Virginia Basketball Cracks the Top Ten Of The AP Poll As Championship Week Begins

Virginia has entered the top 10 of the AP Poll after a 2-0 week that moved them to 27-4

Mar 7, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom gesture from the bench against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the first half at John Paul Jones Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Conference championships will kick into high gear this week and Virginia heads into the ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed in Charlotte. While the AP Poll is not going to get much attention with the NCAA Tournament right around the corner, it was notable for UVA because the Cavaliers have lept three spots into the top ten, their highest ranking this season.

BREAKING: College Basketball AP Poll🏀https://t.co/b1AEkiBBfG pic.twitter.com/lRaqKRTgv0

— On3 (@On3) March 9, 2026

Virginia was 2-0 this week, getting close wins over Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.

Momentum heading to Charlotte

Virginia has bounced back from their blowout loss to Duke and has momentum heading into the conference title game. After the win over the Hokies on Saturday, Ryan Odom talked about the message to his team heading into the Tournament:

"I mean, we just, you know, there's a lot of factors that go into it. Certainly, we want to win the game regardless. We want to put our best foot forward. We knew that they would come out, and so we talked a lot about that, just where they were sitting, you know, at the current state, and, you know, they weren't going to get in just by beating us today. They're going to need to continue to win and play well in Charlotte as well. And that's just how it is at this time of year.

But I wanted our guys to focus on just the game in itself. You know, how are we going to win the game because there are two different teams that played that then had played in Blackburg. Both are better, you know, at this juncture of the season. So we needed to play well to win, and our guys understood that. The biggest thing I wanted them to do was just to relax and play. And I thought they came out with a really good fire and in a relaxed but aggressive way.

We did talk about the NCAA tournament seating, and just painted a picture for them that we are playing for something right now. Even though this thing is set in Charlotte, it's not set, you know, past that. And so we wanted to do our part here at home. And you want to play well going into that anyway. You want to be playing your best basketball down the stretch."

There is a real path for UVA to make it to the Tournament Championship this week and possiblly get a rematch with Duke. Odom continues to win big in his first season in Charlottesville and this week should only add to it.