It was unanimous. And predictable.

When the time came to pick the winner of Saturday’s Wake Forest-Florida State game on ESPN’s College GameDay, the entire panel of on-site hosts – Kirk Herbsteit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee – all went with the Seminoles.

Herbstreit summed up the choice by pointing to the improvement in FSU’s culture this season.

In reality, though, it was based on an outdated perception – one in which the Seminoles continue to be considered a brand name in college football while the Deacons are still and will probably always be “Little Wake Forest.”

Even the folks in Vegas fell into the trap by setting FSU as a 6.5-point favorite.

Never mind that since 2017, Wake has recorded more wins (42-30), more ACC wins (22-18) and been to more bowls (5-2) than its once-mighty division rival. Or the fact that the Deacons are the only team other than Clemson to have won an Atlantic title during that span.

Or, you know, the fact that Wake Forest had beaten FSU in their past 2 matchups.

It’s just easier to feed into popular narratives, especially when they’re running as rampant as the one proclaiming that “Florida State is back.”

That could ultimately turn out to be the case. The Seminoles have, in fact, made positive strides under coach Mike Norvell during the second half of last season and the first half of the current one.

Regardless of that possibility, it’s long past time to recognize that “Little Wake Forest” is now all grown up and that the program coach Dave Clawson has built over the past 9 years in Winston-Salem has matured into one of the ACC’s best.

The Deacons (4-1, 1-1 ACC) reinforced that standing by going on the road and taking care of business in Tallahassee on Saturday for their 3rd straight win against FSU.

If their 31-21 win wasn’t impressive enough at face value, consider that they did by bouncing back from a double-overtime loss to Clemson a week earlier that Clawson described as “a soul crusher.” And that they had the added distraction of traveling through a hurricane just to get to the game.

While everyone around them worried about their emotional state, including some on social media who accused them of being scared to play FSU and using Hurricane Ian as an excuse to avoid showing up, the veteran Deacons never lost their focus.

As quarterback Sam Hartman put it: “We don’t flinch.”

They had every opportunity to do so after the previously undefeated Seminoles trimmed their once commanding 28-7 lead down to just a single score with 9½ minutes remaining.

But with the crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium chopping and chanting, and the momentum solidly in the home team’s favor, Hartman, running back Christian Turner and wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams combined to take Wake on an epic 18-play drive that burned up most of the remaining clock and produced a clinching score.

The poise and execution that went into that clutch final possession, which included a gutsy 4th-down conversion, is a product of the team’s collective experience. Of the 22 starters listed on the pregame depth chart, 15 were juniors or seniors and 4 others were redshirt sophomores in at least their 3rd year with the program.

Their performance under pressure is also a direct reflection on their coach.

While the television cameras don’t like the usually-stoic Clawson as much as, say, Clemson’s fist-pumping, headset-throwing Dabo Swinney, his players are appreciative of the tone his cool demeanor sets.

“He’s not the coach that’s screaming at us if we get a 3-and-out or goes running down the sideline when we score a touchdown,” Hartman said. “I think we reflect that in the way we play. His locker room talks are always the same. There’s no rah-rah or anything like that. It’s ‘you gotta play football’ and at the end of the day, we can play with anybody if we do our job.”

Forget about just playing with them. Considering who Wake has left on its remaining schedule, there’s a realistic possibility that they can beat them all.

After finishing its nonconference schedule at home against Army on Saturday, the Deacons return from an open date with games against Boston College, Louisville, NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse and Duke.

While it’s doubtful they’ll make it to the ACC Championship Game for the second straight year with Clemson holding a 1-game lead and tiebreaker in the Atlantic standings, they’re fully capable of hanging around and pestering the Tigers to the bitter end.

Like a gnat that won’t stop buzzing around your face.

Maybe at some point along the way, people might start to take notice – least of all, the influencers everyone tunes in to hear before the games begin every Saturday.

But if it hasn’t happened by now, the narrative will probably never change. It’s just too easy to dismiss Wake as “the little team that could” because its brand doesn’t move the needle nationally.

Even if it’s a label the Deacons have long since outgrown.