UVA vs. Florida State | This game is low-key huge for the UVA Football program

The ESPN Football Power Index tells us the UVA Football program is on the verge of a 9-3 season, and gives the ‘Hoos a 7.5 percent chance to win the ACC.

Do you feel me here?

Y’all, this game with #8 Florida State tomorrow night in Charlottesville is low-key huge, in the sense that, win it, and our team has an inside track to Charlotte, and you know what comes with that.

(NARRATOR: The winner in Charlotte is in the CFP.)

Which is why I can’t figure out how it is that tickets are going for practically nothing on the resale markets, and there are still swaths still available on the VirginiaSports.com website.

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ICYMI

• UVA Football | Athletics department still doesn’t get how to put butts in seats

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This is easily the biggest game in Charlottesville since the Virginia Tech season finale in 2019, when a spot in that year’s ACC Championship Game was on the line.

Difference here being, beat Tech, even beat Clemson in Charlotte in 2019, and you’re not going to a four-team playoff, with three losses.

The ACC champ in 2025 is in the 12-team CFP, so …

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ICYMI

• UVA Football | First look: ‘Hoos face #8 Florida State on Friday night
• UVA vs. Florida State | Injury, availability updates heading into Friday night
• UVA Football | Three things to fix in the short week ahead of #8 Florida State
• UVA vs. Florida State | News and notes on the ‘Noles heading into primetime matchup
• Podcast | Chris Graham breaks down UVA-Florida State with ‘The Mark Moses Show’

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Beat Florida State tomorrow night, and plow through the rest of the ACC schedule after – ESPN ranks Virginia’s remaining schedule strength at 16th among the 17 ACC programs – and, yeah.

Charlotte.

Four quarters, three hours, away from playing in a playoff game.

The last time UVA Football was near this kind of situation was in November 1990, when a top-ranked Virginia team hosted #16 Georgia Tech.

It was unusually warm the week leading up to that one, as I recall; I vividly remember lounging on The Lawn the afternoon before the game, reading the USA Today sports section, specifically, poring through the bowl projections, which had #1 UVA and #2 Notre Dame meeting for the national championship.

A false-start penalty took a late go-ahead TD off the board, and Tech won on a walk-off field goal – and we’ve never been close to sniffing football greatness since.

Friday night is as close as we’ve been in 35 years.

Get your ass to the game tomorrow night, is what I’m telling you.