Cavaliers

The Virginia Cavaliers have never needed to look elsewhere for a home. The program traces back to 1887.

Virginia competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The program has sent players on to the NFL rather than fielding them itself — Ronde Barber and his twin Tiki Barber both came through Charlottesville before their professional careers, and D'Brickashaw Ferguson followed the same path from the offensive line. That distinction matters more than it might elsewhere: the Cavaliers are a college programme, not a franchise.

Recent seasons have been lean by the standards of a programme with this much history behind it — a 3-9 record in 2023, five wins against seven losses in 2024.