6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Virginia Cavaliers

Kentucky drew Virginia in the 2026-27 edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge. You probably know the Cavaliers best as the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed, then followed it up a year later with a National Championship. Here are a few things you may not have known about UVA.

Virginia Suffered Another Colossal Upset

Long before UMBC broke their heart, Virginia had already carved out another corner of college basketball history as the victim of an unprecedented upset. In 1982, the Cavaliers were the undefeated, top-ranked team in the country with the two-time defending National Player of the Year. Ralph Sampson started his third-straight National Player of the Year campaign abroad in Japan. On the way home, UVA stopped in the Hawaiian Islands to kick back during the Christmas holiday. Instead of walking over their NAIA opponent, the No. 1 team in the country lost 77-72 to Chaminade. Two years later, Silverswords hosted the first Maui Invitational.

Ralph Sampson Committed to Kentucky (or did he?)

Before Sampson was a 7-4 college basketball sensation, the Harrisonburg native was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country. Virginia lacked traditional success, but Charlottesville was in the ACC and only a few miles down the road from his hometown. Kentucky had a proven track record with great bigs, and Joe B. Hall was determined to make him a Wildcat. The late, great head coach recalled in 2020 that he believed Sampson was going to Kentucky.

“Ralph Sampson was an exciting player that I almost had, ” Coach Hall told John Calipari. “I had [Sam] Bowie and [Melvin] Turpin call him on the phone, begging him to come and be apart of this program… He was here on campus for two weeks, and he loved it, and he told me he was going to come to Kentucky.”

Ultimately, the draw of playing close to home, and the crowded Kentucky frontcourt, were enough to convince the indecisive Sampson to play for Virginia.

This Ain’t Tony Bennett’s Virginia

Tony Bennett made Virginia a consistent Top 25 team by playing a methodical brand of basketball, and that’s putting it nicely. They played a pack-line defense and moved at a snail’s pace on offense. When the Cavaliers won the National Title in 2019, they ranked dead-last in tempo.

That’s changed under Ryan Odom. During the new head coach’s first season in Charlottesville, Virginia was marginally faster, averaging 17.1 seconds per possession (No. 152). After finishing with the nation’s No. 200 offense in Bennett’s last season, they ranked No. 27 in efficiency last season.

Returning Stars

Former Kentucky center Ugonna Onyenso fortified the paint last season for the Cavaliers, averaging 2.9 blocks per game (No. nationally in block percentage). Even though he is off to the NBA Draft, Virginia is returning four of its top six scorers from a team that finished second in the ACC last season. Thijs De Ridder, a 6-foot-8 forward, is back after scoring 15.6 points per game on 50% shooting from the floor and 35% from three-point land.

A Confusing Namesake for John Paul Jones Arena

It is with great disappointment that I share with you that this arena is not named after the Revolutionary War maritime hero. The arena was named after a rich booster’s father. Its namesake loses some cool points, but the 14,500-seat arena built in 2006 still looks like one of the more raucous venues in college basketball. It will be the first time Kentucky has played in the arena. The Wildcats last played in Charlottesville’s University Hall back in 1965.

Kentucky Can’t Lose to Lach

There’s only one person who comes to mind when I think of the University of Virginia, Lachlan McLean. For 11 years, he hosted the popular nighttime sports talk radio show on 840-WHAS. Even though he’s now a newsman at Spectrum, he can’t resist hating on Kentucky from time to time. He’s enjoyed many victories over Louisville over the years. We can’t let this diehard Virginia fan get one up on the Wildcats.