Assessing Virginia's Place in the College Football Playoff Heading into Week Twelve

With the Cavaliers' recent loss to Wake Forest, how has their position in the CFP changed?

Nov 8, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Daniel Kaelin (10) runs with the ball against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

After the Virginia Cavaliers dropped their week eleven matchup against the Demon Deacons last weekend, it was expected that they would see a drop in the College Football Playoff rankings. Unsurprisingly, they lost their promising spot at No. 14 and have since landed at No. 19. UVA now carries an overall record of 8-2 and is riding 5-1 in the ACC.

Virginia Drops in the CFP Rankings

Nov 8, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott watches players prior to their game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Time is dwindling in college football, and hopeful teams across the nation are itching to climb in the rankings. However, with UVA facing a brutal drop after week eleven, things could pan out differently than the Cavaliers had hoped.

According to Heather Dinich of ESPN, Virginia is still considered "in the mix" of the CFP and, alongside Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1), SMU (7-3, 5-1) and Miami (7-2, 3-2), leads the ACC with at least a 10% chance of reaching the playoffs. Previously, Virginia was listed as "would be in," but now, Georgia Tech has claimed that spot.

The Cavaliers certainly dropped the ball this past week, but there are two more opportunities to get back on track. During Tony Elliott's latest press conference, he weighed in on what went wrong during the Virginia-Wake Forest matchup, and where the Cavaliers need to go as they enter their week twelve contest against Duke:

"... when you're not at your best in this league, it's going to cost you, and it's going to cost you in some hard lessons. And so that's what we're taking with it is, hey, every game from here on out is a championship-level game. And so we gotta have that mindset, we gotta have that level of effort, that level of intensity. And again, not to say that the guys weren't playing hard, because we had a lot of guys who were playing hard. It's just, it takes a little bit more. Right, this time of year, and I told him before last week's game, and everything we did up to this point doesn't matter.

Like, you have to go in the month of November. You've got to go to another level, right? You’ve got to find something deeper inside of you, right, to push you to motivate you because it's easy to say, ‘Oh, well, we know what it takes, right?’ Well, you're going to get everybody's best. And so you have to have your best, and each week that bar is raising.

So that's what we're taking into this game. And then really just an opportunity for us to want to know, get back to that feeling that we enjoy in the locker room. But we're learning from last week that, man, you get what you earn. And so if you don't have your best, then you're not going to, you get what you earn."

With only two regular-season games left, it's crunch time for UVA. Their upcoming matchup against the Blue Devils will take place on Saturday, Nov. 15, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EST.