It is officially November, which means college basketball season is upon us. A new Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball campaign will tip off in one week.
Today, we’ll take an in-depth look at the complete 2021-2022 UVA men’s basketball schedule, including intriguing storylines, pivotal games to watch, and notable takeaways from Virginia’s slate of 30 games this season.
First, let’s take a look at the Virginia men’s basketball schedule in its entirety:
| Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
|
Tuesday, November 9 |
Navy |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Friday, November 12 |
Radford |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Tuesday, November 16 |
Houston |
Houston, TX |
|
Friday, November 19 |
Coppin State |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Monday, November 22 |
Georgia |
Newark, NJ |
|
Tuesday, November 23 |
Northwestern/Providence |
Newark, NJ |
|
Friday, November 26 |
Lehigh |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Monday, November 29 |
Iowa |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Friday, December 3 |
Pittsburgh |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Tuesday, December 7 |
James Madison |
Harrisonburg, VA |
|
Saturday, December 18 |
Fairleigh Dickinson |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Wednesday, December 22 |
Clemson |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, January 1 |
Syracuse |
Syracuse, NY |
|
Tuesday, January 4 |
Clemson |
Clemson, SC |
|
Saturday, January 8 |
North Carolina |
Chapel Hill, NC |
|
Wednesday, January 12 |
Virginia Tech |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, January 15 |
Wake Forest |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Wednesday, January 19 |
Pittsburgh |
Pittsburgh, PA |
|
Saturday, January 22 |
NC State |
Raleigh, NC |
|
Monday, January 24 |
Louisville |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, January 29 |
Notre Dame |
Notre Dame, IN |
|
Tuesday, February 1 |
Boston College |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, February 5 |
Miami |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Monday, February 7 |
Duke |
Durham, NC |
|
Saturday, February 12 |
Georgia Tech |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Monday, February 14 |
Virginia Tech |
Blacksburg, VA |
|
Saturday, February 19 |
Miami |
Coral Gables, FL |
|
Wednesday, February 23 |
Duke |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, February 26 |
Florida State |
Charlottesville, VA |
|
Saturday, March 5 |
Louisville |
Louisville, KY |
Non-Conference Schedule
In 2020, Virginia was originally scheduled to play perhaps its most competitive and challenging slate of non-conference opponents in program history. UVA had games scheduled against Michigan State, Florida, Villanova, and the Hoos were supposed to participate in a Wooden Legacy field that included Kansas, Georgetown, and UCLA.
Each game was supposed to be a high-profile matchup between top-tier college basketball programs. Unfortunately, college basketball fans were robbed of every single one of those games, as they were all canceled due to COVID-19 issues.
Virginia’s non-conference schedule is not nearly as loaded with marquee matchups as the original 2020 non-conference slate, but the Cavaliers will still face a number of significant opponents early in the season before ACC play begins.
Virginia will have a very early road test at Houston, ranked No. 15 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. The Cougars return a number of key pieces from last year’s team that advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1984, when Houston took down Virginia in the National Semifinals. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1989 and will be a difficult challenge for the Cavaliers in their third game of the season.
UVA will participate in the Legends Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on the week of Thanksgiving. Virginia will face SEC opponent Georgia on November 22nd and will play against either Providence or Northwestern on November 23rd.
The following week, Virginia will host Iowa as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Monday, November 29th. The Hawkeyes lost the National Player of the Year, Luka Garza, and other key contributors from last year’s team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Fran McCaffery will likely again have a solid team that will put up a good fight against UVA at John Paul Jones Arena.
Aside from a road trip to Harrisonburg to face JMU on December 7th, the rest of Virginia’s non-conference schedule are manageable home games against Navy, Radford, Coppin State, Lehigh, and Fairleigh Dickinson.
Facing Former Wahoos
Virginia is scheduled to face each of the three departed transfers from last season’s team: Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justin McKoy, and Casey Morsell. Interestingly enough, none of those games will take place at John Paul Jones Arena. UVA will play against Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Georgia in the Roman Legends Classic on November 22nd at the Prudential Center. The Cavaliers will be on the road for both games when they face Justin McKoy and UNC in Chapel Hill, as well as Casey Morsell and NC State in Raleigh.
Ranked Opponents on the Schedule
Virginia is currently scheduled to play against four ranked opponents this season, but that will likely change as ACC teams move in and out of the Top 25 before conference play begins. UVA will play at No. 15 Houston in a very early ranked matchup on November 12th. Virginia faces No. 9 Duke twice this season: at Cameron Indoor on February 7th and at John Paul Jones Arena on February 23rd. Virginia plays at No. 19 North Carolina on January 8th and at home against No. 20 Florida State in UVA’s final home game of the season on February 26th.
Saturday-Monday Turnarounds
Virginia has three sets of very tough Saturday-Monday games this season. In each instance, UVA will have to travel during the period between those two games. After visiting NC State in Raleigh on January 22nd, the Hoos will return home to host Louisville on January 24th. The Cavaliers play at home against Miami on February 5th, before hitting the road to face Duke on February 7th. Lastly, Virginia hosts Georgia Tech on February 12th and then heads to Blacksburg for a game at Virginia Tech on February 14th. The ACC schedule certainly is not doing UVA any favors with these games. But, being the optimist that he is, Tony Bennett has said time and time again that the Saturday-Monday games during the regular season prepare his team well for the rigorous conditions of postseason play.
Facing Teams Twice
Virginia is set to play home-and-home series against six ACC opponents this season. Virginia will open ACC play by hosting Pittsburgh on December 3rd. The Cavaliers and Panthers will also play in Pittsburgh on January 19th. Virginia will play Clemson twice within a span of two weeks. The Cavaliers host the Tigers on December 22nd and travel to Clemson on January 4th. Virginia also plays Miami twice with only 14 days separating the two meetings. UVA will play Miami in Charlottesville on February 5th and in Coral Gables on February 19th. For the first time since 2019, Virginia will play Duke twice in a season. The Blue Devils will host the Cavaliers at Cameron Indoor on February 7th and then the two teams will battle at JPJ on February 23rd. Every season, Virginia plays both Louisville and Virginia Tech twice in conference play. The Hokies will visit Charlottesville on January 12th and then UVA will play at Virginia Tech on Valentine’s Day. Finally, Virginia hosts Louisville on January 14th and then plays at Louisville in the regular season finale on March 5th.
Top Ten Games to Watch This Season
We are going to watch every second of every game anyway, but these are the games that we are really, really excited about.
- November 16: Virginia at Houston
- November 29: Virginia vs. Iowa (ACC/Big 10 Challenge)
- January 1: Virginia at Syracuse
- January 8: Virginia at North Carolina
- January 12: Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
- February 7: Virginia at Duke
- February 14: Virginia at Virginia Tech
- February 23: Virginia vs. Duke
- February 26: Virginia vs. Florida State
- March 5: Virginia at Louisville
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