9. Virginia (29-5)
Ryan Odom arrived in Charlottesville last offseason but this was far from his first experience with Virginia. After all, he led UMBC to that historic upset over the Cavaliers seven years prior, but now he had a big task ahead to rebuild the program back into contenders. While far from perfect, year one has certainly been that and the Cavaliers are sitting pretty after a 15-3 record in an ACC that’s been stronger than last year.
Their quarterfinal in the ACC Tournament was a great start, getting a 81-74 win over NC State thanks to 16 points from Malik Thomas and a 15-point game out of Thijs De Ridder. In the semifinal, the Cavaliers were fantastic in an 84-62 victory over Miami, with 17 points off the bench from Ugonna Onyenso in a demonstrative effort. They gave Duke quite the push in the finals but came just short, falling 74-70 against a really great Blue Devils team. Thomas scored 18 points and Sam Lewis was good for 17 points.
The Cavaliers have won every game since the final week of January that hasn’t come against Duke and it’s hard to be better than that. They’ve really asserted themselves in the ACC and have stockpiled great performances before pushing Duke to the wire this week. They’re ready for the Big Dance and could be a sneaky team to watch in the days ahead, even if this isn’t exactly the kind of team to bring another title to Charlottesville quite yet.