Virginia March Madness Tournament Projection: What Seed Will The Cavaliers Get?

After their loss to Duke in the ACC Championship game, where is Virginia projected to play?

Mar 14, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall (30) dribbles the ball against the Duke Blue Devils during the men's ACC Conference Tournament Championship at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Welcome to Selection Sunday.

It is finally time to fill in the bracket, and one team that is in line to get a high seed in this year's NCAA Tournament is the Virginia Cavaliers. UVA battled last night in the ACC Championship against No. 1 Duke, but they came up short and missed an opportunity to make a big move up the seeding line.

Speaking of the seeding line, where is Virginia expected to land?

Newest projection

Coming into Selection Sunday, I think that Virginia is more than likely going to end up as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

The Cavaliers enter today with an 8-4 record against Quad 1 opponents and a 9-1 record against Quad 2 opponents. They are the No. 13 team in the country according to the updated KenPom rankings.

The No. 1 seeds are for this year's tournament look to be set in stone. Duke, Michigan, Arizona, and one of Florida/Houston/UConn will be the top seeds in this year's bracket. If it is Florida, you can bet that Houston and UConn will be No. 2 seeds, but after that, things are a little more uncertain due to how some of the games played out this week.

Illinois was poised to get a No. 2 seed, but lost in the Big Ten quarterfinals against Wisconsin, leaving its seeding in doubt. Same with Michigan State, which lost to UCLA in the quarterfinals. If Purdue were to upset Michigan in today's Big Ten Championship, they could move up to the No. 2 line.

Virginia had real momentum to move up, but the loss leaves their resume lacking in some areas compared to teams like Illinois and Michigan State.

Heading into the game vs Duke, ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected UVA to be a No. 3 seed in the West Region, where Arizona would be the No. 1 seed.

Coming into the day, CBS Sports latest bracketology projected the Cavaliers as the No. 3 seed in the West Region, facing No. 14 Idaho in the first round.

Did the loss to Duke change anything for Virginia? I don't think losing to the projected No. 1 overall seed in the tournament is anything that is going to be frowned upon and if Virginia was a No. 3 seed coming into the day, then they should be a No. 3 seed after the loss.

I think Virginia is going to see itself land a No. 3 seed in a region of this year's bracket, and the popular place to send the Cavaliers seems to be the West Region. This team has the ability to compete with other elite teams, as they showed tonight, and they will look to rebound from this loss and prepare for a deep run in the Big Dance.