USA TODAY Sports experts offer predictions on Clemson vs Wake Forest

Here’s who USA TODAY Sports experts think will win Saturday’s game between Clemson and Wake Forest.

The Clemson Tigers head to Winston-Salem this Saturday to take on longtime rival Wake Forest in ACC play.

The Tigers (4-1) rose five spots to No. 10 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll (No. 11 in the Coaches Poll) after their fourth straight win came against the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee, 29-13.

Wake Forest (2-3) is unranked but coming off a 34-30 upset win at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh against NC State.

To no surprise, Clemson is a heavy favorite heading into its Week 7 contest against the Demon Deacons.

To that end, the six-member panel of Dan Wolken, Paul Myerberg, Eddie Timanus, Scooby Axson, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith all predicted the Tigers to win Saturday’s game against Wake Forest in their weekly Top 25 college football predictions released Thursday.

RELATED: ‘Back to looking like Clemson’: Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson impressed with Tigers

Earlier this week, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said that college football did his team a favor following a Saturday filled with upsets. Two top-5 teams fell on the road: the previously No. 1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide lost 40-35 at Vanderbilt, and the Tennessee Volunteers (then No. 4) lost 19-14 at Arkansas.

In the ACC, the Miami Hurricanes needed a 25-point second-half comeback to rally past Cal, and Louisville lost to SMU in a game the Cardinals had been favored to win at home.

“This is a week where if you pay attention to what people say on the outside, then they are saying we are supposed to win,” Swinney said at his weekly Tuesday press conference. “This is not a game of ‘supposed to.’ This is a game of what you do. This is a game of performance.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game between Clemson and Wake Forest is set for noon ET. The game can be seen on ESPN.

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