Has expansion hurt Wake Forest?

Last week for the Sporting News — amid the Big 12 expansion hysteria — college basketball writer Mike DeCourcy penned a column on the biggest losers of college realignment. In his piece, DeCourcy listed six teams, including three from the ACC — Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Missouri and Rutgers — that have gotten the short end of the stick following expansion. You’ll notice quickly that Wake Forest is the only team on that list that hasn’t changed conference affiliation during the past decade of seismic activity in college athletics; The Demon Deacons, of course, are charter members of the ACC.

DeCourcy’s points are cogent and refer only to the school’s slumping football program; he chose not to examine the basketball program, which has fallen on hard times, too, following the sudden and tragic death of Skip Prosser in 2007. However, one could make the case that Wake Forest has benefited from expansion just as much as any other school. Let’s examine their post-expansion work.

To read more on Wake Forest football in the expansion era, sign up for basic access to ACCSports.com.