The Virginia football team entered the national polls Sunday following its three-game winning streak against Miami, Duke, and North Carolina. The Hoos took down the Tar Heels, 31-21, Saturday afternoon to improve to 6-2 this season. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 22 in the coaches’ poll and No. 23 in the Associated Press poll.
With the team’s strong play this season and some recognition starting to take hold, fans are curious about some of the recent developments. Popular questions include the following:
When is the last time the Hoos were ranked in the national polls?
The football team sat at No. 24 in the rankings entering the final week of the 2011 regular season.
When is the last time the Hoos were ranked higher than the current No. 22 ranking?
UVA held the No. 16 ranking entering the final week of the 2007 regular season.
When is the last time the football and basketball teams were ranked in the same week before this week (the hoops’ team is No. 5 in both preseason polls)?
The football team held the No. 16 ranking the week of Nov. 18 in 2007, while the basketball team checked in at No. 23 that week.
When is the last time the Cavaliers were bowl eligible in back-to-back seasons?
2004 and 2005.
When is the last time the Cavaliers clinched bowl eligibility in October?
The 2007 team clinched its berth on Oct. 13, 2007 as part of a seven-game winning streak that year. The 2011 team clinched with a win on Nov. 5 with a win against Maryland, while the 2017 team clinched on Nov. 4 with a win against Georgia Tech.
The challenge now for these Cavaliers is to play well with that ranking attached. The Hoos have lost four of their last five games as a ranked team. The 2007 team lost as the No. 21 team to NC State, beat Miami as the No. 23 team to close down the Orange Bowl, lost as the No. 16 team to Virginia Tech, and lost as the No. 21 team to Texas Tech. The 2011 team lost as the No. 24 ranked team to Virginia Tech. The 2018 Hoos’ first test with a ranking attached comes on Friday night at Scott Stadium against fellow ACC Coastal Division contender Pittsburgh.
Here’s another question for you Kris: When was the last time this late in the season that your UVA picks record was worse than the team’s actual record? Good times!
Good question. I don’t know the answer, but it’s been a while.
When was the last time that UVa was ranked and our rivals to the southwest were not?
Per this Tweet, 2004. https://twitter.com/DNeckel19/status/1056595336796536833