The Wake Forest Demon Deacons enter year seven of the Steve Forbes era with significantly more questions than answers.

A team that has become synonymous with the NCAA Tournament Bubble during the coach's tenure suddenly finds itself at a crossroads. After many seasons in the thick of tournament conversations, Wake finished in the bottom half of the ACC last season. Some losses early on, as well as a long losing streak in January and February, likely derailed the season.

The season was a step back for the program, after having a fourth- and fifth-place conference finish the two years prior. Now the question remains: Can Wake Forest find their way back to near the top of the conference and win the games that matter?

This will not be easy. Wake lost all but one rotational player from a season ago. They hit the transfer portal, high school recruiting ranks, and the international market to try to build a new-look roster. It seemed like everything was working against them, though, as according to a CBS Sports article, the Deacs had one of the lowest roster budgets this offseason of any team in the Power Five. Specifically, they were in Tier 7 with seven other schools, and more towards the bottom of that tier.

Now, a new-look team is tasked with reversing the tides and preseason projections in order to climb their way to success. From everything we have heard, this does seem to be a more confident bunch. Let's break down some big elements of the season, from the roster to the schedule.

Newly Constructed Roster

The most visually distinct element of this new roster is certainly the upgraded size that Wake possesses. They now have seven players over 6'8". They brought in big seven-footer Antonio Dorn from Virginia Tech, 6'11" forward Xander Pintelon from FAU, and highly touted 6'11" freshman forward Gavin Placide. These guys should make an immediate impact on the front lines. Long and lean 6'8" transfer Ring Nyeri should provide some contributions on the boards and perimeter as well. Wake also added graduate forward Justin Abson, who was most recently at Georgia, and should provide more frontcourt depth.

As for the guards, Kevair Kennedy comes in to lead the show. He was MAAC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year this past season and brings a lot of speed and toughness. Jamari McDowell brings some experience from Kansas and likely slots in next to lone returner Isaac Carr, who looks to make a jump. Sharpshooter Justin Ray comes in from Monmouth and looks to continue his strong long-range shooting numbers at the Power Five level. Lukas Bojovic also comes in as a freshman from overseas to provide some guard reinforcements.

The Schedule

The Deacs kick things off tomorrow night against Maryland Eastern Shore, but are then instantly propelled up in competition level with a game at ranked Vanderbilt on Thursday. They also have two more games against SEC teams when they take on Mississippi State in the Battle 4 Atlantis and LSU in the SEC/ACC Challenge. They play West Virginia in Greensboro in December. It is critical for the Deacs to amass some quality wins in the nonconference before they head into the ACC schedule.

The ACC schedule is highlighted by getting in-state rivals Duke, North Carolina, and NC State all at home. Those should be big games and big opportunities to pick up quality wins. The road schedule is a little treacherous, though, as they will travel to SMU, Clemson, Louisville, and Miami, as well as making the West Coast Trip to play Cal and Stanford. With this challenging road schedule, it puts even more pressure on the Deacs to win those home conference games in order to stay in the hunt.

Predictions

When it is all said and done, I do see this team finishing higher than their projected 14th-place finish in the ACC Preseason Poll. This is a very young team, with some of their best players being the youngest members, so I do think it will be a work in progress. Look for Wake to show a lot of signs of improvement in the nonconference schedule, but then get progressively better over the course of the season as those younger guys build confidence. When it is all said and done, I do think this will at least be an entertaining team to watch and play with a more competitive edge than what we saw last year.