The Virginia men’s basketball team lost for the third time in four games with a 69-62 setback at Florida State on Sunday. All three losses came on the road. The most recent margin of defeat – still only seven points – represented the biggest gap in a loss since the 2013 debacle at Tennessee.

While ranked teams all around the country have suffered similar fates in a topsy-turvy year of college basketball, the recent stumbles from UVA have left fans in varying states of concern. Perplexed, puzzled, frustrated, furious, resolute, reassured, upset, undeterred, uncertain … take your pick of the litter really. And why not? After two seasons of ACC play yielded only four losses, this year’s team has almost matched that total before the end of January. It’s hard to know what to think.

One thing repeatedly hitting the message boards and I’m sure water coolers around Hooville is an attempt to decipher what these road losses mean. Theories have drifted to the intangible side of the scales since the loss at FSU. Team chemistry, trust, illness, and emotional leadership all have been tossed into the air as reasons. “Something is amiss that I simply can’t put my finger on” – many of you have probably read or heard that sort of statement in the past 48 hours.

When a team on paper looks like it should be winning those games, after all, it has to be something beyond the court that led to losses, right? I don’t buy it.

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