WASHINGTON DC – The bracket guessers are going to be all over the map these next few days.

And we’re not just talking about from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the soon-to-be dearly departed Pac-12.

Rather, it’s the NCAA Tournament bubble, which will fluctuate wildly literally by the hour depending on who wins, who loses, and how many bids get stolen by upset mid-major conference tournament champions.

Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes and his players are all too aware of the situation.

They know that depending on the circumstances, most of which are out of their control, they can go from being among the last 4 teams in to 1 of the first 4 out in the blink of an eye. Even while they’re sitting in the hotel resting up between games.

Only the NCAA selection committee will be able to determine what exactly the Deacons have left to do, if anything, to get into the field of 68.

But this much is certain.

Wednesday’s game against Notre Dame in the second round of the ACC Tournament is 1 they absolutely could not afford to lose.

A similar upset at the hands of another 13-seed, Boston College, went a long way toward keeping Wake out of the tournament 2 years ago. And that team, with 23 wins at the time, had a better resume than this current 20-12 edition.

Forbes and his team made sure history didn’t repeat itself by coming out strong at the start of both halves, especially on the defensive end of the floor, and rolling to a 72-59 win at Capital One Arena.

The victory, which avenged a loss in South Bend 2 weeks ago, advances the fifth-seeded Deacons into Thursday’s quarterfinal round against fellow bubble team Pittsburgh.

The fourth-seeded Panthers are a slight favorite, odds that can be found across most of the best betting apps.

The teams split their 2 regular season meetings, with each winning on their home court. Thursday’s neutral site matchup feels a lot like a potential NCAA play-in game.

The Deacons understand what’s at stake. They’re just not in the mood to dwell on it.

“Coach Forbes talks about it all the time, about trying to block out the noise,” forward Andrew Carr said after posting a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double against Notre Dame. “We’ve been in and out (of the weekly brackets), whatever it is, a million different times throughout the season. That’s just kind of how it is.

“None of that really matters until Selection Sunday. For us to be able to put ourselves in the best position, it’s going to be winning the next game in front of us.”

Winning 1 game was essential to Wake’s chances. Winning 2 would go a long way toward strengthening their NCAA case. But the Deacons aren’t interested in squeaking in just under the bar.

The only way they can guarantee safe passage into the next tournament is to win the championship of this one.

And that’s what they came here to do.

“We came here to play on Friday and Saturday,” Forbes said, referring to the semifinals and championship game. “The only way to do that is to win on Wednesday and play on Thursday, and that’s what we’re looking at right now.”

Forbes’ players certainly appeared to be locked in on the prize against the Irish.

They clamped down on ACC Freshman of the Year Markus Burton and forced him into a 4-of-16 shooting performance. They were even more stingy with Burton’s sharpshooting backcourt mate Braeden Shrewsberry, who was just 1-of-9. Together they missed 10 of their 12 3-point attempts.

With Carr, Boopie Miller, and Hunter Sallis leading the way, the Deacons burst out of the gate so quickly and decisively, building an early 13-3 lead that Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry threatened to sub out his entire starting lineup if it couldn’t be more competitive.

More important than the fast start to the game was the way Wake came out of halftime.

Second-half lulls have been a problem of late, including the loss in South Bend. Not this time. The Deacons kept the hammer down, extended a 6-point lead to double-digits, and were never seriously threatened.

“I think it was about the same score on the road at Notre Dame. It was 40-36, something like that close,” Forbes said. “I thought we came out and did a really good job establishing on both ends of the court in the second half and not relying on just our offense or our defense to win the game.”

In doing so, they looked like a team playing for its postseason life is supposed to look.

“It’s time to change, time to grow up, time to do whatever you want to use,” the Deacons’ coach said. “It’s go time.”

Related: Interested in wagering on the ACC Tournament? Duke is +180 via FanDuel. North Carolina is +175 via Caesars.