The 2007 Orange Bowl
Louisville vs. Wake Forest
Holy Freakin' Crap

Remember when Marisa Tomei won that Oscar for My Cousin Vinny and nobody could really believe it, so they made up urban legends about Jack Palance reading the wrong name and the Academy covering it up to prevent embarrassment? And now you have to dig in your memory vault for confirmation on the off-chance somebody mentions that Marisa Tomei has an Oscar, like on Entourage when Drama mentioned he had worked with an Oscar winner during his three-episode arc on A Different World? (Tomei, not Kadeem Hardison - although his work in The Sixth Man was criminally ignored.) Remember that?
Than maybe you also remember that Lyle Lovett married Julia Roberts. Or that George Mason made the Final Four in 2006. Or that Britney Spears is the mother of two children. Or that a former WWF wrestler was governor of Minnesota. Or that my buddy Scott once jumped off a two-story balcony with an umbrella to prove that what Mary Poppins did was possible. Or that Michael Irvin continues to have gainful employment with the biggest sports network in the world. Or that Sly Stallone just released Rocky VI, and it isn't that bad. Or that Marion Barry was re-elected to D.C.'s mayoral office after he was sent to jail for possession of crack.
All these occurences were highly improbable; some even borderline impossible. Yet none of these things can compare to Wake Forest winning the ACC and playing in tonight's Orange Bowl. None. No matter what happens tonight, nothing will change this fact.
The Orange Bowl is only the seventh bowl game in Wake Forest history. Before this season, they spent a grand total of seven weeks in the AP Top 25 Poll - ever. Their all-time conference winning percentage is .280. Prior to this August, Wake Forest wasn't just a doormat, they were that nasty, cruddy buildup under the doormat.
It figured to be more of the same in 2006 once starting QB Ben Mauk and highly-regarded RB Micah Andrews went down with season-ending injuries early in the year. An opening game win in Syracuse was followed by a near-loss against a Duke team that would finish the year 0-12. Had it not been for a blocked chip shot field goal in the waning seconds, Wake's season would likely have been over by week 2. Jim Grobe is a great coach, but losing to Duke would have been the ultimate blow to a team that was seemingly being held together with duct tape.
Instead, the Deacs used their near-loss against the Dukies to rattle off three-straight wins, including a beatdown of Ole Miss in Oxford. The Rebels have been down for a while, but that never mattered in the past. Wake Forest football teams simply did not win road games against SEC schools.
Wake jumped into the AP Rankings for the first time in three seasons after the Ole Miss win and were getting some national attention for their 5-0 record. Still, the wins had come against a weak schedule and nobody expected the Deacs to give #15 Clemson much of a game when the Tigers came rolling into Winston-Salem. But, for the game's first 45 minutes, it was Clemson that was playing the role of the weakling. It wasn't until a blocked FG returned for a touchdown that Clemson had any life. Had All-American kicker Sam Swank hit that field goal, the Deacs would have been up 20-3 in the 4th quarter. Instead, though, Wake's lead was a narrow 17-10 and everyone in the stadium and watching on ESPN knew the game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Tigers rolled to 24 fourth quarter points and Wake had let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
At that time, everybody in Winston-Salem was hoping the Deacs could get the win they needed to become bowl eligible. With a contest against UNC on the horizon, everybody figured Wake would be bowling for the first time since 2003. The more optimistic fans were hoping Wake Forest could sneak out a win against NC State (who still had yet to collapse), Boston College, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Maryland so the Deacs might be able to play a bowl close to North Carolina. Winning the ACC wasn't even on the radar.
With Clemson, Maryland and Boston College all ahead of Wake in the Atlantic Division, even the most optimistic fan couldn't have dreamt the Deacs would contend for the division title. And it wasn't until a primetime win over Boston College (which was preceded by nailbiting wins over the two remaining North Carolina schools; State and Chapel Hill) that anybody even considered that the Deacs could play in the ACC Championship.
With the win over BC giving Wake the tiebreaker over the Eagles, it was figured out that if the Deacs could win two of their last three games (at FSU, vs Virginia Tech and at Maryland) they would win the Atlantic Division. The VT game was figured the least winnable, barely ahead of the upcoming tilt with FSU. Though the 'Noles were struggling for the first time since entering the ACC 14 years before, Wake had never won in Tallahassee and rarely was competitive against Bobby Bowden teams. The media, who was on the Wake bandwagon but still refused to take them seriously, all picked Florida State to win. All the Deacs did was hand Bowden his first home shutout ever, as Wake pummeled the Seminoles 30-0.
That win gave Wake control over their own ACC destiny. A win at Maryland on Thanksgiving weekend would give the Deacs the Atlantic Division, no matter what happened in other games. Thusly, it was no surprise that Jim Grobe's unit came out flat in a meaningless game against Virginia Tech. (That the lateral quickness of the Hokie linebackers helped stifle Wake's sweeps, reverses and end-arounds, also surely played a part.) The only thing left was to see if Maryland would have a chance to win the Atlantic when the Deacs visited College Park. Thanks to Miami's Thanksgiving night win over Boston College, that happened and the Deacs and Terps met on November 25 for the ACC Atlantic Division title and the requisite berth in the ACC Championship the following weekend.
Maryland struck first, but Wake's running game proved to be too much for the Terps defense. A gutsy 4th-and-goal touchdown plunge by fullback Richard Belton sealed Wake's 38-24 victory. They rushed for 296 yards against Maryland and picked off their QB Sam Hollenbach three times.
In Jackonsville, Wake rode the defense of Jon Abbate, Alphonso Smith and Josh Gattis to a hardfought 9-6 win over Georgia Tech. All-American receiver Calvin Johnson had a quiet 177 yards, but the ineffectiveness of Reggie Ball doomed the Jackets. Sam Swank's third field goal gave Wake their first lead with 2:55 left in the game. GT went three-and-out on their next possession and punted, hoping to force Wake into a similar fate. On a 3rd-and-2 with 1:13 left, Willie Idlette ran for 18 yards off an end-around, sealing the game, and the ACC Championship for Wake Forest. It was only the second in their history and first since 1970.

Tonight's game in Miami is the biggest event in Wake Forest sports history. Winning the ACC Basketball Tournament is always huge, but not since the 1962 Final Four have the Deacs ever been on a national stage like they'll be tonight. And the irony of it all is, it doesn't really matter if Wake Forest wins or loses.
It's not a cop-out to say that the Deacs victory was in merely getting to the Orange Bowl. All the odds were stacked against them. They were picked last in their division, had three offensive starters suffer season-ending injuries and play at a school where football wasn't as big as basketball signing day. Throw in that Wake Forest is the third-smallest school of any playing Division I-A football and that's a lot of obstacles to overcome.
There will be no shame in losing tonight to Louisville, if that should happen. Wake sold-out their allotment of 17,500 tickets well before Christmas, a fact that should be considered even more impressive considering there are only 55,000 living Wake Forest alumni.
Sadly, this alumni won't be in Dolphins Stadium tonight; a dislike for flying and an even greater dislike for driving 36-hours roundtrip means I'll be on my couch tonight, drinking Sierra Nevada, wearing my lucky shirt and rooting on the Deacs from Bethesda, MD.
Even if I had made the journey, a loss wouldn't have diminished any of my excitement or pride in my school's football team. Wake Forest is playing in the Orange Bowl, while Miami, Florida State, Clemson, N.C. State, Boston College and Virginia Tech have already finished their seasons. Jim Grobe is the man of the hour in college football (at least he will be until kickoff - or if Nick Saban should take that Alabama job). And Wake Forest is the darling of college football. It's been a sweet ride in 2006. I wish it didn't have to end.

It will end tonight, however, no matter the result. It will either be a sweet win to always savor or a loss that still won't diminish what this team has accomplished. And just as I have all year long, a loss is what I'm predicting. Calvin Johnson had 177 yards against Wake's defense with a D+ quarterback (and that grade might be too kind). Brian Brohm is an A quarterback and he will be more productive against Wake's unheralded (and underrated defense).
As Boise State showed last night (and as Wake has been proving all year), no result is impossible in college football. For as good as Louisville's offense is, it's important to remember that their defense can best be described as generous. The Deacs struggle against teams with linebacking speed (VT, GT), and all indications are that Louisville lacks this. If Wake can run the ball effectively and keep the Cardinal defense on the field, they could be dangerous.
The Deacs aren't likely to make a huge comeback (a la Texas Tech), so their best shot is to try and hang around and make something happen in the 4th quarter. (Jim Grobe has already said as much.) In order to beat a team that was an offsides penalty away from playing in the National Championship, that might be a tall task.
Even so, Wake Forest's football team has already won.