Deacs start to feel at ease

Duke vs Wake Forest basketball 2017 (Jan. 28)

BROOKLYN, N.Y. For the vast majority of this season, the masses have fixated on whether or not Wake Forest has notched enough quality wins over top-25 and top-50 opponents to be legitimate contenders for an NCAA Tournament berth by the time Selection Sunday rolls around.

Tuesdays 92-78 victory over Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament did nothing to qualm those concerns, although last weeks wins over nationally ranked Louisville and a well-respected Virginia Tech team should have taken care of any lingering anxieties on that front.

But what the Deacons 14-point win over Boston College did represent beyond Wake Forests first ACC Tournament win in three years was that coach Danny Mannings team will now officially rest in front of the selection committee Sunday with the all-important benchmark of having no poor losses.

The Eagles entered the conference tournament with 14 straight losses and an RPI above 200, and signified the last potential roadblock in that category for the Deacons. Tuesdays win was Wake Forests fourth straight, and the team has an RPI rating of 32. (The lower the RPI rating the better.)

No matter what happens for Wake Forest the rest of the week in Brooklyn, including during todays second-round matchup with the seventh-seeded Hokies, the Deacons (19-12) will be considered for an NCAA Tournament berth with a perfect 10-0 record against teams currently outside the RPIs top 100.

Currently, Wake Forests worst loss, according to RPI, is an 81-76 defeat on the road at Syracuse. The Orange, who earned the No. 8 seed in the ACC Tournament and open play against No. 9 Miami today at noon, currently ranks 80th in the RPI just one year after advancing to the Final Four.

When asked after the victory over Boston College what this particular benchmark means for his team and its NCAA Tournament hopes, Wake Forest sophomore John Collins was full of confidence while giving his respectful advice to the selection committee.

That means exactly what it says that were (an NCAA) Tournament team, Collins said. We have no bad losses. We finally got our big win against Louisville a top-25 win that was missing from our resume and I think it just shows that we can play with anybody in the country.

The last time Wake Forest qualified for the NCAA Tournament, which was in 2010, Collins was in the seventh grade. Now, the first-team all-ACC selection is one of the main reasons the Deacons can feel comfortable about their position on the much-talked-about postseason bubble.

In addition to having an RPI in the low 30s, which mirrors Wakes season-ending RPI of 31 in 2010 when the program was awarded a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Deacons are viewed favorably by analytics-based statistics this season.

According to KenPom.com, which charts the efficiency of all 351 Division I basketball teams on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, Wake Forest is considered the 30th-best team in the nation.

The Deacons currently rank ninth in offensive efficiency, which is the first time that particular unit has ranked inside the nations top 10 since leading the country in 2005. This years performance comes while having also played the 15th-toughest schedule in the country to date.

While both the traditional numbers, which include 10 wins in what is widely considered the best college basketball conference in the country, and the advanced statistics look promising, Wake Forest sophomore Keyshawn Woods said he would prefer to leave nothing to chance.

Unlike 2010, when Wake Forest lost five of its last six games heading into Selection Sunday, this years version of the Deacons seems to be playing its best basketball of the season at the right time. Wake forest has now won four consecutive acc games for the first time since 2009.

I dont know, Woods said when asked if he thinks the Deacons have already done enough to secure a postseason berth. But I know if we win this tournament, then were in. Thats an automatic bid. ... Were playing well, were playing together and were just trying to win games so they have to put us in.

Source: http://www.journalnow.com/sports/wfu/basketball/deacs-start-to-feel-at-ease/article_dff84d4e-6928-5f12-a15c-d32a7d6a0397.html