The Wake Forest Demon Deacons take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an ACC matchup on Tuesday, February 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET from South Bend, Indiana. The Demon Deacons are a bubble team as of now and are coming off of their best win of the season — an 83-79 victory over Duke. The ACC is projected to get just five bids this season, a relatively low number compared to some of their Power Five peers.
Wake Forest have won their last two games in conference play, and finish out the conference schedule with a relatively easy slate of Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Clemson. The Demon Deacons enter as 6.5-point road favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook.
2024 March Madness: Bracketology
Bubble watch: Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame
Wake Forest’s win over Duke pushed them into a more comfortable position. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has them in his last four byes, and CBS’s Jerry Palm projects them in his last four in with a play-in game. While a win over a less-than-stellar Irish team won’t singlehandedly push Wake Forest into a more comfortable position, a six-game winning streak to end the season certainly would. They have already comfortably defeated Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech this season, and while Notre Dame and especially Clemson will pose a challenge, the Demon Deacons can fight past a bye with a strong ACC finish.
The Demon Deacons are 18-9 and 10-6 in ACC play, currently ranking fourth in conference standings. They rank 19th at KenPom and 25th in the NET rankings with a 2-4 record against Quad 1 teams. They have just two more Quad 1 matchups remaining this year to earn their spot in the Big Dance. A road loss to this Fighting Irish team could drop them back down to the last four in at ESPN, or perhaps even place them on the wrong side of the bubble in CBS’s projections in a tight race for an at-large bid.
Notre Dame will not qualify for the NCAA tournament this year, barring what would be an extremely shocking ACC championship win.