The 2016–17 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented 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 ...

during the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...

, in their 112th season of play. The team was led by head coach Tony Bennett, in his eighth year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena as members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. They finished the season 23–11, 11–7 in ACC play to finish in ACC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in the second round of the ACC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Notre Dame. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East region. There they defeated UNC Wilmington in the First Round before losing in the Second Round to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Previous season

Coming off of two highly successful regular seasons in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, but with early exits from the NCAA tournament each time, and with the final season for seniors

Malcolm Brogdon Malcolm Moses Adams Brogdon (born December 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Virginia Cavaliers und ...

and Anthony Gill, expectations were high for the program in 2015–16. However, the regular season was mixed: despite wins against programs like

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, Villanova,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, the team also suffered upsets to

Virginia Tech 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 ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Despite this, the Cavaliers finished the season 29–8 overall and 13–5 in conference play, finishing at second place in the ACC. They fell in the ACC tournament championship to

. However, they received at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, and received their second No. 1 seed in three years. In the Tournament, they defeated Hampton,

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

, and Iowa State to advance to their first Elite Eight in twenty-one years. There, they lost to Syracuse, despite leading by 14 till halftime.

Off-season

Departures

2016 recruiting class

Roster

Depth chart

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Spain exhibition games , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, ACC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball seasons

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 ...

Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball The Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team is the college basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Virginia. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in NCAA Division I, Division I of ...

2017 in sports in Virginia