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UVA Baseball Schedule Realignment Proposal to Improve Strength of Schedule

Aidan Baller|
Virginia Athletics

Earlier this week, Virginia baseball saw its season come to an end as the Hoos did not make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. With rumors now swirling that Head Coach Brian O'Connor is reportedly the front-runner for the Mississippi State job, all of a sudden, a UVa baseball program that has made it to Omaha in 2021, 2023, and 2024 has quickly unfurled. 

For more on the news on O'Connor: Virginia Baseball Coach Brian O'Connor Is Reportedly The Front-Runner To Be The Next Coach At Mississippi State

Despite finishing 32-18 with a 16-11 record in ACC play, the Hoos were among the last four out of the NCAA Tournament as the Cavaliers became the first ACC team since 1994 to have had a record in the ACC five games above .500 and miss the NCAA Tournament. 

Duke, Miami, Wake Forest, and Louisville all made the NCAA Tournament despite having worse ACC records than the Cavaliers. Additionally, Virginia closed out the regular season with a 12-3 record, which included a sweep of the Miami Hurricanes. 

One of the arguments for the Hoos missing the NCAA Tournament was that their RPI wasn't good enough, meaning their strength of schedule was not strong enough. Virginia's SOS would've been stronger if the series against Florida State hadn't been canceled; further, with the Cavaliers good form at the time, there's an argument to be made they would've won at least one of those contests. 

Part of the problem for Virginia was that if we disregard the Florida State series, the Hoos still did not play North Carolina or Clemson, who finished third and fifth in the conference, respectively, which takes away from the Cavaliers ability to boost their RPI. 

This problem arises because the conference consists of 16 schools, making it impossible to have a weekend series with every single team. Every team plays 10 ACC schools in the regular season, missing out on five others. 

A solution to this problem is to have in-season conference tournaments similar to the NCAA regionals by having one school host four teams and play a round-robin tournament. By doing this, every team has more of an equal schedule and, therefore, an equal playing field that allows the ACC to work together to ensure that every team has a boosted RPI and can make the NCAA Tournament. 

Suppose each team were to play three of these in-season tournaments, meaning they'd face nine different teams over three weekends. In that case, there'd be room for seven more slots for long-season series against teams, allowing every team to play everyone while keeping long-standing schedule traditions. 

Virginia will have all offseason to craft proposals for a new scheduling model and reload for the 2026 season.

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Aidan Baller
AIDAN BALLER

Aidan has been writing for Virginia Cavaliers On SI since January of 2023 and covers UVA football, basketball, men's soccer, and men's lacrosse. He is from New York and is currently in his fourth year at the University of Virginia, enrolled in the M.S. in Accounting program.

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