Sweet Sixteen Slam Dunk: Wake Forest Stuns Navy in Elite Eight, Pushes Basketball Dreams Higher!

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 10: Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Steve Forbes during the ACC Men's basketball tournament between the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Virginia Tech Hokies on March 10, 2026 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N. C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Deacs aren’t done playing basketball.

Despite finishing the season in 13th place in the ACC with a 17-16 record, Wake Forest was not only invited to play in the NIT, but they are a 1 seed. In the opening round, the Deacs will take on Navy on Wednesday at 7pm. The journey continues 🎩 pic.

twitter. com/Oy4pGcf5xa — Wake Forest Men's Basketball (@WakeMBB) March 16, 2026 Navy finished the season 26-7 overall and 17-1 in the Patriot league. Their tourney hopes were dashed when the lost by 1 point to Boston University in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

They are 142nd on KenPom and 136th in the NET rankings. If Wake wins, their future opponents could include Illinois State, Kent State, Yale, UNCW, Bradley and Dayton before the final four. The NIT has certainly lost a lot of its luster over the past few years with most power 5 teams opting out to start preparing for the transfer portal—I doubt Wake would have gotten an invite without several teams, such as Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and Indiana, opting to decline bids.