Virginia Slid Five Spots In The Latest College Football Playoff Rankings On Tuesday Night

How will Virginia respond after a tough loss and a fall in the rankings?

Nov 1, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; Virginia Cavaliers linebacker Kam Robinson (5) runs back a California Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele pass for a touchdown during the fourth quarter at California Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Virginia slides five spots in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, that was announced on Tuesday night, falling to No. 19. The Cavaliers suffered a tough loss at home to Wake Forest in a 16-9 defeat while losing their star quarterback Chandler Morris. Morris was ruled out in the first half after a brutal hit to the head. It affected a well-balanced attack for the Cavaliers that could only score nine points and not put the ball into the end zone. Here is the latest update on Morris.

"He's doing good. He was out at practice yesterday. Uh, obviously didn't participate. Uh, but look good. Says he's feeling good. Today will be another day going through the protocol, but he's exercising, which is a positive, and we're hopeful that you know by tomorrow we'll have him back in practice," said head coach Tony Elliot.

Morris status will be a thing to monitor throughout the rest of the week, but a positive update to begin the week.

Their defense once again was a key component for the Hooos and played at a high level on Saturday only allowing six points off three turnovers and 64 passing yards in the loss. A pretty incredible effort from the Hoos given the circumstances.

Cavaliers have to beat Duke on Saturday

Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers linebacker Kam Robinson (5) on the sidelines in the first quarter at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

With Virginia sliding down five spots, it is even more important now that they handle business in Durham on Saturday. The chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee had this to say on the ACC as a whole.

"When you look at their nonconference schedule, there really are no signature wins other than Miami vs. Notre Dame. When we’re having that conversation, we look at schedule strength, record strength, that’s certainly one of the metrics that come in to play."

Not great news for teams in the ACC looking for a playoff spot but a reality of the current situation and one that the conference has to deal with. The Hoos have to remain focused on the task at hand and control its own destiny.

Virginia is looking forward to playing Duke. Here is the mindset of the team heading into the matchup on Saturday.

"They owned it and were ready to go back to work. Uh, obviously disappointed. All of us are disappointed. Don't like that feeling. I felt like the guys responded the right way, and that's really all you can do. And you know, we talk a lot about mindset, Monday being about the mindset regardless of the result on Saturday. You have to own the mistakes and correct them," said Elliot.

"Try not to get too high on the positives, but figure out a way to continue to build upon them and then you've got to get your eyes forward. So when we come in, we have a big windshield graphic because it's always about what's ahead. So disappointed um but at the same time, too we we understand that there was a lot that we could have controlled in the game that we didn't, and ultimately we we owned the uh and we earned the result that we got."

Virginia is one of the best teams in the conference and can continue to push forward in the right direction to make themselves a playoff team, but it starts with getting a win against the Blue Devils.