It hasn't taken long for Wake Forest to plummet from first in the nation to worst in the ACC.
Two years removed from the program's second No. 1 national ranking, the Demon Deacons are trying to avoid making history of a different kind: They don't want to be the first Atlantic Coast Conference team since 1987 to go winless in the league.
Not many people expected much from them this season, with the media picking them in the preseason to finish last in the ACC. The surprise is just how much they've struggled during Jeff Bzdelik's first season.
They endured an embarrassing parade of early losses to mid-to-low-major programs. They lost all five ACC games by an average of nearly 26 points, and haven't kept it closer than 19 in any of them. They slogged through their lowest-scoring game in half a century.
Chalk up these growing pains to an imperfect storm of inexperience, injury, attrition and adjusting to a new coach.
''It's definitely a learning experience, and there's no question it will all pay off in the end - whenever the end will be,'' freshman center Carson Desrosiers said Friday. ''Whether that's tomorrow, a couple games from now, the last few games of the season. We're all working hard. We're just not getting the results we want.''
Wake Forest (7-13, 0-5) enters Saturday's home game against Virginia looking for the victory that will keep it out of the tiny club of teams to go 0-for-the-ACC. It's only happened three times since 1955, and the most recent to do it was the 1986-87 Maryland team that was reeling following the death of Len Bias.
At times, these Demon Deacons have played as though they're capable of joining them - most notably two weeks ago during a 74-39 loss at Georgia Tech that marked their worst offensive output since 1959.
That followed a 29-point loss at Virginia Tech and preceded a 24-point setback against reigning national champion Duke that was their fifth loss in a row and 10th in 12 games - a string of futility that has tested even the most optimistic of the Demon Deacons.
''You've always got to stay positive, no matter what - especially through adversity like this,'' freshman guard Tony Chennault said. ''Everybody's expecting you to fall.''
By all accounts, the program has dropped precipitously from its position just more than 24 months ago. With three eventual NBA draft picks leading the way, Wake Forest rose to No. 1 in the nation in mid-January 2009.
After going one-and-done in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments that year, the Demon Deacons rebounded last season to win their NCAA opener. But a few weeks after Kentucky beat them by 30, Dino Gaudio was fired and Bzdelik was brought in from Colorado to take over.
He inherited a roster that had five freshmen, only one player who logged meaningful minutes during that 2008-09 season and returned only one player, sophomore shooting guard C.J. Harris, who had ever started a game for the school. Four of the freshmen are playing at least 12 minutes per game.
Then came the position shuffle: Desrosiers, a natural power forward, moved to center after starter Tony Woods received his release from the program. Chennault, the starting point guard, broke his foot in the opener, and Harris was pressed into duty at his spot.
''What do people say, the best way to learn is by being thrown in the fire?'' Desrosiers said. ''That's what's happened.''
It's certainly been a rough education for the Demon Deacons, whose 10-point loss to Stetson in the opener was a definite sign of things to come. They've also lost to Virginia Commonwealth by 21, Winthrop by 10 and UNC Wilmington by 12 before Presbyterian knocked them off on a layup in the final seconds.
Still, Bzdelik has the full support of the man who hired him last April. Athletic director Ron Wellman, who hosted a forum for fans to air their concerns, called Bzdelik ''the perfect person for Wake Forest to lead us through this difficult time, and to lead us to the heights that we all want and deserve.
''He's doing everything that we expected him to do, and wanted him to do, to establish the culture and foundation that will produce future championship-caliber teams,'' Wellman said.
Bzdelik - who previously led rebuilding jobs at Maryland-Baltimore County and Air Force and left behind a Colorado team that could make the NCAA tournament - has repeatedly tried to shield his young players from the blame that comes with their losing record. But he remains optimistic that this year's struggles will someday turn into triumph.
''Our current situation, with the record and, of course, with the clunkers against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, might, to the average fan, indicate doom and gloom,'' Bzdelik said. ''But when you really examine where we're at, and how we're creating a culture, and also the painful way our young players are gaining wisdom and experience, the future's really bright.''
