50 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff: Is Being Favored A Good Thing?

Virginia won eight games in 2018.
The media picked Virginia to win the ACC Coastal Division. ~ Kris Wright

As July enters its final days, there are signals all around that it’s almost time for football season again at Virginia. The ACC announced the preseason voting results from the annual ACC Kickoff event, while the team itself is logging a different kind of preseason information with testing at the end of its summer conditioning program.

Both suggest that a strong season awaits the Cavaliers, who posted an 8-5 record with a Belk Bowl win against South Carolina a year ago. The ACC Kickoff media picked UVA to win the Coastal Division, the first time the Hoos landed in the top spot since the league went to divisions in 2005. That’s despite the fact the Hoos play at Miami, the second choice in the division among the media, and there’s the ongoing losing streak to Virginia Tech, the third choice in the poll.

In-house, there have been gains in the strength and conditioning phase of the program this summer. Whether that’s message board chatter, players like quarterback Bryce Perkins hinting at it during the ACC Kickoff event, or social media posts showing someone like Jordan Mack rip off 400 pounds, all of it points to continued buy-in from the players with coach Bronco Mendenhall and staff.

All of which adds up to heightened expectations. The players say they’re up for it. Fans, as fans are prone to do, worry that it puts extra pressure on the team. That’s a great jumping off point for this summer’s reading series. So it’s time for the first of “50 Virginia Football Thoughts Before Kickoff.”

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