Way too Early 2026 Bowl Projections Sees Virginia Football Face an SEC Opponent in the Postseason

After making the ACC Championship game this past season, where could Virginia end up this postseason?

Dec 6, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott greets players during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2025 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

It is May and it is admittedly very early for bowl game projections in college football, but with spring practice wrapped up around the country, it is time to start projecting where teams could end up in the coming season.

For Virginia, they are hoping to build off the phenomenal season they had as a program in 2025. UVA had one of its best seasons and certainly the best under head coach Tony Elliott by winning 11 games (including beating Missouri in the Gator Bowl), making the ACC Championship for the first time since 2019, and nearly making the College Football Playoff. It was the kind of season that Virginia fans had been hoping for since Elliott was hired, and he delivered under pressure.

So what does he do for an encore?

Early projection

In the latest way-too-early bowl projection from CBS Sports, Brad Crawford, Virginia is once again matched up with an SEC opponent in the postseason. Instead of playing in Jacksonville for their bowl game, UVA will head over to Tampa, FL, to face the Auburn Tigers in the Gasparilla Bowl.

This would be a fascinating matchup against the Tigers, who are entering their first season under former USF head coach Alex Golesh, who was seen as one of the top G5 coaches in the country. Golesh is bringing some of his top players from South Florida to the The Plains, including quarterback Byrum Brown, and they are hoping to field a much more competitive team in the SEC this season.

UVA on the other hand is hoping to make another run at the ACC Championship and I think they are being slept on heading into the season. They are not without question marks, but I think the Cavaliers are much closer to making it back to the conference championship game than falling back to being a 6-6 or 7-5 team.

The Cavaliers still have to settle the quarterback battle between Missouri transfer Beau Pribula and Pitt transfer Eli Holstein, but they have one of the most underrated groups of running backs in the country, an offensive line with experience, and a defense that returns a good bit from a salty front seven that was one of the ACC's best.

There is still a ways to go and plenty to figure out, but the race for who is No. 2 in the conference after Miami is wide open heading into the season. You could make a case for a number of teams being the prime contender against the Hurricanes and UVA should be considered amongst them.