21. Virginia (9-1)
After the ACC titles and national championship under Tony Bennett, Virginia being good just feels right, even if their conference and local rivals may disagree. It’s been quite the task for first-year coach Ryan Odom to get the Cavaliers back to this point, but solid early performances have them right here. Starting December with a 19-point win at Texas and following that up with a big win over Dayton certainly gave oxygen to the Cavaliers’ return.
Virginia continued their December in impressive fashion, albeit with an 84-60 win over Maryland Eastern Shore that was far less impressive than the previous week’s performances. Regardless, the Cavaliers did enough to win again, getting 15 points from Sam Lewis and 13 out of Thijs De Ridder. Virginia has now won four straight games and are getting great output from the offense, a change from those defensive-minded teams of the yesteryear.
When you dive deeply into the schedule, Virginia hasn’t exactly been matching up with the best of the sport. They lost a tough game to an underwhelming Butler squad but have won their other games, with at least that Texas win being Quad 1, an important discussion point for March. Long before we think about the bracket or other positioning, the Cavaliers look to keep winning with a faceoff against Maryland next weekend.