Houston, Iowa highlight Virginia men’s basketball 2021-22 non-conference schedule

In 123 days, the Virginia men’s basketball team will take the court for the first time in the 2021-22 season. The non-conference schedule was released on Friday, July 9, answering some questions as to which teams the Cavaliers will face in the first fall with fans (hopefully) back in attendance. Virginia opens with home games against Navy (November 9) and Radford (November 12) before hitting the road for a huge matchup with 2021 Final Four squad Houston in Houston on November 16.

The Cavaliers face Coppin State on November 19th in Charlottesville before heading to Newark, New Jersey for the Legends Classic. Georgia, Northwestern, and Providence will join Virginia in the event, which runs November 22-23.

A home game against Lehigh on November 26 will prep the Hoos for hosting Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on November 29. The Cavaliers close out the non-conference with a road game at James Madison on December 7 before hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on December 18.

Virginia has just two true road games — Houston and JMU — out of the 10, and two at a neutral site for the Legends Classic. Houston finished No. 5 in the Ken Pom rankings last season, with Iowa at No. 7. Both will have personnel turnover after successful 2020-21 seasons, but the games will be must-see nonetheless.

As far as what we can expect with ACC play, we know that Virginia will have home-and-away games with Louisville, Virginia Tech, Duke, Clemson, Miami, and Pitt. The Cavaliers will face Boston College, Florida State, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech at home, and will head to North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. That full schedule will be release later.

Here is the schedule: