Virginia’s men’s basketball schedule is shaping up like a stress test, and that appears to be exactly the point.
The Cavaliers added Arkansas to the mix this week, with the teams set to meet at Capital One Arena in Washington. That gives Virginia another heavyweight on a nonconference slate that already looked punishing and now reads like a full-on gauntlet.
The headliners were already in place. Virginia will play UConn on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden, and Kentucky is coming to Charlottesville for the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec.
- ESPN’s Way Too Early Preseason Top 25 has all three opponents near the top, with UConn at No.
5, Arkansas at No. 11 and Kentucky at No. 17.
Virginia is No. 14 in that same ranking.
The rest of the schedule doesn’t offer much relief. The Cavaliers also are set to face a Maryland team that should be much better in Buzz Williams’ second season, host Old Dominion, and take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis, where the field includes Marquette, Texas A&M, Xavier, Mississippi State, Memphis, Penn State and Wake Forest.
The ACC portion brings more heavy lifting. Duke is No. 2 in ESPN’s preseason rankings, while Louisville checks in at No.
13, Miami at No. 20 and North Carolina at No. 25.
Virginia also has a preseason exhibition against No. 19 Vanderbilt in Charleston, S.C.
That kind of slate almost certainly means more losses than the Cavaliers had in Ryan Odom’s first season, when they went 30-6. But the tradeoff is obvious: a veteran group that should be hardened by the time March arrives.
Last year’s nonconference schedule had its moments, with Butler, Texas, Maryland, Dayton and Ohio State all on the slate. Still, Virginia wasn’t tested this consistently, and that showed when the Cavaliers were knocked out in the second round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed by No. 6 Tennessee.
Odom has done well to keep the core intact in an era when roster turnover is constant. Virginia brought back three of its top five scorers, including all-ACC forward Thijs De Ridder, who averaged 15.6 points per game, and Sam Lewis, who scored 10.6 per game.
The transfer additions are just as important, with guards Jurian Dixon coming over after averaging 15.7 at UC Irvine and Christian Harmon arriving after putting up 12.8 at Arkansas State. Chance Mallory, meanwhile, is set to take over at point guard after thriving as a freshman in a reserve role.
That blend of production and experience is why some analysts see Virginia as a dark horse national title contender. And with the NCAA tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams, the Cavaliers would have to fall apart badly not to hear their name on Selection Sunday in 2027, even with a double-digit loss total.
Odom clearly wants his team tested, and this schedule will do the job.
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Middlebrooks value is easy to see because he can help in more than one way, which is exactly the sort of trait that can tilt a camp battle. Gibson has brought similar energy to the receiver room, where Virginia is still sorting out roles and looking for the right fit in the slot, so both players have made this one of the more interesting position stories around the program as practice rolls on. [Read more 🡒]