So yeah, I'm as guilty as anyone of wondering whether NC State had surpassed Wake Forest as the predominant football team in the state of North Carolina (dear lord, that feels weird to write...until you realize that ECU had played better than any other team in the state except Appalachian). The Demon Deacons were coming off a two-game losing streak that pretty much ran the gamut from heartbreaker to backbreaker, falling in the last seconds to Virginia and getting utterly decimated by Clemson, whereas NC State had righted the ship with four straight wins. With Humanitarian and Meineke Bowl reps in attendance, Wake sent an emphatic corrective to the doubters (guilty as charged) with a convincing win over the Wolfpack, who play Maryland next week in what will most likely be a bowl elimination game. As for Wake, even with a loss against Vandy next week, the Meineke Bowl seems like a reasonable destination for a 7-5 team. Since Virginia went to the initial two (back when it was called the Continental Tire Bowl), they've selected teams in a manner that have led it to be called (by me and likely few else) the Carolina Invitational. Besides the fact that they bring a better team to the table than either Maryland or NC State (the winner likely headed to Boise), Wake won't have to worry about mobilizing their relatively tiny alumni base to put on a reasonably good show in Charlotte.




