Watching Virginia’s loss to Syracuse is difficult; reading the box score is almost worse. Some stats that jump out are 31.3% FG, 22.6% 3PT, 54.5% FT, and 15 turnovers, among others. But in the end, the only one that mattered was the final score, the one that condemned Virginia to its second consecutive loss and third out of the last five.
It goes without saying that this was a terrible performance from the Hoos, so I’m not here to spell out everything that went wrong. Enough people are going to be throwing in the towel and criticizing this team after a bad stretch. Instead, I’m going to take a look at where the Hoos stand right now, and what UVa fans should expect going forward.
ACC Play
Currently, Virginia sits at 3-2 in the ACC while playing an admittedly easy schedule. The good news is that the rest of the ACC is so bad that it’s really not going to get that much more difficult. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, good because it means the Hoos will have lots of opportunities for wins, but bad because resume building wins are few and far between.
Even with the way they’re currently playing, it should be a somewhat successful ACC campaign. Even if the offense falters at times (and make no doubt about it, it will), the Hoos will still win a lot of ACC games. After a closer glance at the schedule, my prediction is between 12 and 14 wins, and a fourth place finish.
NCAA Tournament
If my prior prediction comes true, that will surely be enough to make the big dance, most likely as a 6-8 seed. Not being in the business of predicting where teams will go in the NCAA tournament, because anything can happen (as Hoo fans know all too well), I’m not going to put forth a round in which I think will spell the end. I will, however, say that booking a vacation to Atlanta in early April is probably not the best idea.
Listen, this team is a far cry from last year’s. It’s going to be a bumpy ride the rest of the way, make no doubt about it. The jury is still out as to whether it will be a fun one.