Is Virginia basketball back?

If we looked at the ACC during preseason most would have said it was Duke and then everyone else. Duke has the superstar freshman and are coming off of a Final Four season where almost everyone had them at the very least. A team like Virginia on the other hand hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2019, an era where they were consistent 1 seeds in back to back tournaments. Since they won it all that year they haven’t gone past the first round of the NCAA tournament. The highest ranked KenPom offense since that season that they’ve had was 17th in 2021 and their second highest was 72nd in 2023 despite having elite defenses. Even with those elite defenses, their lack of offensive efficiency couldn’t get them past the first round of March Madness. 

This all could change this season where they currently sit at the 13th highest KenPom ranked offense in the country. This is actually a higher rank than the 2018 season where they had the 30th ranked offense, 1st defense and lost in the first round to UMBC. With their coaching change following Tony Bennett, it seems as if their offense is no longer the same low scoring, slow pace as years previously. They have three out of four of their leading scorers shooting above 40% from range and still putting up 10 ppg or higher. This is elite shooting numbers not seen in their offenses since their championship season. They are almost shooting 40% from three as a team, also would be the first since their title year. This team has had some big wins to begin the year including a road win against Texas where they were underdogs and ended up winning by 19. 

They are led by freshman forward Thijs De Ridder who is averaging 16.4 ppg and freshman guard Chance Mallor providing 11.9 ppg and shooting 48.1% from three. To go along with such freshmen talent, they have numerous experienced transfer guards Malik Thomas and Jacari White who are also playing at a very high level. Defensively they are still ranked 58th but greatly have been up to make up for it considering how great their offense has been. With an offense playing so close to being within top 10 in the nation, this team could go further than it has in years.