Amazing, somewhat surprising run has made expectations soar, but Virginia still takes it one game at a time
Georgia Tech at No. 2 Virginia, 8 p.m. NBC29
The Cavaliers have reached heights I have not seen in my lifetime, and it feels a bit surreal at times.
Virginia is 17-0 and the best start by UVa in its history was during the 1980-81 season when the Cavs started the season 22-0. That team went to the Final Four where it lost to North Carolina. For Virginia to match that 22-0 start, it would need to beat Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville. Getting to 23-0 and the best start in program history would then require winning at N.C. State.
I was born in 1987 and started following the Cavaliers in the late 1990s. Before the coach Tony Bennett era, the most wins I saw in a season was 21 in the 2006-07 season under coach Dave Leitao, when the team beat Albany in the first round of the Big Dance and then lost to Tennessee by three points in the second round. I saw the team reach 20 wins only one other time from the late 90s until the Bennett era (the 2000-01 season under Pete Gillen when the team went 20-9 and lost to Gonzaga in the Big Dance). Last year's 30 victories is almost unfathomable to me and now a 17-0 start is like an out-of-body experience. If UVa keeps winning, it is a Kentucky upset loss away from being ranked No.1.
Like someone said recently on the Sabre fan message board, it wasn't too long ago when 17 wins was considered a pretty good season for the 'Hoos. Bennett has built this program block by block and it has mostly been a slow, methodical, take-no-shortcuts build, so we haven't been totally blind-sided by the success and unable to explain it, but still, it's really only been the past year -- from early January 2014 until now -- that has been crazy, so it has been a little shocking.
In Bennett's first year, the Cavs won 15 games, a five-win improvement over the year before in the last campaign of Leitao's four-year tenure (which went 15-21-17-10 wins). The next season, Bennett's bunch won 16 games, a small improvement. That team would have won more games but Mike Scott got hurt early in the season, stunting the team's potential. It ended the regular season with a resounding 74-60 road win over Maryland and had momentum but then lost in a vexing way to Miami in its first game in the ACC tournament when the team gave up an eight-point lead with about 30 seconds left. The team put that season behind it the next year, though, and finally broke through a little bit, winning 22 games and earning a winning record in the ACC. Still, the team lacked depth and was worn down and injured by the end of the season, losing four of its final five games, including a 71-45 blow out at the hands of Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The next year, the team figured to take a step back without Scott and I predicted as much, writing that the team would finish 17-14 in the regular season. The team got to 21 wins in the regular season, though, and then won two in the NIT to finish the season with 23 victories.
Then came last year. And the reason I say this season's success is a little shocking is because of how last year started. Prior to last year, I was happy with how Bennett had fared in Charlottesville. Still, it had been nothing earth-shattering so far. The team had not embarrassed itself in any season and played hard every game. The team finished above .500 every year except Bennett's first and reached the NCAA tournament one year, but still lost in the first round. The 2012-13 season ended in
disappointing fashion as the team lost three of four down the stretch after beating Duke to burst its bubble and find itself in the NIT instead of the Big Dance. Last year was a season of great expectations. The team was picked fourth in the conference and I wrote the team would win 23 regular-season games. Virginia struggled through the non-conference portion of the season, though, finishing 9-4 with the now-infamous bad loss to Tennessee being the final contest before ACC play. I remember specifically sitting down at home with Holly on my dinner break from work and turning that game on. It got so bad early that I switched channels. It was disgusting to me. I remember thinking at that time that Bennett was in his fifth year but seemed to be headed toward just one NCAA tournament appearance in those five seasons. The team was NIT bound and even that was maybe going to be lucky. All things considered, though, I was OK with the job Bennett was doing, especially considering the Gillen- and Leitao-era failures.
Somehow though, the team figured it out and blitzed the ACC to get to 25 regular-season wins. The rest is history.
And now this season, the team just isn't losing. I hope you can see why the success is a little surprising despite the upwards trajectory overall of Bennett's program. After four seasons, it had just been a slow but steady crawl up the wins scale. And last year, until ACC play began, it was looking like the team was barely going to get to 20 wins, if at all. But the team crushed that plateau again, flew past 23 wins -- the previous high at UVa for Bennett -- and just kept going all the way to 30, knocking out milestone after milestone along the way.
I noted at the beginning of the season as did everybody else that Bennett keeps winning more games at UVa each season. I thought, "Well we will be very happy probably if he does that again." I didn't give it serious consideration, though. Getting to at least 31 wins after losing Joe Harris and Akil Michell off the team didn't seem like a realistic goal. And now the team has 17 wins and loftier goals are ahead. Thirty-one victories certainly seems attainable and the team is headed toward a College GameDay game against Duke next Saturday. Virginia has arrived on the big stage. Neither the football nor the basketball version of the show has been on Grounds before.
All of this is great and well, but Bennett has adjusted the fan perspective for this program. No longer am I happy with just winning. I now get into how we win and why we win, and there are games where we don't play well, I criticize the team, but we still win. The ranking is nice. The undefeated record is nice. But it is about being your best in each game, one at a time, and that is what will drive this team in its attempt to advance past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995. The accolades are nice, the national attention is nice, but for me, it's all about March. Just be winning then.
For Bennett, the next game is most important, and that's what the team is going to focus on. It's the way to make this season the best it can be. If the players "max out" each day, as he likes to say, then we should be pretty happy with the results and proud of the effort. So it's on to Georgia Tech first, because that is the next step in a bigger picture.
The Cavaliers have reached heights I have not seen in my lifetime, and it feels a bit surreal at times.
Virginia is 17-0 and the best start by UVa in its history was during the 1980-81 season when the Cavs started the season 22-0. That team went to the Final Four where it lost to North Carolina. For Virginia to match that 22-0 start, it would need to beat Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, and Louisville. Getting to 23-0 and the best start in program history would then require winning at N.C. State.
I was born in 1987 and started following the Cavaliers in the late 1990s. Before the coach Tony Bennett era, the most wins I saw in a season was 21 in the 2006-07 season under coach Dave Leitao, when the team beat Albany in the first round of the Big Dance and then lost to Tennessee by three points in the second round. I saw the team reach 20 wins only one other time from the late 90s until the Bennett era (the 2000-01 season under Pete Gillen when the team went 20-9 and lost to Gonzaga in the Big Dance). Last year's 30 victories is almost unfathomable to me and now a 17-0 start is like an out-of-body experience. If UVa keeps winning, it is a Kentucky upset loss away from being ranked No.1.
Like someone said recently on the Sabre fan message board, it wasn't too long ago when 17 wins was considered a pretty good season for the 'Hoos. Bennett has built this program block by block and it has mostly been a slow, methodical, take-no-shortcuts build, so we haven't been totally blind-sided by the success and unable to explain it, but still, it's really only been the past year -- from early January 2014 until now -- that has been crazy, so it has been a little shocking.
In Bennett's first year, the Cavs won 15 games, a five-win improvement over the year before in the last campaign of Leitao's four-year tenure (which went 15-21-17-10 wins). The next season, Bennett's bunch won 16 games, a small improvement. That team would have won more games but Mike Scott got hurt early in the season, stunting the team's potential. It ended the regular season with a resounding 74-60 road win over Maryland and had momentum but then lost in a vexing way to Miami in its first game in the ACC tournament when the team gave up an eight-point lead with about 30 seconds left. The team put that season behind it the next year, though, and finally broke through a little bit, winning 22 games and earning a winning record in the ACC. Still, the team lacked depth and was worn down and injured by the end of the season, losing four of its final five games, including a 71-45 blow out at the hands of Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The next year, the team figured to take a step back without Scott and I predicted as much, writing that the team would finish 17-14 in the regular season. The team got to 21 wins in the regular season, though, and then won two in the NIT to finish the season with 23 victories.
Then came last year. And the reason I say this season's success is a little shocking is because of how last year started. Prior to last year, I was happy with how Bennett had fared in Charlottesville. Still, it had been nothing earth-shattering so far. The team had not embarrassed itself in any season and played hard every game. The team finished above .500 every year except Bennett's first and reached the NCAA tournament one year, but still lost in the first round. The 2012-13 season ended in
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| Virginia busted through the glass ceiling last season that seemed to be holding back the team for the last 20-ish years. Its run to 30 wins, the dual ACC title, and Sweet 16 berth has adjusted expectations for this year's team, which is 17-0 and ranked No. 2. |
Somehow though, the team figured it out and blitzed the ACC to get to 25 regular-season wins. The rest is history.
And now this season, the team just isn't losing. I hope you can see why the success is a little surprising despite the upwards trajectory overall of Bennett's program. After four seasons, it had just been a slow but steady crawl up the wins scale. And last year, until ACC play began, it was looking like the team was barely going to get to 20 wins, if at all. But the team crushed that plateau again, flew past 23 wins -- the previous high at UVa for Bennett -- and just kept going all the way to 30, knocking out milestone after milestone along the way.
I noted at the beginning of the season as did everybody else that Bennett keeps winning more games at UVa each season. I thought, "Well we will be very happy probably if he does that again." I didn't give it serious consideration, though. Getting to at least 31 wins after losing Joe Harris and Akil Michell off the team didn't seem like a realistic goal. And now the team has 17 wins and loftier goals are ahead. Thirty-one victories certainly seems attainable and the team is headed toward a College GameDay game against Duke next Saturday. Virginia has arrived on the big stage. Neither the football nor the basketball version of the show has been on Grounds before.
All of this is great and well, but Bennett has adjusted the fan perspective for this program. No longer am I happy with just winning. I now get into how we win and why we win, and there are games where we don't play well, I criticize the team, but we still win. The ranking is nice. The undefeated record is nice. But it is about being your best in each game, one at a time, and that is what will drive this team in its attempt to advance past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995. The accolades are nice, the national attention is nice, but for me, it's all about March. Just be winning then.
For Bennett, the next game is most important, and that's what the team is going to focus on. It's the way to make this season the best it can be. If the players "max out" each day, as he likes to say, then we should be pretty happy with the results and proud of the effort. So it's on to Georgia Tech first, because that is the next step in a bigger picture.
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