Wake Forest Ranked #22 in Preseason AP Top 25

The AP Top 25 poll was announced today, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are going into the 2022 season as a ranked team.

The Deacs come in at #22 in the first poll of the season, marking their second time being ranked in the preseason AP poll (23rd in 2008). Wake may have been ranked even higher before the Sam Hartman injury, as voters were given the chance to change their votes after the news broke last week, according to AP College Football writer Ralph Russo.

Obviously, losing the starting QB under a month before the season starts is going to have a pretty big effect on the perception of the team, but the Deacs still ended up in the top 25. That speaks to the confidence the voters have in Clawson’s coaching ability and the overall talent remaining on the roster (well that, or they were too lazy to change their votes, but I’m going with the former).

The other ACC teams in the top 25 are:

• #4 Clemson
• #13 NC State
• #16 Miami
• #17 Pitt

While the preseason rankings really don’t mean that much since no teams have actually played a game, a ranked Wake Forest vs a top 5 Clemson matchup could be a potential landing spot for College Gameday at the end of September. That would be pretty awesome.

Go Deacs!