Virginia might have slid down the rankings to No. 19 ahead of Week 13, but the 9-2 Cavaliers are still within striking distance of the final 12 for the College Football Playoffs. Earlier in November, the team got its highest ranking yet at No. 14, but soon slid down, though the team has not yet given up its CFP hopes.
UVA is currently one of the top teams in the ACC, which is considered a relatively weak conference in and of itself. To make it to the CFP, Daniel Kaelin and the rest of the Cavaliers need to win big, but they only have one last game for the season, and that is against unranked Virginia Tech. A win in that game might not move Virginia’s ranking much, but the CFP Selection Committee might consider them if they win the ACC title.
PFSN has projected that the Cavaliers have an 85.1% chance of playing in the ACC Championship Game, and their chances increase should Pittsburgh, SMU, Miami, and Duke all lose their respective games this week, and Virginia does not have to do anything, given they have a bye this week.
Virginia’s Biggest Chance To Qualify For CFP Is To Win the ACC Championship
For now, UVA is unlikely to slide down the rankings during its bye week, given that the teams below it in the rankings, including No. 20 Louisville, No. 21 Iowa, No. 22 Pitt, No. 24 South Florida and No. 25 Cincinnati, all lost their respective games. However, this also means that the Cavaliers will remain stagnant at No. 19, and they will have to win the ACC championship if they want to go to the CFP.
The problem lies in the teams ranked above UVA, as they include teams like Michigan, Texas and USC, which are also making playoff pushes of their own and would benefit if the Cavaliers lost. However, there is another way, and that is by winning the ACC.
In the ACC standings, the Cavaliers currently have a very good chance to make it to the ACC championship game, which would likely be against Georgia Tech. For now, winning their last regular-season game would not be enough, so the team should aim for the ACC championship game first.
The CFP has five automatic spots for the respective champions of the top five conferences, along with the seven highest-ranked teams that did not win their conference title. If Virginia takes the ACC title, then that CFP spot is more than secured.
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