Virginia’s rise last season didn’t buy much preseason respect.
Despite a school-record 11 wins and an outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 2025, the Cavaliers were nearly invisible in The Associated Press preseason football poll released Monday. Virginia landed just one 25th-place vote from the 69 voters.
That was actually an improvement from the 2025 preseason AP poll, when the Cavaliers got no votes at all before going on to shock the league. Tony Elliott entered that season with his job security under scrutiny, then turned it into a breakthrough year, guiding Virginia to a 7-1 mark in ACC play, an ACC Coach of the Year honor and a 16th-place finish in the final polls.
The national skepticism hasn’t disappeared. Virginia was also left out of the American Football Coaches Association Poll released Aug. 4, though it did collect 40 points there, which was seventh-most among teams outside the Top 25.
In the AP rankings, Virginia sits tied for 26th in the Also Receiving Votes category with Liberty. James Madison picked up three votes, while Virginia Tech received six after a 4-8 season that ended with a 27-7 loss to Virginia.
The Hokies have generated buzz after hiring former Penn State coach James Franklin and adding a large transfer class. Even Missouri, the team Virginia beat in the 2025 Gator Bowl, checked in at No.
If Elliott wants to use the disrespect as fuel, he has plenty to point to.
That said, preseason polls have a habit of looking silly in a hurry. In last year’s AP preseason top 10, Penn State was third and Clemson sixth. Penn State fired Franklin at midseason after a three-game losing streak, while Clemson stumbled to a 1-3 start and finished 7-6.
Virginia’s challenge is bigger than public perception, too. The Cavaliers haven’t been a steady ACC power since Hall of Fame coach George Welsh retired after the 2000 season. Over the past two decades, they’ve posted back-to-back winning seasons only once, in 2018 and ’19 under Bronco Mendenhall.
This year’s roster also looks very different. Elliott and his staff attacked the NCAA portal for a second straight offseason and built what the program sees as the most experienced roster among Power Four teams. Virginia has 30 graduate students, including all five expected starters on the offensive line.
Even so, there’s a lot of turnover at the skill spots. Beau Pribula takes over at quarterback for the graduated Chandler Morris, and most of the running backs and receivers are new to the program. On defense, senior linebacker Kam Robinson remains in recovery from the torn ACL that ended his 2025 season early.
The Cavaliers open Aug. 29 at home against NC State, and they’ll do so with a point to prove. The rest of the college football world is clearly waiting to see whether 2025 was the start of something real or just a one-year surge.
Virginia has the talent, experience and schedule to make that answer loud enough. And after last season, the Cavaliers know the only ranking that truly matters is the one at the end.
In Other News...
Virginia Already Has A Chance To Make An ACC Statement
Virginia enters the season with one of the clearer paths in the ACC conversation, and the reason is continuity. While other league contenders are sorting through coaching changes or a longer reboot, the Cavaliers can lean on a roster and structure that already know what the staff wants. That kind of stability matters in a conference where the margin between a top-four finish and the middle of the pack can be thin, especially when the goal is to stay in the title hunt from the opening weeks.
NC States situation adds to the contrast, with Justin Gainey beginning a rebuilding phase that gives Virginia a chance to separate itself early in the league race. The Cavaliers do not need the rest of the conference to wait around for them, but this is the sort of matchup and stretch of the schedule where they can make a real ACC statement if the pieces fit the way they should. [Read more 🡒]
Kam Robinson Could Change Virginias Opener If One Thing Happens
Kam Robinsons path back has become one of the more important injury storylines around Virginia as the Cavaliers prepare for their season opener against NC State. The linebacker is coming off ACL surgery, but coach Tony Elliott said Robinson has already resumed individual work and 7-on-7 drills, a sign that the recovery is moving in the right direction as the team starts ramping up toward Week 1.
The next step is getting him back into contact work, which would give Virginia a better sense of how realistic it is for him to suit up when the opener arrives. Corey Costner is also nearing a return, Ezekiel Larry is expected back later in September, and the Cavaliers are still managing absences from Isaiah Reese and Grant Ellinger, leaving the defense and line with a few key moving parts as the countdown to NC State continues. [Read more 🡒]
Tony Elliott Sees One Encouraging Sign As Virginia Nears Week 0
Virginias preseason work continued with its second intrasquad scrimmage as the Cavaliers edge closer to their August 29 opener against NC State. The final tune-up also comes with a familiar early-season backdrop, as Tony Elliott keeps looking for signs that his team is tightening up in the right places before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff at Scott Stadium.
Elliott came away encouraged by what he saw, pointing to the groups progress and the competitive edge showing up in practice. For Virginia, that kind of steady climb matters as much as any individual rep right now, with the focus on turning preseason repetition into something more dependable once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]