Could Virginia football be ranked despite not playing in week one?

Dominant opener should give the Cavaliers momentum — but is it enough to vault them into the top 25?

Aug 29, 2026; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers celebrate with fans following the game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Atkins-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One thing is certain: Virginia will be undefeated after week one of the college football season.

But will the Cavaliers be ranked?

Largely snubbed in the national preseason polls, Virginia made quite a statement with a 34-8 demolition of NC State in its week zero opener. The Cavaliers and their fans can bask in that achievement this weekend while most of the country observes Labor Day and a majority of FBS teams kick off their season.

But will the Cavaliers' strong start be enough to vault them into the top 25 in either the Associated Press or Coaches' poll — especially in an era of short attention spans — when the new rankings come out Tuesday?

There's a solid chance the coaches could reward Virginia with a ranking. Barring an unlikely wave of week one upsets, though, the Cavaliers may have to wait at least another week to crack the AP poll.

Let's look back on the preseason polls.

The coaches essentially rated Virginia 33rd in the nation, or eighth among schools also receiving votes, with 40. The AP panel almost completely ignored the Cavaliers, giving them a single 25th-place vote to tie them for 47th place despite last year's school-record 11 wins and the nation's most experienced roster.

That's a lot of teams to leapfrog in one poll, even if Virginia's week one dominance produced mea culpas from many national analysts earlier in the week.

Complicating Virginia's quest to be ranked is a dearth of legitimate chances for teams ranked in the preseason poll to falter this weekend. There's exactly one Week 1 game scheduled between two ranked teams: No. 9 Mississippi against No. 24 Louisville Sunday night in Nashville. Many elite teams chose to have cupcakes for appetizers.

So it would take a wave of early upsets for voters to penalize and demote the same teams they supported on blind faith just a month ago. Although Thursday night proved that anything is possible in early September — like UMass stunning Rutgers — don't count on Furman surprising No. 20 Tennessee, or Northern Illinois knocking off No. 22 Iowa, or Utah Tech upsetting No. 14 BYU.

Barring a wave of upsets, Virginia should move up into the first five schools in the "Also Receiving Votes" paragraph in the AP poll. Because the panel of voting coaches (which includes Virginia's Tony Elliott) gave the Cavaliers more preseason love, they certainly could sneak into that Top 25 with some help.

It's far more likely that Virginia will earn its first ranking after week two if the Cavaliers take care of business next Friday night against Norfolk State, which went 1-11 in Michael Vick's first season as head coach but beat Winston-Salem State in its 2026 opener.

Aside from giving alumni something to post about, rankings — especially in September — are meaningless, anyway. Just remember that in last year's week two polls, eventual national champion Indiana — the team this year's Cavaliers keep drawing comparisons to — was ranked 21st by the coaches and 23rd by the AP.

Things worked out just fine for the Hoosiers.