Virginia Football Bowl Projections Heading Into Week 8

Matt Newton | Oct 15, 2024

Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Though they suffered a setback last weekend in a 24-20 loss to Louisville, the Virginia Cavaliers are still off to a much better start than many expected, with their 4-2 overall record and 2-1 mark in ACC play far exceeding the prospects set by their prediction to finish 16th (out of 17 teams) in the ACC Preseason Poll.

Unfortunately for the Hoos, their loss to Louisville might come back to bite them as the remaining schedule is one of the toughest in college football. Four of UVA's final six games are against opponents currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and three of those four games are on the road. Virginia's remaining strength of schedule ranks 19th in the country and is the second-most difficult remaining schedule in the ACC, only trailing Georgia Tech, who plays Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia in its last five games.

Still, with the Cavaliers only needing two wins to reach bowl eligibility, many college football media outlets are still projecting Virginia to make a bowl game for the first time since 2021 and play in a bowl game for the first time since 2019.

Let's see which bowl games the Virginia Cavaliers are projected to play in heading into week 8 according to various college football media outlets.

Sports Illustrated's Patrick Andres has Virginia heading to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas and taking on Oregon State on Tuesday, December 31st.

Both of ESPN's projections this week still have the Hoos going bowling. Kyle Bonagura has the Cavaliers predicted to take on Texas State in the Camellia Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday, December 14th.

Mark Schlabach has Virginia heading to the Go Bowling Military Bowl in a true road game against Navy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland on Saturday, December 28th.

USA TODAY's Erick Smith is also predicting UVA to go to the Military Bowl on December 28th, but he has the Cavaliers taking on Memphis in his bowl projections this week.

Brett McMurphy of Action Network has Virginia in the same spot as last week, taking on Illinois in Duke's Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, January 3rd.

Finally, Bleacher Report's David Kenyon is projecting a different Big Ten foe, Michigan State, for Virginia to face in the Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday, December 27th.

CBS Sports still does not have Virginia projected to make a bowl game, which is not that surprising given the fact that CBS did not have the Cavaliers making a bowl game even when they were 4-1 last week going into the Louisville game.

ESPN's College Football Power Index (FPI) is giving Virginia essentially a coin flip chance (49.3%) to reach the required threshold of six wins in order to reach bowl eligibility. UVA is expected to be favored in only one game the rest of the way - week 9 against North Carolina at home.

ESPN's matchup predictor is giving Virginia a:
- 11.0% chance to beat Clemson
- 53.1% chance to beat North Carolina
- 30.7% chance to beat Pittsburgh
- 6.9% chance to beat Notre Dame
- 27.0% chance to beat SMU
- 26.9% chance to beat Virginia Tech

Virginia will begin the second half of its schedule with a top 10 road matchup at No. 10 Clemson on Saturday at 12pm on the ACC Network.

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