News-Record.com

A few preseason factoids on Wake Forest:

** The Deacs are ranked 23rd in the USA Today Preseason 25. That’s the one done by the coaches and included in the BCS formula. If ranked in the Associated Press survey in two weeks, Wake will have appeared in 11 of the past 36 AP polls. Before this stretch, which began in October 2006, the program had been ranked 11 times in 834 weeks dating back to 1950.

** Of the 65 conference-affiliated BCS members, only six play 75 percent or more of their non-league games against other BCS programs. They are Wake, North Carolina, Baylor, Connecticut, USC and Washington.

** The Deacs, picked to finish second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, are seeking to post three consecutive winning seasons in league play for the first time in school history. The program was above .500 in six of the first 53 seasons of ACC play.

** Wake has won 12 ACC games (including the 2006 championship contest) in the past two seasons. The program earned 16 conference wins in all of the 1990s.

** QB Riley Skinner set an ACC record for single-season completion percentage (72.4) last year but understands why he’s not getting national hype.

“Those things tend to get overlooked when you throw more interceptions than touchdowns, is a wonderful stat to have,” he said.

Skinner finished with 13 picks and 12 TDs but became more judicious as the season wore on. He threw nine interceptions in his first 129 attempts and only four in the remaining 207 passes.