Sports > November 20, 2008

By Gary Pasqualicchio | Staff writer

By some miracle, stroke of luck or act of God, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are still alive and breathing (if only on life support) in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. Say what? That’s right; the previous sentence was not a misprint but a fact.

Despite three losses in conference play and a 6-4 overall record, your Demon Deacons can still, after all is said and done, be playing in Tampa for the conference crown come December.

If the 26-0 drubbing at the hands of Maryland and the following week’s 16-10 heartbreaker at Miami earlier this season didn’t dash your hopes, this week’s road loss to N.C. State – yes that N.C. State – was the end. Or was it?

With the ACC either top-to-bottom deep and competitive or just plain bad (depending on who you talk to), a three loss team could win the conference this year.

And why not this three loss team, led by redshirt seniors Alphonso Smith, Aaron Curry and D.J. Boldin who are looking for a second trophy to add to their one from 2006?

The results were mixed for Wake Forest’s cause after the N.C. State game with Atlantic Division-leading Maryland edging out Coastal leader UNC-Chapel Hill by two points on a late field goal.

However, Florida State dropped a tough one to Boston College later in the night to help Wake Forest keep second place behind the Terps in the Atlantic race.

But a full game in the division behind Maryland (virtually two games since the Terps have the head-to-head tiebreaker) with only two to play is almost impossible to make up … right?

Maybe not as much as you would think. Maryland still has two very tough games left to play vs. the aforementioned Seminoles and Eagles. Wake Forest has one conference game left, a home contest also against Boston College.

If Maryland drops those two games and the Deacs knock off the Eagles, Wake Forest will be the ACC’s Atlantic Division Champion and earn a trip to Tampa for the title game.

If that wild scenario were to happen, the Deacs can thank not only Maryland and Boston College, but themselves for defeating Florida State early in the season in Tallahassee, Fla.

That head-to-head tiebreaker would be the difference and is the only scenario in which Wake has life. A lot of it comes down to which Boston College team shows up for the rest of the season.

The Deacs would like to see the Boston College team that got drubbed by UNC-Chapel Hill and then lost to hapless Clemson in back-to-back weeks in late October.

On the flip side, they would hope the Eagles team that topped Virginia Tech and Florida State shows up against Maryland in the last week of the regular season.

I’m not writing this to give false predication or to give you the impression that we are favored to pull this thing out, because we aren’t.

However, as long as there is a chance, even a slim one, there is hope. Go to the game on Nov. 22 at 3:30 p.m. and cheer your Deacs on to victory.

Then head back to your dorm room, sports bar or wherever you want to watch the Maryland vs. Florida State game at 7:45 p.m. and root for Bobby Bowden’s squad.

Once the night is over, if the pieces fall into place, things will at least be interesting over Thanksgiving Break.

Over the break the Deacs play Vanderbilt at home, but more importantly Maryland and Boston College show down for all the marbles in the ACC.

The Deacons cannot control their own destiny, but they should be thankful to still be alive after and up and down year. Finish strong and they may just have a shot.