Where Could UVA Be Ranked In New AP Top 25 After Home Win Over WSU?

Will the Cavaliers' win against Washington State be enough to see them jump in the rankings and earn their highest mark since 2007?

Oct 18, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) passes the ball against the Washington State Cougars during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Despite trailing for most of the second half, Virginia still earns the win against Washington State coming out of their bye. UVA is now bowl eligible at 6-1, having won five games in a row since losing to North Carolina State in Week Two.

Let's see if the Hoo's Week Eight win will prove convincing enough to pollsters to give UVA any boost in the rankings this week.

Where could they be ranked?

Oct 18, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) passes the ball as Washington State Cougars defensive end Isaac Terrell (88) rushes in the third quarter at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The big question for Virginia this week is if the voters are going to punish them for playing a close game to a below average Washington State team. Not only that, some would argue that UVA probably got very lucky to end up winning that football game.

There were a ton of AP top 25 losses this week. No. 2 Miami lost to Louisville, No. 5 Ole Miss lost on the road to Georgia, No. 7 Texas Tech lost on the road to Arizona State, No. 10 LSU lost to Vanderbilt, and No. 11 Tennessee lost to Alabama. Those were the teams that were ahead of UVA.

Now, all of these teams are not suddenly going to fall behind Virginia, but LSU and Tennessee could. My projection for this week would be that UVA stays in the 16-18 range. They could have moved up more, but I think voters are going to be hesitant because of the way they played yesterday.

This is the first time that Virginia has been bowl eligible under head coach Tony Elliott and he talked about the importance of that after the game yesterday:

"It was awesome to be able to fist bump Williams in the hallway and just let her know how much I appreciate her support and all the administration's support, the faculty and the staff, and all they're doing for this program, and really that's for them. I know that's something that they've been wanting and we've been building and working towards, but with the football team, you know, we haven't talked about that, to be honest with you. Two weeks, we didn't discuss it. We're just focusing on one week at a time, and now, we're kind of in a little different situation. We're not sneaking up on anybody, but this team has big goals, and I think a lot of people may have, especially at ACC media days, you know, looked at me like I was crazy when I said that this football team is thinking beyond just being bowl eligible. They want to go and compete and play in the biggest bowl possible, and so far, they've found a way. At the end of the day, we're going to celebrate a victory. That's a good football team that we found a way to win. It went down in the fourth quarter last week versus the No. 4 team in the country. That team's getting better, but at the end of the day, I felt like the team took a step in the direction of solidifying the belief that it takes to win games, and that's really what you saw in the second half, and we'll go back to work as a staff and as a team, I'm confident in that of cleaning up all the other stuff..."

Virginia will hit the road next weekend to take on longtime rival North Carolina (12:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network).