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Six stats that explain how Virginia knocked off No. 7 Duke on the road

The numbers tell an interesting story in Monday night’s upset win for Virginia.

On paper, it was hard to see a way that the Virginia Cavaliers could pull off a massive road upset over No. 7 Duke. The Blue Devils were double-digit favorites, boast a litany of five-star players on the roster and were coming off of a huge road win over rival North Carolina.

Virginia, meanwhile, got off to a slow start with losses to Navy and JMU early in the season, and are trying to claw back onto the tournament bubble. The Cavaliers were double-digit underdogs in Monday night’s matchup, with Tony Bennett needing to maximize performances from his squad for a chance at the upset.

The Cavaliers delivered. Virginia came out swinging at Cameron Indoor, building as much as a 12-point lead before taking a five point advantage into halftime. Duke clawed back into the game, staying within reach before retaking the lead with four minutes left.

Things were close down the stretch, but a couple turnovers by the Blue Devils and a handful of clutch plays by the Hoos set up this moment:

.@reece_beekman called: 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 pic.twitter.com/9uLfRlOvUo

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) February 8, 2022

Here are six stats that explain how the underdogs pulled off the upset.

NBA execs poll: Luka Doncic top player to build around; Evan Mobley voted ahead of Zion Williamson

In September of 2020, HoopsHype polled 15 NBA talent evaluators and asked them to rank their top five Under 25 players to build around. We have repeated the exercise with 17 NBA executives this time. There was no change at No. 1, but quite a few after that.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic remains the first choice, though he’s no longer the consensus pick after a somewhat disappointing first half of the season in which he’s still playing himself into shape.

Boston’s Jayson Tatum barely retains No. 2 with half the share of the vote of last season while Ja Morant moves up to No. 3.

LaMelo Ball and Trae Young went from no votes to cracking the top five.

In our scoring system, the top player received 10 points, the second received seven points, the third received five points, the fourth received three points, and the fifth player received one point for each ballot.

The results of the poll are listed below.

Podcast: What’s next for Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and other Cavaliers?

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Cavaliers beat writer Chris Fedor discussed the futures of Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, and Cedi Osman. Plus, Jarrett Allen’s chances of being an All-Star, Evan Mobley’s chances to win Rookie of the Year, and more on the latest edition of the HoopsHype podcast.

For more interviews with players, coaches, and media members, be sure to like and subscribe to the HoopsHype podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below.

Notre Dame stomps out Virginia: 5 instant takeaways

Notre Dame dominates Virginia en-route to a 9-1 record. What was your biggest takeaway from the blowout victory?

No. 9 (CFP) Notre Dame dominated Virginia to improve to 9-1 on the season Saturday night in a game that finished with a 28-3 final score that never felt that close. Notre Dame faced a Virginia squad that played without their starting star quarterback Brennan Armstrong and had no troubles in keeping Virginia from doing much on offense all night.

As the Irish move to 9-1 and have just two games remaining this regular season, here are five instant takeaways from the dominating win in Charlottesville:

Notre Dame-Virginia: Live in-game blog

Get all of your in-game thoughts throughout the night here

Just before kickoff we got word that Virginia would be without their regular starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong, two weeks after Armstrong suffered a rib injury in a loss at BYU.

Virginia Opening Drive: The defense then comes in and forces and immediate three-and-out and gets the benefit of a shanked punt. If what we saw on the first possession is what Virginia is going to try and do then this shouldn’t be too competitive as it should be Notre Dame’s defensive line feasting throughout the evening.

ND Opening Drive: Notre Dame’s opening drive of the game did some things well but ultimately fizzled on a fourth-and-one quarterback sneak by Jack Coan being sniffed out. For as poor as Virginia’s run defense has been statistically this season, they’ve gotten penetration on multiple Notre Dame runs early.

Notre Dame’s strength of wins trail only one program in 2021

Should Notre Dame be ranked higher than ninth in the CFP rankings?

Has Notre Dame actually beaten any good teams?

That seems to be the question and the reasoning behind the Irish checking in ninth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, as they don’t have a marquee win to their name.

They do however have wins over No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 19 Purdue, which combines to be more wins over currently ranked opponents than plenty of teams currently ranked ahead of the Irish can say.

Wisconsin and Purdue each have six wins over FBS teams this year while Notre Dame teams Notre Dame has beaten have combined to win 32 games over FBS opponents. According to Phil Steele that’s the second-most such victories nationally this year.

2021 CFB Strength of Wins.
You get credit for every FBS win of opponent you defeat.
1. Georgia 38
2 Notre Dame 32
3 Wisconsin 30
4 Oregon & Michigan 28
6 Texas A&M, BYU and Boise 27
9 Alabama & Okla St 26
11 Ohio St & Cincinnati 25
5 tied at 13
https://t.co/X0Jrf9tAZ3

— Phil Steele (@philsteele042) November 11, 2021

The good with this for Notre Dame’s case is the obvious, that literally only top-ranked Georgia can claim to have done what the Irish have done in this specific regard. The issue however would likely be going forward where Notre Dame plays Virginia (5), Georgia Tech (2), and Stanford (3) who would currently combine to give the Irish just 10 additional victories in the strength of wins department.

Whatever the case, at least next time a friend of yours bashes Notre Dame’s schedule and claims the Irish haven’t beaten anyone, you can come back with this.

Detailing Notre Dame’s map to a CFP appearance

ESPN FPI projects Notre Dame’s final three games of 2021

Notre Dame-Virginia: Seven prop bets for Saturday night

Notre Dame football: Kyle Hamilton update for Virginia game

Think he plays?

Will Notre Dame go another week without All-American safety Kyle Hamilton? His skills would certainly be helpful against one of the nation’s best offenses in Virginia but his status for Saturday’s game still appears to be very much up in the air.

When asked Monday about Hamilton’s availability for Saturday night’s game, Brian Kelly offered a rather detailed “I don’t know’.

“We do not have all the information on Hamilton yet. That’s going to take most of the day. The MRI is complete. But we have other doctors that will take a look at it. The family wants to get completed information, as does Kyle, before any decisions are made. So I think we’ll have a better understanding of what his status is probably later today.” – Brian Kelly

Hamilton would obviously help Notre Dame’s chances of a victory significantly but with the millions he is to potentially be making in short order it obviously is a lot more detailed of a question.

I hope we haven’t seen the last of Kyle Hamilton in full uniform at Notre Dame but I hope more that he leaves the program healthy and without physical questions that would drop his potential draft status.

Kirk Herbstreit’s new top-six rankings don’t include Cincinnati

Miss it? Check out the very best photos from Notre Dame-Navy

Notre Dame-Virginia: Kickoff time finally announced

Did you want this game in prime time or would you have prefered it be in the afternoon?

There is nothing like waiting until the last minute.

Notre Dame and Virginia had been waiting to be told what time they would play this coming Saturday as the game was put in a six-day hold by the ACC. Well, over the weekend the kickoff time for Saturday’s game was finally announced as Notre Dame and Virginia will square off in prime-time.

The game will have a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff and will air on ABC. It will be Notre Dame’s just fourth game in the state of Virginia in the history of the program as the Irish have won in both their trips to Virginia Tech and used last-second heroics to win at Virginia in their only trip there previously, in 2015.

Game times and networks have been updated for the three games that were under a six-day hold.

Miami/Florida State: 3:30, ESPN
Notre Dame/Virginia: 7:30, ABC
NC State/Wake Forest: 7:30, ACC Network https://t.co/3lF1elZ4AY

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 7, 2021

Notre Dame-Virginia promises to be the second-biggest event of the day as our guy Geoffrey Clark will be getting married this Saturday. Send him a hearty congrats if you get a chance!

Kirk Herbstreit takes unbeaten Cincinnati out of his top-six

Notre Dame football’s all-time results vs. each ACC team

LeBron James’ explanation on why it’s ‘weird’ to play against Evan Mobley will make you feel extremely old

LeBron James is going to play forever

We’ve basically been watching LeBron James play basketball for two decades now. He’s been in the league forever. It’s why he’ll probably end up breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record.

Through those couple of decades, he’s played against a bunch of players that, at one point or another, idolized him. The list is a long one.

It’s one thing to idolize LeBron, though. It’s another to play against the basketball team LeBron’s son, Bronny James, is on. That’s where Evan Mobley is at with it.

James was asked about Evan Mobley’s game yesterday after the Lakers beat the Cavaliers 113-101. He was more than complimentary about the rookie who had 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and two steals.

He couldn’t help but point out how old he was, though.

LeBron, on Evan Mobley.

"He's gonna be a damn good basketball player in this league. It's so crazy because he was just playing against my son a few years ago."

— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) October 30, 2021

“It’s so crazy becaue he was just playing against my son a few years ago.”

That’s insane, man. LeBron was watching this kid on a high school basketball court a few years ago. Now he’s playing against him in the NBA.

I’m not sure if that speaks more to how old LeBron is at this point or how great he is to be able to remain in the league at this point. Either way, this is incredible.

Next thing you know, Bronny and Bron will be playing against each other at some point. Or maybe together? We’ll see.

Watch our sneaker unboxing series, Special Delivery

Nation’s top offensive tackle commits to ACC program

Not the most surprising thing but still a bummer…

Five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice, who ranks seventh overall in the 2022 247Sports Composite rankings listed Notre Dame among his five finalists, but the Irish didn’t win his services Thursday night as he announced his plans to attend North Carolina.

Joining Notre Dame and North Carolina as finalists were Alabama, Ohio State, and Rice’s home-state Virginia.

Rice becomes North Carolina’s 15th overall commitment in the 2022 class that is currently ranked ninth nationally by 247Sports. He’s also their second five-star recruit in the class based off those same Composite rankings.

Notre Dame currently checks in fifth in the 247Sports team rankings that include five-star linebacker Jaylen Sneed of Hilton Head Island.

Notre Dame’s all-time results against each ACC football team

Notre Dame’s statistical leaders through six games