Virginia Cavaliers football coach Tony Elliott may be able to complete a comeback to UVA’s glory days of the middle Bronco Mendenhall years. All it will take for Virginia to reach the ACC Championship Game, according to The Athletic’s Dan Santaromita, is an upset of the Louisville Cardinals this weekend at L&N Stadium before handling a manageable schedule the rest of the way.
After Louisville, UVA plays the Washington State Cougars at home, the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, the Cal Golden Bears in Berkeley, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at home, the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, and the Virginia Tech Hokies at home to close out the season.
Santaromita feels the Cavaliers put the Florida State Seminoles’ ACC Championship chances on life support after their 46-38 double-overtime win over FSU last Friday at Scott Stadium, given the Noles’ matchup this Saturday with the Miami Hurricanes in Tallahassee.
“The Seminoles fell out of the top 10 with the loss at Virginia, but this one should still play a major role in the ACC race. If Miami wins, FSU will have an uphill climb to get into the ACC title game,” Santaromita wrote.
“Speaking of Virginia, the Cavaliers earned another big game by beating the Seminoles. They jumped into the AP Top 25, but are still a touchdown underdog at undefeated Louisville. The winner of this game is in a great position to make the ACC title game, especially if it’s Virginia, which doesn’t have another ranked team on its schedule the rest of the way. The Cardinals have won the last three in the series.”
Virginia was predicted to finish No. 14 in the conference in the ACC’s Football Media Poll before the season. For reference, the Clemson Tigers, currently sitting at 1-3, were picked to finish first in the conference.
UVA is aiming to be the next Arizona State Sun Devils, who were similarly written off by the Big 12’s preseason polls last season. Unlike ASU, though, the Cavaliers would likely face one of the top teams in the country, The U, in their conference title game.
That we’re talking about any of this shows how unpredictable the NIL era has made college football. Virginia is at the right place at the right time, and changed their fortunes drastically by upsetting Florida State last week.