It’s a bye week for the Virginia Cavaliers football team, which means it’s time to talk some hoops. We’re just a little over a month from college basketball season, and UVA men’s basketball’s schedule was finalized with the ACC slate being announced this past Tuesday.
With that in mind, we decided to pick out some of our favorite matchups this season to compile a list of the five games that we’re most excited to watch in 2024-25.
Virginia vs Villanova (November 15, Neutral Site)
Both Virginia and Villanova could make a case for being the premier college basketball program of the 2010s (seven combined 1-seeds from 2010-2019).
But times have changed, Jay Wright traded in his coaching chair for an analyst desk, and the two elite programs are looking to find their footing in the NIL/transfer portal era. These two teams last faced each other in a legendary home-and-home split back in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, with Villanova winning the latter matchup on a buzzer-beater, 61-59, and the ‘Hoos taking the first one 86-75 backed by a 20-point performance from Malcolm Brogdon (highlights below).
This is the first real test in Virginia’s schedule, and Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena should be buzzing with Virginia fans from the DMV area as well as Villanova fans from Philly. Villanova was on the wrong side of the bubble last season while Virginia just made the cut, and this game could make the difference for two teams that will be fighting for an NCAA Tournament spot in 2025.
Key player: Eric Dixon (16.6 ppg last year)
Virginia vs Tennessee (November 21st, Neutral Site)
It’ll be a battle of orange when Virginia takes on Tennessee in the Baha Mar Bahamas Tournament a week before Thanksgiving. This is the first matchup of two in UVA’s only in-season tournament, with a potential championship game against either Baylor or St. John’s.
Tennessee is coming off their best season under head coach Rick Barnes. They went 27-9, finishing first in a competitive SEC and earning a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they made it all the way to the Elite Eight before Zach Edey and Purdue got the best of them. It was the Dalton Knecht show last season, as the best transfer in the country averaged 21.7 points per game, lighting up opponents on his way to winning SEC Player of the Year. Knecht is gone, but Coach Barnes’ new offensive philosophy is here to stay, as the Vols played an up-tempo offense with more three-pointers attempted last season.
Tony Bennett’s new-look offense will have its work cut out for it in what should be a rock fight between two of the best defensive programs in Division I.
Key player: Zakai Zeigler (11.8 ppg last year)
Virginia vs Louisville (January 4th, Home)
Tony Bennett owns Louisville. It’s not even up for debate at this point. Virginia is 19-2 against Louisville under Tony Bennett, winning their last nine games against the Cardinals. Louisville has floundered in the seasons following Rick Pitino’s departure in 2017, but Bennett was still 5-1 against the Hall of Fame coach. This epic De’Andre Hunter buzzer-beater in 2018 just about sums up a decade of Virginia basketball being Louisville’s kryptonite.
All those things considered, Louisville enters the 2024-25 season with more excitement surrounding the program than they’ve had in a while. The optimism is well-founded, as newly-hired coach Pat Kelsey brought in an exceptional transfer-class. Kelsey led Charleston to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances with a 58-12 record over the last two seasons. He features a fast-paced offense that lets the three-ball fly. The Virginia packline defense will have to slow the game down, turning it into a half-court battle where the ‘Hoos should have the advantage.
Key player: Terrance Edwards (17.2 ppg for JMU last year)
Virginia vs Duke (February 17, Home)
A home game against Duke in late-February is always must-watch TV. Last time the Blue Devils came to Charlottesville, UVA escaped with a chaotic 69-62 win in overtime.
Caption: Yes, that’s me, the bozo in the orange mask and cape holding a “Fear the Beek” sign during UVA’s overtime win over Duke in 2023.
Duke brought in yet another generational freshman talent, Cooper Flagg from Maine. Flagg is a 6-foot-9 forward with the fluidity and shooting touch of a guard, making him a matchup nightmare for opposing forwards (man I wish we still had Ryan Dunn). Virginia will need to shake off last year’s 73-48 loss in Cameron Indoor, as Bennett looks to even up his record against Duke’s young head coach Jon Scheyer.
A storyline to watch will be TJ Power with the opportunity for a mini-revenge game against his former team. Power didn’t earn much playing time for a deep Duke team last season, and he’ll look to make his former team regret letting him go by splashing some threes against them at a packed out JPJ in February.
Key player: Cooper Flagg (No. 1 overall recruit in 247 composite rankings 2024)
Virginia at North Carolina (February 22, Road)
UVA heads to Chapel Hill just five days after hosting Duke. UNC is on the heels (see what I did there) of a major bounce-back season, winning the ACC regular season and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament a year after they embarrassingly missed the Big Dance.
The Tar Heels suffocated the Cavaliers last season in a 54-44 win at JPJ, but their roster looks a lot different now. Armando Bacot is finally gone — phew — as well as impact transfers Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan. But the Heels will still sport one of the best backcourts in the country led by First-Team All-American guard R.J. Davis. Second-year point guard Elliott Caduea and Top-10 ranked freshman guard Ian Jackson could be in store for big seasons as well.
Isaac McKneely, Dai Dai Ames, and Jalen Warley will have to slow down UNC’s guards if Virginia’s going to get the win in Chapel Hill.
Key player: R.J. Davis (21.2 ppg last year)
Honorable Mentions:
at SMU (Dec 7), at California (Jan 8), at Stanford (Jan 11), vs SMU (Jan 15)
Virginia has the chance to welcome SMU to the ACC in what will be both teams first conference game of the season. They follow that up with a road-trip to the Golden State during Winter Break, where they’ll face off against Cal and Stanford in consecutive games. They finish their matchups against new ACC teams with a home game against SMU, where they’ll hopefully improve to 4-0 against squads that aren’t exactly basketball powerhouses.
vs Virginia Tech (Feb 1)
Nothing screams college basketball like a rivalry game at home on a Saturday in early February. JPJ will be rocking when the ‘Hoos host Virginia Tech in the first of two matchups between the bitter rivals. Virginia has won their last five home games vs the Hokies, dating back to 2019.
