Bowl and College Football Playoff Projections For Virginia After Their Win Over California

Where are the Cavaliers projected to play in the postseason after moving to 8-1?

Nov 1, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) carries the ball on a quarterback keeper against the California Golden Bears during the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers are the highest ranked team in the ACC and they are the only team in the ACC that controls their own destiny to get to Charlotte and play in the ACC Championship game. UVA won another close game, beating California 31-21 on the road this past Saturday and they have three games left to try and make their first ACC Championship appearance since 2019.

With losses by Georgia Tech and Miami over the weekend, Virginia is starting to pop up in more and more projections for the College Football Playoff.

Playoff Projections

Nov 1, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back J'Mari Taylor (3) runs the ball against defensive back Dru Polidore Jr. (2) during the first quarter at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

After all of the games on Saturday, ESPN has a roundtable of 12 CFB experts picking their teams that would make the playoffs, and UVA was included in almost all of them after this weekend:

Andrea Adelson: (7) Oregon vs (10) Virginia

Kyle Bonagura: (6) Georgia vs (11) Virginia

Bill Connelly: (5) Alabama vs (12) Virginia

David Hale: Chose Louisville over UVA

Eli Lederman: (6) Georgia vs (11) Virginia

Max Olson: (6) Georgia vs (11) Virginia

Adam Rittenberg: (7) Oregon vs (10) Virginia

Mark Schlabach: (6) Ole Miss vs (11) Virginia

Jake Trotter: (6) Ole Miss vs (11) Virginia

Paolo Uggetti: (6) Georgia vs (11) Virginia

Dave Wilson: (6) Georgia vs (11) Virginia

The most popular matchup here was Virginia going to Athens to face Georgia, who is 7-1 this season with their only loss coming at home to Alabama

CBS Sports is projecting UVA to face Texas Tech in the Pop Tarts Bowl.

These projections show that UVA is starting to gain ground in the national spotlight as a potential playoff team. However, they are going to need to begin to play better and not get in so many close games. That will start on Saturday with a home game against Wake Forest.

Virginia (8-1, 5-0), whose No. 12 ranking this week’s AP poll marks their highest since 2004, sit atop the ACC standings as the only undefeated team in conference play. For only the second time in program history (and first since 1990), UVA is off to an 8-1 start, while its five-game win streak in ACC action is a first in program history.

UVA has been good at blocking out the noise and they are going to have to continue to do so if they want to have a truly special season instead of just a surprising team that fell short at the end.