Five Up, Five Down: Time to buy Virginia stock...again

ByJEFF GOODMAN
February 1, 2016, 9:30 AM

— -- It has been a roller coaster of a season for Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers.

First there was the loss in the second game of the season to George Washington. Then came 11 consecutive victories, a streak that included back-to-back wins against a highly ranked Villanova team and a talented Cal squad, both in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Everyone was back on the bandwagon. Sure, this Cavs team wasn't the same on the defensive end as its recent predecessors (it's still pretty darn good, though) -- but it looked more powerful offensively.

Just as everyone was starting to promote UVa as a national title contender, then came the loss in Blacksburg, Virginia, to a then-middling Virginia Tech team. A setback at Georgia Tech followed, and then eight days later, the Cavs dropped their third of four games, in Tallahassee, Florida, against Leonard Hamilton's Florida State team.

Everyone wanted to know what the heck was wrong with Virginia.

But Bennett is one of the elite coaches in the country. This is a guy who has won two consecutive ACC regular-season titles in a league that features four Hall of Famers: Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino and Jim Boeheim.

Bennett also has a veteran backcourt in Malcolm Brogdon and London Perrantes.

Sure, there was some luck involved in the remarkable come-from-behind road win at Wake Forest in which Darius Thompson banked in a 3 at the buzzer for the win. But then came a resounding pummeling of Louisville on Saturday in which the Cavs held Pitino's team to just 33 percent shooting to the tune of 47 points.

Virginia is now 17-4 overall and 6-3 in ACC play. That puts the Cavs three games behind 8-0 North Carolina, which means they likely won't make it three straight ACC crowns.

But it also means this Virginia team shouldn't be excluded from the group of teams that have a chance to win six straight in the NCAA tournament and cut down the nets in April.

The Rest of Five Up

Five Down

St. John's, Rutgers, Minnesota and Boston College: These teams are all winless in the power leagues. I'll give Chris Mullin a mulligan since it's his first season at St. John's and he inherited a thin roster. Jim Christian also inherited a tough situation at Boston College and is in only his second year. Eddie Jordan needs to show improvement soon at Rutgers, and Richard Pitino's Gophers were expected to be down but not this bad. Will any of them get a league victory?