ACC Basketball Preseason Media Poll Released: Where Did UVA Land?

How is Virginia being looked at as the season gets close to beginning?

Oct 8, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia head coach Ryan Odom answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | William Howard-Imagn Images

College Basketball season is getting closer and today, the preseason ACC media poll was released. While they were not picked as the preseason favorite, the voters showed a lot of respect for Ryan Odom and Virginia, picking them to finish 5th in the conference this season.

2025 ACC Preseason Poll
School, Points
1. Duke (34), 866
2. Louisville (15), 842
3. North Carolina, 741
4. NC State, 710
5. Virginia, 623
6. SMU, 616
7. Clemson, 510
8. Miami, 500
9. Syracuse, 489
10. Notre Dame, 477
11. Wake Forest, 412
12. Virginia Tech, 355
13. Georgia Tech, 315
14. Pitt, 301
15. Florida State, 221
16. California, 156
17. Stanford, 138
18. Boston College, 107
First-place votes in parentheses; 49 total voters

2025-25 Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
Name, School, Votes
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 46
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 46
Darrion Williams, NC State, 45
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 36
Ryan Conwell, Louisville, 36

Second Team
Boopie Miller, SMU, 27
J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 27
Isaiah Evans, Duke, 24
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 24
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 24

ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Darrion Williams, NC State, 23 votes
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 19
J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 2
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 2
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 1
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 1
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 1

ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 43 votes
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 3
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 2
Neoklis Avdalas, Virginia Tech, 1

Most Underrated Team?

Oct 8, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia head coach Ryan Odom answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | William Howard-Imagn Images

While it might be really early for bracketology projections, it can give a good idea of how teams are viewed at the start of the season. In previous iterations of ESPN's Bracketology, UVA had not been included, but in the latest one, they were.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has placed Virginia among the final teams in and has them in a first four matchup with Georgia, with the winner getting a 10 seed and getting the chance to play USC, the No. 7 seed. The No. 1 seed in this region is Purdue, the preseason favorite to win the national championship.

Here is what Lunardi had to say about UVA's tournament prospects:

"The Virginia Cavaliers are an ironic addition to the bracket. Not because the Wahoos are without NCAA pedigree, but because they represent a new kind of bubble team in the NIL and transfer portal era. The traditional irony is that Ryan Odom takes over a program he once eliminated in the historic UVA-UMBC upset of 2018. The newer irony is that those Cavaliers under Tony Bennett were one of the most stable programs, both in style and substance, and Odom's charge is to win as big as Bennett, albeit in a very different way. The first thing you notice is that Virginia has no significant returning players. And among the impact newcomers, there appears to be an emphasis on a score-first mentality: Devin Tillis (UC Irvine), Dallin Hall (BYU) and Malik Thomas (San Francisco) are likely getting paid to put the ball in the basket. Only Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State) is a heralded defender. Regardless, look for the Cavs to overachieve in Odom's first year -- and to perhaps lead a much-needed resurgence in the ACC."

With Virginia being picked fifth in the ACC, they might not be able to wear the underrated label for long.