Wake Forest knows it won't be going to a bowl for the first time since 2005, and just last week, Duke's dreams of going to a bowl for the first time since the 1994 season were dashed. In practical terms, neither team has anything to play for, but the team that does the best job of not looking at it that way has an obvious advantage.
KICKING MATTERS
The kicking game has hurt Duke perhaps more than anything during its nine-game skid against Wake, but if this one is close at the end, the Blue Devils are in the best shape they've been in a long time with Lou Groza Award semifinalist Will Snyderwine entrenched at kicker.
IS IT THAT SIMPLE?
The Blue Devils have come painfully close to beating a trio of bowl-bound Wake teams over the course of Duke quarterback Thad Lewis' career, but the Deacons aren't a bowl team this season and Duke isn't the bottom feeder. Perhaps that alone could be enough to put Duke on top this time around.
-- BRYAN STRICKLAND
