The 2017–18 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 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

in his ninth year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

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 ...

. In a year with low expectations from the press, the Cavaliers began unranked but ascended all the way to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll for the first time since December 1982. The team then held on to that ranking through the end of the regular season and became the first ACC team to win 17 conference games. The Cavaliers won the ACC tournament by handily defeating Louisville 75–58, Clemson 64–58, and North Carolina 71–63 in the championship game. In the process the team broke the school's single-season win record, which had twice been tied by Bennett-led teams in the past five years. ACC Sixth Man of the Year De'Andre Hunter broke his wrist in the ACC Tournament victory, and was announced to be out for the NCAA tournament two days before it began. UVA entered as the No. 1 overall seed, placed in the South regional, but suffered an upset in the first round to UMBC and became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The first round losses by No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 4 seed Arizona, and second round losses by No. 2 seed Cincinnati and No. 3 seed Tennessee, led to the South Region becoming the first ever to not advance any of its top four seeds to the Sweet Sixteen. Nevertheless, for taking an unranked team to finish four games above pre-season AP No. 1 ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and winning the ACC Tournament over

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 ...

, Bennett was awarded his third

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the ...

for the nation's top coach of the season.

Previous season

The

Cavaliers The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

finished the 2016–17 season 23–11, and 11–7 in ACC play to tie Duke 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. The Wahoos received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East region. There they defeated No. 12 UNC Wilmington in the First Round before losing in the Second Round to No. 4

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 ...

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2017 recruiting class

2018 recruiting class

Roster

Depth chart

Schedule and results

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Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll at the same time the AP did.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 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