Virginia rose to as high as the #2 spot in the national polls on the strength of the early wins over then-#5 Baylor and then-#19 Illinois out in Vegas.
Both are still hanging around the periphery of the Top 25, but, you know …
Baylor is 10-3 and sits at #22 in KenPom after losing 77-62 at Iowa State on Dec. 31. Its other loss was an ugly 96-70 beatdown at the hands of Marquette on Nov. 29.
The Bears did follow that one up with a 64-63 win over Gonzaga on Dec. 3.
Illinois is 9-4 at 28th in KenPom.
Two of its losses were blowouts – 74-59 at home to Penn State on Dec. 10, 93-71 on a neutral court to Missouri on Dec. 22.
The Illini does have wins over UCLA and Texas, so, like Baylor, they’re good, but maybe not as good as we thought back in November.
And then there’s the win at Michigan in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. The Wolverines have now lost five times, most recently a home loss to Central Michigan, which sits at #258 in KenPom.
Those three are Virginia’s best wins to date.
North Carolina Central, which played UVA tight in a 73-61 loss in the opener on Nov. 7, is 7-7 and #198 in KenPom.
Florida State, at 4-11, with a 62-57 loss at Virginia on Dec. 3, is at least 2-2 in the ACC.
JMU, which lost 55-50 at UVA on Dec. 6, is 11-4, 2-0 in the Sun Belt, and a respectable 71st in KenPom.
If you’re wondering what I’m trying to say here, it’s … maybe we overestimated this Virginia team based on what it did back in November and December.
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Chris Graham
