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Media representatives who cover Atlantic Coast Conference football still don't seem to be overly impressed by Virginia.
A year ago, the Cavaliers were picked to finish 14th in the 17-team conference and surprised everyone by winning the regular-season title.
This year, the voters gave Tony Elliott's team a bit more respect, ranking Virginia sixth in the poll that was released Tuesday afternoon.
Not surprisingly, the media members who cast votes at this month's ACC Kickoff preseason event in Charlotte overwhelmingly favored Miami to win this year's title.
The Hurricanes, last season's College Football Playoff runners-up, received 165 of 188 first-place votes and 3,159 points to 2,794 points for second-place SMU, which got six first-place nods.
Louisville (2,569 points), Clemson (2,520) and Georgia Tech (2,006) were ranked 3-5, with Virginia receiving 1,981 points.
N.C.
State, Virginia's Week Zero opponent at Scott Stadium, was picked seventh.
Virginia Tech was slotted eighth under first-year head coach James Franklin.
A 32-man transfer class was key to Virginia's resurgence last season, when the Cavaliers won a school-record 11 games and beat Missouri in the Gator Bowl.
Elliott must replace 13 starters from the bowl game, but brought in 31 new transfers this season, including presumptive starting quarterback Beau Pribula from Missouri, receiver Rico Flores Jr.
from UCLA and safety Brandyn Hillman from Michigan.
Still, that hasn't seemed to convince the majority of media members that Virginia's 2025 success level will be sustainable.
The Cavaliers did not receive a single first-place vote; each of the top five teams in the poll got at least two.
Even Stanford, chosen to finish last in the conference, somehow got one first-place vote.
To be fair, Virginia was a combined 11-23 in Elliott's first three seasons and has put together back-to-back winning seasons just once in the past 20 years.
The Cavaliers used their perceived preseason slight as motivation last season, and Elliott may well bring up this year's balloting at some point this fall if he feels the team needs incentive.
Virginia's internal expectations are high, thanks to the nation's most experienced roster, which includes an offensive line that is expected to feature five graduate students with 162 combined collegiate starts.
The much-anticipated return of dynamic senior linebacker Kam Robinson from an ACL tear that cut short his 2025 season is also cause for optimism.
The Cavaliers' schedule features only one of the five teams (SMU) picked to finish ahead of them, so their path to grabbing one of the two spots in the ACC championship game Dec.
5 in Charlotte is apparent: keep winning, and they're likely in.
Virginia's low profile was also reflected in preseason All-America teams and national watch lists released by the ACC earlier Tuesday.
The only Cavaliers pegged for individual honors were Robinson and offensive tackle McKale Boley, chosen preseason fourth-team All-Americans by Phil Steele magazine.
Athlon Sports and Walter Camp didn't list a single Virginia player on any of their squads.
Pribula, Hillman, Boley and Robinson were among 12 Cavaliers who showed up on the 2026 Shriners Children's East-West Bowl 1000 watch list.
The others were cornerback Jacobie Henderson, defensive ends Fisher Camac and Matthew Fobbs-White, offensive linemen Noah Josey, Monroe Mills and Makilan Thomas, punter Daniel Sparks and quarterback Eli Holstein.
Fisher was named to the preseason watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, annually awarded to a defensive player based on personal character and athletic ability.
Junior safety Ethan Minter is a nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, based on community impact.
The media's preseason all-ACC team is expected to be announced later this week.
Steve DeShazo spent 39 years as sports editor, reporter and columnist for The Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Va.
He has covered University of Virginia sports for more than four decades, dating to his undergraduate days in the 1980s when he crossed paths with Ralph Sampson.
He currently resides with his wife Christine in Arlington, Va., where he enjoys live music, playing pickup basketball and walking his 100-pound dog, Bear.
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