Over the past four seasons, the Virginia basketball team is one of just nine teams to make the NCAA Tournament’s final 32 teams. The Cavaliers joined that list with their win against UNC Wilmington in March. Overall, the Hoos have won 23 games or more in five straight seasons.

Both of those little statistical nuggets represent one of the program’s golden ages to date. This is just the second time in program history that Virginia made the field for four straight years, the first string quartet coming in 1981-1984. This is also the only time in its history that the program has won 20 or more games in six straight seasons, though modern teams obviously play more games in a season overall as well. In the previous 16 seasons dating from the 1995-96 season through the 2010-11 season, UVA had only two 20+-win campaigns.

UVA coach Tony Bennett orchestrated this run of consistency. With it, he has ushered in new expectations. That’s why fans have been a bit shell-shocked over the last several months.

In March, Florida rolled to a 65-39 triumph just two days after the UNCW victory extended the Hoos’ NCAA Tournament wins streak. Over the next several weeks, Jarred Reuter, Marial Shayok, and Darius Thompson decided to transfer out of the program. Then the Hoos missed out on several high-profile recruiting targets that had been near the top of interest lists. Virginia still is waiting for its first commit in the 2018 class.

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