The 2024-2025 Virginia women’s basketball schedule was unveiled on Tuesday night. We’re going to break down what we like and don’t like about UVA’s 30-game slate and how it impacts the Cavaliers’ chances for a successful season.
Matt broke the down the men’s slate here:
To keep things readable on a phone, you can see the complete schedule on the VirginiaSports.com website.
Good: A Balanced Schedule
Compared to the men, the women play a more standardized schedule. Whereas the men, for the more successful programs, are more likely to play Friday and Monday games to fill out the television contracts, the women are more likely to stick, especially once ACC play begins, to the Thursday – Sunday schedule. Once the Cavaliers hit Winter Break, every game fits into this pattern. This allows the team to develop the rituals, recovery periodization, and academic support for a successful season.
Good: This is the ACC after all
Counting newcomer Stanford, nine of the eighteen ACC teams went to the NCAA Tournament last year. This is the best women’s basketball conference in the country and the Cavaliers will have ample opportunities to prove themselves.
Bad: The Non-conference Slate is Rather Weak
The ACC season is 18 games for the women (the men play 20 games) and UVa has 13 out-of-conference games. If you believe that teams need to be prepared for the gauntlet that is the ACC, then who you play in those 13 games matter. Most of these teams are lightweights and almost all of the games are at home. Only Oklahoma, a #5 seed last year, is away. The women will play three neutral-site games in the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout over Thanksgiving weekend, but only of them is against an NCAA tourney team: #11 seed Green Bay. The women drew Auburn (a first four Tournament entrant) in the ACC v SEC Challenge, but they play them at home.
There are way too many non-conference cupcakes.
Good: Back-to-back-to-back Games in Puerto Rico
The women play Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day, Washington State on Black Friday, and then Wyoming on Saturday. Three games in three days is what this team is most likely going to have to accomplish in the ACC Tournament to be able to get back to the NCAA Tournament. This is a good test run.
Good: Sunday Balance
Sunday games are the attendance generators of the women’s hoops world. There are 10 Sundays on the schedule and five games are at the JPJ while five are away from home. Sunday home games include Virginia Tech, Duke, Louisville and Stanford. For the most part, these are not the marquee late afternoon time slots because the women have been a bottom five team for most of the past decade so lots of noon and 1:00pm start times.
Very Good: Great Travel
With the influx of Stanford, Cal, and SMU, each “original” team is going to have fly to the West Coast every other year. This isn’t UVA’s year. Stanford and Cal come to Charlottesville in late February. Even a relatively short trip to Chapel Hill to face off against UNC is especially benign. The game versus the Tar Heels is the final game of the regular season (March 2nd) but that leaves the Hoos just an hour away for the ACC Tournament which kicks off three days later on March 5th. (Virginia hasn’t earned a first-round bye in a long time.) The Hoos can get settled in early.
Good? The Last Month Gets Easier
Do you want a more challenging run-up to the ACC Tournament, or do you want to coast in a little bit? It might be a matter of preference, but the biggest programs of the last month’s games – Stanford, UNC, Virginia Tech and Syracuse – all have huge losses to fill this year.
Good: Catching Notre Dame Early
For as outrageous as Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo was last year, Olivia Miles, who is set to return this year, is better. Throw in Sonia Citron, and the Fighting Irish have the best backcourt in the ACC, and maybe the country. But Hidalgo and Miles are both ball-dominant PGs and it’s going to take a while for, first, Miles to get back in game shape, and secondly, for Miles and Hidalgo to share the ball. Virginia plays Notre Dame (away) on the 29th of December.
Bad: How Many Teams Virginia Plays That Went to the Big Dance Last Year
The athletic department claims UVA plays 13 teams this year that went to the NCAA Tourney last year, nine in the ACC and then four from the non-con slate. I only count three: Oklahoma, Green Bay and Auburn. Here’s the bracket from last year.
If you can find a fourth, hit me up on Twitter (I’m not calling it X): @Jerzey_Walker
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