Virginia climbs to No. 17 in final regular season AP Poll

Keep winning, keep rising! The Virginia Cavaliers climbed four spots in this week’s AP Poll, improving to No. 17 after surviving against Miami on the road and taking down No. 10 Louisville at home. This is the best ranking for the Hoos in the calendar year 2020, and makes two straight weeks for Virginia in the polls. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with eight-straight wins, and they have won 11 of their last 12 games.

The Hoos are one of four ACC teams ranked, joining No. 4 Florida State, No. 10 Duke, and now-No. 15 Louisville. The Big Ten leads all conferences with six ranked teams, and the Big East matched the ACC with four teams ranked.

Kansas stayed atop the rankings for the third straight week, followed by Gonzaga and Dayton. Baylor fell to No. 5 with a loss to West Virginia, and SDSU’s loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Conference title game dropped the Aztecs to No. 6. Creighton, Kentucky, and Michigan State fill out spots No. 7-9.

Penn State and Michigan fell out of the rankings this week, leaving room for West Virginia and Butler at No. 22 (tied with Houston) and No. 24, respectively.

The regular season has now concluded, with conference tournaments taking place this week before Selection Sunday on March 15. Virginia is currently expected to fall on either the 6-seed or 7-seed line, but a lot is still to be determined. As the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament, the Hoos will face the winner of Notre Dame and Boston College on Thursday at 7pm.

Here are the full rankings: