The Virginia–Virginia Tech men's basketball rivalry is an American

College basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(called Virginia in sports media and abbreviated ''UVA'') and the

team of

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

(called Virginia Tech and abbreviated ''VT''). The two schools first met in 1915 and have played in every season since 1922. Since Virginia Tech's admission in the ACC in 2004, the teams have played twice annually.

History

The two teams first played in 1915, with the Cavaliers winning 39–21. The games are normally played on the schools' respective campuses, but, especially between 1976 and 2000, neutral sites throughout

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, such as Roanoke, Lynchburg,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, and

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

hosted the games. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, the teams had their lone meeting in the ACC men's basketball tournament; Virginia won 60–56 in the first-round match-up. VT - UVA 2012 - Akil Mitchell provides defense

VT - UVA 2012 - Akil Mitchell provides defense

2007: ACC championship on the line

Virginia and No. 25 Virginia Tech surprisingly sat atop the ACC standings with identical 10–4 ACC records on March 1, 2007, and faced off at

John Paul Jones Arena John Paul Jones Arena, or JPJ, is a multi-purpose arena owned by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since November 2006, it serves as the home to the Virginia Cavaliers men's and women's basketball teams, as well as for co ...

in Charlottesville in a ''de facto'' tiebreaker. The winner would clinch a share of either the fifth (of 11) ACC regular season championships for UVA or a first for Virginia Tech. Virginia went on to win the game, and its share of the ACC regular season title, 69–56, with a late 6–0 run by

Sean Singletary Sean Michael-Eli Singletary (born September 6, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other professional leagues. He played college basketball for the Virginia Cava ...

being key to their championship victory.

2017: Stuck on the rim

No. 12 Virginia traveled to Blacksburg after besting Virginia Tech by 23 in Charlottesville. With the score tied and approximately 20 seconds remaining in overtime,

London Perrantes London Tyus Perrantes Jr. (born October 3, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Kolossos Rodou of the Greek Basketball League (GBL). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers. High school career Perrantes atten ...

drove into the lane for a layup and it seemed certain Virginia would take the lead. Shockingly, the ball rolled around the hoop until coming to rest on the back of the rim, and the possession arrow gave the ball to Virginia Tech... who went on to win 80–78 after a second overtime. Hokie Seth Allen hit a short pull-up jumper to seal it.

2019: Top Ten heavyweights

Arguably the two best squads in the history of these programs faced off on January 15, 2019, in the first and only meeting between two AP Top 10 teams in the rivalry's history.Hunter, Jerome lead No. 4 Virginia in rout of Hokies, 81-59
.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, January 15, 2019. Accessed April 6, 2025. The No. 4 Cavaliers entered the contest with a record of 15–0 (3–0 ACC) while the No. 9 Hokies came in with a 14–1 (3–0 ACC) record. UVA never trailed from the opening tip to the final buzzer in this heavyweight matchup, winning 81–59 and powered by

De'Andre Hunter De'Andre James Hunter (born December 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers and was named the NABC D ...

's 21 points and

Ty Jerome Ty Jeremy Jerome (born July 8, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers, where in 2019 he was the startin ...

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

and career-high 12 assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led the Hokies with 19 points. The Cavaliers went on to win the NCAA Tournament Championship at the end of the season, defeating another Tech team in the NCAA championship game.

Wins by location

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll (1936–present)

Wins by decade

The Virginia Cavaliers have held the upper hand in the rivalry across most every decade of play since this series began in 1915, save for the 1950s (tied) and 1960s (Tech dominance).

References

College sports in Virginia Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball College basketball rivalries in the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia-Virginia Tech men's basketball rivalry