By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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If the Demon Deacons go undefeated, where would they be slotted?

At 6-0 overall, Wake Forest has been the most impressive team in the ACC. The Demon Deacons, unranked in the pre-season, are now up to 15th in the national polls. Wake Forest is the lowest ranked undefeated Power Five team, with Oklahoma State next at number nine. While there are seemingly contending conversations about every other perfect side midway through the college football season, there simply haven’t been many such discussions about the Demon Deacons.

Though Wake Forest has a challenging second half ahead and would have have to reach new program heights to move into the spotlight, the mere potential for a run is one that should at least be considered. If the Demon Deacons go undefeated, where would they be slotted? Would Wake Forest be a lock for the final four?

“It would be a great test case, it really would be,” nodded former Georgia Tech star Roddy Jones of the ACC Network.

It would obviously take an unprecedented historical stretch for Wake Forest to get to 12-0, then win the ACC Championship Game against likely Pittsburgh or Virginia Tech in Charlotte. Saturday’s contest at Army will be a very difficult one. Nationally-ranked North Carolina State still awaits, as do trips to Clemson and North Carolina, among other outings. The Demon Deacons will need to be at their absolute best to even have an outside chance at an all-time finish.

That said, they have played their way into the national narrative. If, a big if, Wake Forest runs the table, would they deserve a seat at it?

“I don’t think there is any circumstance that an undefeated, Power Five champion gets left out. I just don’t see that happening,” Jones continued.

Should a Power Five team actually go undefeated and miss the College Football Playoff, something which has never happened, what would the implications be? How, if at all, would the sport respond? The ripple effect could potentially add to the momentum around the idea of expanding the current format, a move which many consider to be an upcoming inevitiability anyway.

“I think the system breaks in a way that is really going to disrupt college football. We’re already talking about expansion. If an undefeated, Power Five champion gets left out, then there’s no more discussion about expansion. It’s like, ‘no, we’re expanding next year’, because that can’t happen,” Jones continued. “Like, what is the point of playing a Power Five schedule if, it doesn’t matter the strength of the league, if you go undefeated and you don’t get in.”

Plenty of football remains. Who knows what the national picture will look like at the end of the regular season. The ACC’s highest-ranked team still a ways to go to even move into the top ten, much less, possibly, the top five. Clearly Wake Forest’s focus remains week-to-week, while the macro ideas are for the pundits and fans. This is a team that is undefeated, however, and enters the second half of the schedule with considerable momentum. More wins will come with more national attention.

The Demons Deacons have positioned themselves on the big stage.

“So, yeah, I think if Wake Forest goes undefeated they should be in the top four because you run through one of the leagues that we’ve annointed as one of the leagues that is good enough to get you in the College Football Playoff,” Jones concluded.