of the schedule. Wake ends the season with NC State, Clemson, at Virginia Tech, at Pitt, and Georgia Tech. Perhaps that gives Wake Forest some momentum going into the ACC Tournament (assuming there is an ACC Tournament this season).

With it being the 2020-21 season, I should also mention that according to the release from the ACC, “Any conference games that are unable to be played will only be rescheduled if both teams’ schedules permit it.” Obviously with the pandemic going on, there is a chance that any number of games could be postponed this season.

As far as fan attendance is concerned, Wake Forest has stated that they “will comply with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services guidance on fan capacity. The current expansion of gathering sizes under NCDHHS for phase three only applies to outdoor venues that can seat more than 10,000 fans. Wake Forest Athletics will follow the state’s guidance to preserve the safety of its student-athletes, coaches, staff and the entire University and Winston-Salem community.” With basketball being played inside and the current trend pointing towards more and more Covid-19 cases this winter, I think there’s a possibility that there may be no fans at basketball events this season. Let’s hope for the best.