Virginia Takes A Small Dip in KenPom and NET Rankings Following Their Close Win Over Boston College

Virginia got two wins this week, but were not very impressive in either and has now taken a small dip in the NET and KenPom Rankings

Jan 31, 2026; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall (30) dribbles the ball against Boston College Eagles guard Fred Payne (5) during the second half at Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The good news for Virginia basketball is that they got two wins this week against Notre Dame and Boston College. The bad news is that they were unimpressive against two of the worst teams in the ACC and that has caused them to drop a couple of spots in the new KenPom and NET Rankings.

After being No. 16 in both rankings heading into yesterday's game against the Eagles, Virginia dropped to No. 18 in both on the Sunday morning update. At KenPom, UVA has the No. 16 ranked offense and the No. 31 defense.

In the NET rankings, Virginia is now 4-2 in quad 1 games and 4-1 in quad two games. They have two home games coming up this week, as they face Pittsburgh on Tuesday and Syracuse next Saturday.

While getting wins is always better than taking losses, Virginia is going to have to start playing better if it hopes to climb in the NCAA Tournament projections. UVA is a projected 4-6 seed right now, but the way the schedule breaks down, they should be favored in every game the rest of the season but one, the road trip to face No. 4 Duke. Virginia has an opportunity to raise their profile if it can keep winning games and earn a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Improvement Needed

Jan 31, 2026; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom looks on during the second half against the Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

This was another game for Virginia in which they did not start off the game well and Ryan Odom talked after the game about what he told his team at the half, when they were trailing:

"We were two for 16, you know, from three, and so, one part of the conversation was let's make sure that we're taking the right threes. Let's not just shoot threes to shoot threes, when potentially there might be some drives to the basket, and I think in the second half, the guys did a nice job of attacking and certainly got fouled some, but also got some baskets going to the rim. We limited how many threes we took overall. And then defensively, just being better at the point of the screen. We were getting beaten at the point of the screen way too easily in the first half, and we needed a tougher effort there from our guards, and then also our bigs."

Winning conference games on the road is tough and that is something that Odom acknowledged after the win yesterday:

"Yeah, I mean, it's hard to complain about winning that many games on the road. It's not easy to win on the road. It doesn't matter what league you're in. It's difficult, and so we can't pat ourselves on the back—there's more road games to come. We've got to be good at home, and it's a tough conference this year. You know, it's much improved from a year ago, and so we've got to be ready every game."

Virginia still looks like one of the top teams in the conference, but they need to start playing better or they will take an ill advised loss. Their next game is Tuesday against Pittsburgh.