Oct 3, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Jake Dickert leads his team onto the field against the Stanford Cardinal during the first half at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Oct 3, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Jake Dickert leads his team onto the field against the Stanford Cardinal during the first half at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect · IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was a very successful bye week for Wake Forest. While the Deacs were resting up for their upcoming home game against Virginia, they got to watch 7 teams ahead of them in the AP poll lose, vaulting them up to #14 without having to do a thing.

This season of college football has been pretty chaotic, but so far, that has worked in Wake Forest’s favor. This week alone, #2 BYU lost to UCF, #7 Ole Miss lost to #19 Texas, #8 Texas Tech lost to Cincinnati, #11 Tennessee lost to South Carolina, #14 Houston lost to #10 Utah, #15 Iowa lost to Minnesota, and #16 USC lost to Wisconsin. Those teams were all ranked ahead of the Deacs in last week’s AP Top 25.

The Deacs also got some help in the conference, where Clemson lost to Virginia Tech and UNC lost to Syracuse—that took out two of the remaining 1-loss ACC teams, leaving just SMU and Wake Forest as 4-1 teams in the conference. With Wake and SMU playing in a just a few weeks, both teams now control their own destiny on making it to the ACC Championship Game. Assuming the Deacs and Mustangs take care of business against their remaining schedules, the November 14th game in Dallas will likely be for the right to play Miami in Charlotte. With potential College Football Playoff implications, that could become one of the most important games in program history.

Go Deacs!

Source: Yahoo Sports