In preparation for the upcoming season, The New York Times’ college sports blog, The Quad, ranked all college football teams, dropping UVA in the ranks to No. 81 from last year’s No. 51.
The drop is in large part due to Virginia’s less than spectacular season: five wins and seven losses last year, including a 31-3 loss to Duke, which gave the Blue Devils their first ACC win in a decade.
According to The Quad and ESPN, the biggest concerns for the upcoming season are whether the Cavaliers’ new offensive coach Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green’s former head coach, can improve UVA offense and how quickly he can do it.
If Brandon is able to make a big difference, The Quad predicts the Cavaliers will finish the season with at least a 7-5 record and third place in the ACC, but if he cannot help the offense and the defense is short of stellar, Virginia may stumble to a 4-8 ending.
Regardless of the predictions, it will be interesting to observe how UVA will respond to this ranking. It was last season when UVA football’s ticketing system was changed, to the chagrin of some longtime fans.