CBS Sports Panel Predict Where Virginia Will Finish In The ACC Standings

Virginia does not have high expectations entering the season and is not expected to be among the ACC's top contenders

Oct 12, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott reacts after a play against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The time has come for season predictions. The 2025 season is nine days away for Virginia and they will begin their season at home against Coastal Carolina.

While this team does not carry heavy expectations this season (picked to finish 14th in the ACC in the preseason poll), they have a favorable schedule and brought in one of the most underrated transfer portal classes in the ACC. What will this result in?

Different Predictions For This team

Nov 9, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back Xavier Brown (0) gestures to the Pittsburgh student section after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

In a preview of the ACC conference today, nine college football experts were asked to give their predicted order of finish for the ACC and there were varying opinions about where UVA would finish.

The analyst that was the highest on the Cavaliers was Chris Hummer, who predicted them to finish 9th. Richard Johnson had UVA at 10th, Brandon Marcello and David Cobb selected them at No. 11, Tom Fornelli and Chip Patterson picked them at No. 12, John Talty and Brad Crawford picked them at No. 14, and the lowest analyst on Virginia was Shehan Jeyarajah, who had them at No. 15.

Could Virginia finish higher than projected?

Aug 31, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers wide receiver Trell Harris (11) celebrates with Cavaliers running back Kobe Pace (5) after scoring a touchdown against the Richmond Spiders during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

There might not be a team in the power four conferences that has an easier schedule than Virginia and it is the top reason to be optimistic about the Cavaliers season.

In a ranking of ACC schedules, CBS Sports Chip Patterson ranked UVA's as the easiest in the conference, while Syracuse has the toughest:

"A busy offseason aligns with one of the more favorable schedules to set up what could be coach Tony Elliot's long-awaited breakthrough with the program. Virginia brings in 31 players from the portal (it only took 22 total over the previous two offseasons) and faces a schedule that lacks Clemson, Miami, and SMU. The toughest nonconference game is actually against an ACC peer in NC State, so if Virginia can hold serve as a favorite, it might need only one or two upsets to be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2021."

Even if Virginia does not make massive improvements on the field, the schedule affords them plenty of opportunity to make a run to a bowl game.

Tony Elliott has belief in this team

Nov 23, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott (center) looks on from the field during a stoppage in play in the first half against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

While there seems to be external doubt about where the Cavaliers are going to finish in the ACC, Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott sounded very optimistic about his team at ACC media days:

"There's a lot of excitement surrounding this year's team. I absolutely love being around our young men. Another huge thank you to our administration, Dr. Williams, our donor base and staff for contributing the resources, the time and the effort to assemble the deepest and most complete roster that we've had in four seasons.

Speaking of the staff, we're one of only six Power Four programs to return our entire staff. This off-season we added 54 new players. 32 of those through the transfer portal and 22 of those being high school signees. I'd also like to add that our staff has gone about building to this point, and we've done it the right way. Three years ago on the front end we made a decision to honor the commitments of the young men that were committed to the previous staff. We also decided to honor the commitments of the young men that were currently on the roster, to embrace them and work alongside them until graduation.

Our current roster is very balanced. 46 percent of our players are upperclassmen and 54 percent are underclassmen. With the addition of the players that we added in the transfer portal, we added 850 games of college football experience.

We held a lead in nine of our 12 games last season, and we're hopeful that the added depth and experience will help us in working towards closing out games in which we have a lead.

As a staff and administration, we're hard at work building a competitive roster. The scholar athletes are hard at work on the grounds in the classroom. In the spring we set a football record with a 3.23 team GPA, and as a program we've been above a 3.0 GPA five of the seven semesters we've been on the grounds. In our seven semesters, we've averaged 77 members of our team accessing a 3.0 or Above Club each semester. This season we have seven home games, four of which are within the first five weeks, and our staff and players are excited to see our outstanding fan base pack Scott Stadium and create an environment that makes it the hardest for opposing teams to play in."

Virginia opens their season on Aug. 30th against Coastal Carolina.