ACC Countdown Preview

#10. Virginia

Games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams: 10

Best non-conference game: Nov. 25 vs. Kentucky or Cleveland State (in Mexico)

Projected Starting Five:

C - Assane Sene (Sophomore)

F - Mike Scott (Junior)

G - Sylven Landesberg (Sophomore)

G - Calvin Baker (Senior)

G - Sammy Zeglinski (Sophomore)

As a Virginia Tech grad, it pained me to see Virginia hire Tony Bennett in the off-season. I saw Bennett's Washington State team play a lot the last couple years, and have a lot of respect for him as a coach. He certainly has a different style, which he inherited from his dad, Dick Bennett. Tony likes to play games in the 50s and slow things down. So how will that work at Virginia and in the ACC?

The Cavaliers had a good season a few years ago with Sean Singletary leading them to the NCAA Tournament. After Singletary left, they were supposed to be down, and they were. There were a lot of bad losses last year. Many games the team was Sylven Landesberg and no one else. If you look at the team this year, there aren't a whole lot of changes. Mamadi Diane is gone, but he was inconsistent and always in Dave Leitao's dog house. They have players that have shown flashes of potential but Landesberg has been the only consistent piece of the puzzle.

That being said, I expect Tony Bennett to make a big impact on this team. Once he gets to recruit the kind of guys that will work well in his system, I expect Virginia to get back to the NCAA Tournament. That takes time, though. I think his impact will bring a modest improvement from last year, and with a soft non-conference schedule they can get to the NIT.