It took three seasons, but Dave Clawson finally has a football schedule that could allow Wake Forest to be in the hunt for a bowl. Last year’s schedule left little room for Clawson to demonstrate that his program was improving and, despite much better statistics, the Deacons finished with the same record as 2014 (3-9).
In the fall, the Deacons will face six teams who had losing records in 2015: Tulane (3-9), Delaware (4-7), Syracuse (4-8), Army (2-10), Virginia (4-8) and Boston College (3-9). All six are home games, so just taking care of business against those teams would make the Deacons bowl eligible.
Wake plays three “toss-up” games: Duke (8-5), at N.C. State (7-6) and at Louisville (8-5). Games at Indiana, at Florida State and against Clemson look like long shots.
The Deacons miss Notre Dame and the teams that finished in the top three of the Coastal: UNC, Pitt and Miami. Their open week falls in the middle of the season: week seven (after FSU), instead of week nine last year. They only face one team in the week after that team has had an open week (N.C. State).