After a pair of convincing home wins over California and Stanford, the Virginia Cavaliers rose seven spots up to No. 16 in this week’s AP Poll, released Monday afternoon.
At No. 16, UVA (14-3 overall, 3-1
ACC) has earned its highest AP Poll ranking since appearing at No. 14 in the final poll of the 2022-23 season.
The ascension in the AP Poll comes on the heels of a dominant three-game stretch for Ryan Odom and the ’Hoos since their disappointing triple-overtime loss at Virginia Tech on December 31st. Since the trip to Blacksburg, UVA is 3-0 with an average margin of victory of 18 points. While the offense continues to roll, the ’Hoos have entered the new year with an added level of defensive intensity — Virginia has held each of its past three opponents to 61 or fewer points, allowing for the trio of stress-free wins.
The ’Hoos, who were the biggest risers in this week’s AP Poll, have also earned a recent climb in the computer metrics. Virginia is up to No. 15 at KenPom and No. 16 in the NET rankings as of Monday morning, and though we’re still over two months away from Selection Sunday, the ’Hoos have already put together a strong tournament resume. Virginia is 2-1 in quadrant one with a 12-1 record outside of the first quadrant.
The next two weeks, however, will really begin to define the ceiling for Odom’s squad. The ’Hoos will take on four-straight quadrant-one matchups (three on the road), beginning with a trip to No. 20 Louisville on Tuesday evening.
Elsewhere in the AP Poll, the ACC has five ranked teams this week (No. 6 Duke, No. 14 North Carolina, No. 16 Virginia, No. 20 Louisville, and No. 22 Clemson). The sixth-ranked Blue Devils bolstered their resume with an impressive pair of wins over Louisville and SMU, while Clemson entered the poll after extending its winning-streak to seven games.
At the top of the rankings, Arizona stayed put at No. 1 while Michigan dropped two spots to No. 4. The Wolverines suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of former ’Hoo Andrew Rohde and the Wisconsin Badgers. No. 18 Alabama also fell in the rankings after a pair of losses this week, while Vanderbilt, which has become the team to beat in the SEC, kept its undefeated season alive and jumped up to No. 10.
