Virginia is a blue blood, new blood, Hoo blood
Posted on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, 5:41 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
Tony Bennett (Photo by Dan Grogan)
While Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner has been known for a little hyperbole, he was serious in his description of Tony Bennett’s basketball program at Virginia after losing for the ninth straight time to the Cavaliers on Saturday.
“I think Virginia is a blue blood,” Pastner said in his postgame comments. “With the success that they’ve had, I think they’re in the same league as the Carolina’s and the Duke’s and the Kentucky’s.”
One of the media members asked Pastner to expound on those thoughts. In spite of UVA’s success, most basketball pundits don’t agree with Pastner. The Cavaliers may not be a blue blood, but rather a new blood, and the blue would be blue-collar.
Still, Pastner stuck to his guns.
“I think that since Tony Bennett has been here, and what success that they’ve had, they’re a blue blood,” the Tech coach said. “They won a national championship, the success they’ve had in the regular season, the pros they put in the league, number of first-round draft picks and guys being successful getting second contracts in the NBA and the success of his time in the ACC.
“I don’t think there’s any other way to say they’re not a blue blood. And so, I just think if you match what blue bloods do, that’s what they’ve done. So yes, they’re blue-collar, but they are a blue-blood program. They’re at the highest level in college basketball, which would include Duke, Carolina and Kentucky and anybody else that’s considered.”
Pastner did make a valid point. Virginia has been doing what blue bloods do, even better in some instances than the blue bloods themselves.
For instance, over the past decade, UVA is 5-3 vs. top 10 ranked Duke. Everyone else is 49-207. Every other ACC team is 31-87.
Since 2010, Virginia has won four ACC regular-season titles outright and shared with North Carolina in 2019, when the Cavaliers won the national championship. Duke has not won an ACC regular-season title since 2010. Carolina has won four, plus the share with UVA. Miami and Florida State have won one each.
Our friend Danny Neckel, a crack researcher, notes that Virginia owns the best record against ranked opponents in the past five seasons.
UVA is 22-10 (.688), Gonzaga 17-9 (.654), Michigan State 29-17 (.630), Duke 22-13 (.629) and Oregon 13-8 (.619).
We could go on in terms of road wins, consecutive seasons with winning conference records, etc., but you get the picture.
So, maybe Pastner was right. Virginia is a new-blood, blue-collar blue blood.
