Provo » After getting embarrassed by Wake Forest in their visit to Tobacco Road last year, the BYU Cougars couldn't be blamed for looking back tonight as they play host to the No. 6 Demon Deacons, the highest ranked nonconference opponent to ever visit the Marriott Center.

Instead, they are looking ahead, and thinking about what a win over an undefeated (12-0), quality opponent will do for them when the NCAA Tournament selection committee meets in March.

"I told the players, this is a really important game for us, on the national level." BYU coach Dave Rose said. "But this isn't going to make or break our season. We need to play well because [Wake Forest] is a really good team. But we have seven or eight other teams coming in here that we need to play really well against, too."

Wake Forest ripped BYU 79-62 last year and the Cougars were never in the game, trailing from almost the opening tip and committing 22 turnovers.

"I thought the game would be more competitive," Rose said afterwards.

This one should be, as BYU puts its nation-high 53-game home winning streak on the line in front of what is expected to be a sellout crowd -- only 500 tickets in the 22,700-seat building were available as of Friday at 5 p.m.

The Demon Deacons return every player that contributed in last year's route.

"They are probably the highest ranked team we will ever play," BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari said after Friday's practice. "That by itself creates a lot of hype."

Mountain West Conference mates UNLV and Utah already downed top 20 teams this week, UNLV on the road (Louisville) and Utah at home (Gonzaga), and the Cougars see this as their turn to add to the conference's resume.

They also know they need a good showing to earn themselves some respect, and a possible national ranking. A victory, coupled with Tuesday's 74-68 road win at Tulsa, almost certainly would put them in the coaches' poll, where they were 26th last Monday, and possibly in the AP Poll, where they were 34th.

"There's a lot on the line," Lee Cummard said.

Usually, the Cougars have a height advantage on almost every team they play -- but not tonight.

Wake Forest has one of the tallest starting fives in college basketball, with 7-foot junior center Chas McFarland (10.3 ppg.), 6-9 freshman forward Aminu Al-Farouq (12.9) and 6-9 sophomore James Johnson (12.8) on the front line. Leading scorer Jeff Teague, a 6-2 sophomore guard (18.8), scored 26 last year against BYU.

"They are an all-star team, and they play like it is an all-star game," Tavernari said. "Not a lot of defense."

The Deacs rank among the nation's leaders in rebounding, which concerns the Cougar coaching staff because BYU was burned repeatedly on Tuesday by Tulsa's offensive rebounding. Wake is out-rebounding opponents by more than 10 boards a game.

The Demon Deacons have made 232 free throws. Their opponents have taken just 215.

In the latest NCAA rankings, released Dec. 21, Wake was the third-best shooting team in the country (51.3 percent), behind only BYU and Utah State.

drew@sltrib.com