In the afterglow of the national title and the ensuing celebration in Charlottesville, it would be difficult for Virginias fan not to get excited about the current state of the two revenue sports and what's possible in the near future. Last week’s triumph in Minneapolis was the 26th national title in school history but the first in a revenue sport. It also marked UVa’s third trip to the Final Four and first since 1984. Virginia has been a dominant force in the ACC in recent years and a national contender, but getting over the hump and hoisting the trophy is a mountain that the Cavaliers had never climbed.

The football program is not nearly on the same level but appears to be on the upswing. Virginia has never won an outright ACC title in football and last shared the crown in 1995. The Cavaliers are also the only program in the seven-team Coastal Division not to make an appearance in the ACC Championship game. But UVa has improved on the gridiron over the last three seasons, which is surely a welcomed change for Cavalier faithful.

Things look good from an administrative position as well. Virginia’s athletic department is led by Carla Williams, who has brought new energy and determination to the department after a long and successful run from her predecessor, Craig Littlepage. Williams quickly made investments in the football program and pushed for the new “masterplan” that includes a dramatic overhaul and destruction of old facilities (namely University Hall) to be replaced by new ones for olympic sports and a much-needed state-of-the-art football facility to replace the McCue Center.

Tony Bennett has completely changed the course of the UVa men’s basketball program and over the past six years made the Wahoos a legitimate national power. During that span, Virginia has been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament four times, going to the Sweet 16 three times and deeper than that twice. The Wahoos have dominated the ACC, winning at least a share of four ACC regular-season titles and a pair of ACC Tournaments after winning just one in program history prior to 2014. Virginia has had a player drafted in four of the past five years and will likely have a pair of first-round picks in June.

Bennett is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best coaches and as long as he is at UVa the national title run the Hoos went on this year likely won’t be a flash in the pan. Even with losing players to the NBA, Virginia should still be a title contender and it’s fair to say that while UVa has had some good runs in basketball what Bennett has done in his decade on Grounds has trumped it all.

Despite modest expectations from the outside, the third Virginia team to be coached Bronco Mendenhall went 8-5 and wrapped up the season with a 28-0 Belk Bowl win over South Carolina. Despite a 1-3 finish to the regular season, the Cavaliers still finished 4-4 in ACC play and ended the season on a victory for the first time since 2005.

Mendenhall has already demonstrated marked improvement with each passing season and though he hasn’t turned many heads with highly-ranked recruiting classes, his ability to identify fits for his scheme and develop those players into ACC-level performers gives the Wahoos a chance to compete in a Coastal Division that seems to be wide open year after year. And recruiting appears to be on the upswing as well. After having the 58th and 69th ranked recruiting classes in his first two years in charge, Mendenhall and his staff put together the 33rd ranked class in 2019.

Heading into the fall, the football program should have higher expectations than in recent years. The schedule features a nice blend of challenges and winnable games and half of UVa’s opponents will be breaking in a new head coach. Quarterback Bryce Perkins is the most dynamic playmaker UVa has had at quarterback and his play elevated the Cavalier offense considerably last season. He also gives UVa fans a fun player to watch on that side of the ball, as they look to bring back fans that haven’t been to Scott Stadium in some time. UVa’s best pro prospect on the defense, cornerback Bryce Hall, also returns. Having elected to stay out of the NFL Draft though most projected him to go in the first two rounds, the fact that a player of Hall’s caliber would choose to return for his senior year speaks volumes about the culture Mendenhall has built in Charlottesville.

So is this the high watermark for UVa’s two revenue sports combined? It’s at least up for discussion. UVa went to its last Final Four in 1984, a year after Ralph Sampson wrapped up his eligibility. That year, George Welsh led the football program to its first ever bowl appearance and win, knocking off Purdue in the Peach Bowl. That was a big year for the Hoos, but a national title in one of the two biggest sports probably trumps that. Also, 1995 was a good year to be a Wahoo as well, with a trip to the Elite Eight followed by the big win over FSU at Scott Stadium and a shared ACC football title.

Those years were great, but the national title is a potential game-changer. Every basketball program that has won a title since Syracuse in 2003 has multiple championships. Once you’re in the club, it’s easier to get back and win again. And while the football program isn’t yet on the same footing as Welsh’s best teams, there is more positive buzz around the program than we have seen in some time. It’s not crazy to think UVa could play for the conference title, albeit as a big underdog, in December.

1. Continue to fundraise for and construct those new facilities.

Virginia seems determined to build state-of-the-art athletics facilities and is well on the way to doing so. The new football facility will be a huge win for that program, as the McCue and its amenities are now far behind some of UVa’s conference and regional rivals. Even being able to practice on grass should be a boost, as Mendenhall attempts to get his program on par with the schools they compete with for recruits. The fundraising efforts for the new facilities appear to be going well and though they will take time to complete, the payoff down the road could be massive, particularly for football, if they are able to continue trending in the right direction in the meantime.

2. Beat Tech.

This is the biggest on-field/court result still outstanding for either program at this point. Last November, UVa had its best chance in a long time to take back the Commonwealth Cup. But the ball bounced Tech’s way late in regulation and again in overtime, and the Cavaliers found themselves on the wrong side of a 15-year losing streak to their in-state rivals. Mendenhall has leaned into the rivalry where past coaches have called it “just another game.” Emphasizing the rivalry and getting players to go all out for it should be a good thing, but in 2018 it didn’t translate to the result UVa wanted. Virginia’s football program appears to be on the correct trajectory but taking down the Hokies and ending the streak could go a long way towards legitimizing the program for recruits in the Commonwealth while giving Virginia fans a reason to truly buy into the program again. UVa will get its next shot to beat Tech on November 29th when the Hokies visit Scott Stadium (and when the ticket policies, per Williams' changes, will be very different for the visitors from Blacksburg).

3. Create more of a buzz around football.

Virginia has gone from a school that valued football and basketball somewhat equally to a basketball-first school over the past half decade. While John Paul Jones Arena has become one of the toughest environments for opponents in the country, Scott Stadium has been a little over half-full for most games of late, and clearly more work needs to be done in earning the support of the full fanbase that used to pack the stadium during the early 2000’s. Virginia’s on-field results last year, including the bowl win, could help build some buzz heading into the fall. UVa also has an attractive slate of home games, with Florida State and Virginia Tech headlining the schedule. The days of the 60,000-plus crowds may be gone for good, as schools across the country deal with attendance issues brought on by better TV options among other factors. But there is still potential for better crowds to flock to Scott Stadium, if the team and the athletic department can bring back fans that have seemingly disappeared (UVa hoops got more than 20,000 fans for the hoops celebration after all). If the football team gets off to a good start this year, momentum could start to build within the fanbase. This isn’t an easy problem for Williams or anyone else to solve but continuing to win and put out an entertaining product would be a good start.

4. Give Bennett whatever he wants.

He has taken UVa's program to places it has never been and in the process made his job one of the best in the country. Virginia has great basketball facilities, plays in the best conference, has excellent academics, and sits in a fertile recruiting region. And now Bennett has shown that the right coach can win it all at Virginia. At this point, it would be shocking to see him leave for any other college job and that was pretty unlikely even before the Final Four run. Leaving for the NBA could be in the cards for Bennett down the road, and quite frankly, it would be tough for UVa to do much about that if he truly wants to give it a shot. But in the meantime, Virginia’s athletic department should give Bennett whatever he feels he needs to keep the program running on all cylinders. Whether that be pay increases for his assistants or some other sort of commitment to the program, Bennett has earned the right to call the shots. Virginia’s head coach couldn’t possibly be more popular among the Cavalier fanbase and will likely be revered as long as he remains in Charlottesville and for many years thereafter.

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