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Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett joined Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg on the ESPNU College Basketball Podcast today, talking about all things Wahoo.
Before Coach Bennett joined the podcast, Katz and Greenberg discussed possible ACC Player of the Year candidates, questioning if a player like Cat Barber from NC State could end up winning the award despite their poor conference play. They did throw Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill as players who have "separated themselves" from competition.
Here's the full podcast, which is worth a listen.
Around the 13:10 mark, Coach Bennett joins the program. They talk about Virginia's recent stretch of four victories and what has changed for the Hoos, and about the rotations that UVA has been using with Devon Hall, Marial Shayok, and Isaiah Wilkins.
The most interesting tidbit comes from Coach Bennett at the 18:30 mark.
Greenberg posed a question to Coach Bennett regarding the idea of a "challenge" type game occurring in the middle of conference play, much like the recent SEC/Big 12 challenge. Coach Bennett let a possible schedule leak out in his response:
"I think next year, I don't know the exact date, but I think we're playing Villanova, because we're going to play, I believe, and maybe I'm not supposed to saying this, but who cares...I think we're playing, we're playing earlier, an ACC game earlier, before maybe New Year's, so it looks like we might play the Villanova return game there during our bye week."
Nothing is at all set in stone, but it's interesting to note. The return trip to Villanova was expected as part of the home and home series that started when the Wildcats came to JPJ this season, but the timing of an out of conference game during conference play would be interesting. The last time Virginia scheduled a major conference, non-ACC team in the middle of conference play was in 2005 against Providence. This doesn't include seasons where Virginia had a lone ACC game early in the season (which is not uncommon, the last one was vs. VT in 2010-2011), or where Virginia had to reschedule a postponed game (UNC-W in 2010).