CBB Bracketology: Where Should UVA Basketball Land After Its 3-0 Start?

Ryan Odom has Virginia Basketball off to a 3-0 start, but how is their outlook for March?

While they have faced far from a murder row of a schedule, Virginia Basketball is off to a 3-0 start under Ryan Odom, and offensively, they have looked the part so far. There are plenty of challenges that are ahead, but this team has eased into this season and looks like they might be able to challenge for a top spot in the ACC. Their 3-0 start has moved them up to No. 46 in the latest KenPom rankings.

Early Bracketology

Virginia coach Ryan Odom works the referees during the second half of their exhibition game against Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Again, its early, but the wins have Virginia projecting well in bracketology. ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected UVA as one of the "last four byes" and has them as a No. 10 seed in the Midwest region and facing Vanderbilt, who is the No. 7 seed. The No.1 seed in that region is Purdue, while Houston is the projected No. 1 overall seed.

With how the ACC is starting to look, there are going to be plenty of opportunities for Virginia to rack up some wins and improve their standings in these projections, which are largely meaningless, but can give you a snapshot of how programs are viewed for their seasons so far.

UVA has the personnel to be a top three-point shooting team in the ACC, but it has not materialized so far and it was a central talking point for Odom after their latest win:

“We never go into a game saying we want to shoot this exact number of threes. Certainly, we want to shoot the right ones. That's the key. Shooting the right threes, reading the closeouts. We always want to take layups when we can get them and limit the mid-range shots that we attempt. And sometimes the defense is just too good. It gets you into some of those shots, and they lock out and won't let you get all the way to the rim, and they're pretty good on the ball. Then you have to adjust. You have to find more things off the ball and screening actions to try to get your guys open. But, you know, I thought our guys did a nice job today, overall discerning and taking what the defense gave them and really attacking the basket.”

Virginia has looked like a really solid team that is still trying to figure some things out under a new head coach, but they seem to have the pieces to have a high ceiling and I look for things to improve in future bracketology updates.