National writer rips Virginia after upset loss to Furman
The 2023 NCAA Tournament is off to a bit of a chaotic start with a pair of upsets in the South Region.
The first upset of the day came at the expense of an Atlantic Coast Conference team. No. 13 Furman pulled a stunning upset, taking down No. 4 Virginia with a late 3-pointer. Point guard Kihei Clark made a big mistake after being trapped in a corner, throwing the ball to half court where Furman grabbed it and made a pass before draining a 3 and winning the game.
It was a disappointing early exit, again, for Tony Bennett’s team after missing the tournament completely last year. Now Virginia is feeling the wrath of the loss via social media and national reporters.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde went as far as calling Virginia’s 2019 title a fluke, and, if not for that, the Cavaliers would be the worst tournament team ever:
Thirteen-seed Furman’s 68–67 defeat of No. 4 seed Virginia Thursday is a reminder of all that is wonderful about March Madness: the underdog, the dramatic shot, the small-school dream come true. It’s also a reminder that the only thing separating Virginia from being the runaway winner of Worst Tourney Program Ever was six fate-kissed games four years ago.
Since winning it all with a succession of nail-biters, this is Tony Bennett’s tourney body of work: first-round upset loss to No. 13 seed Ohio; NIT; first-round upset loss to No. 13 seed Furman.
And this was Bennett’s Virginia body of work before 2018: first-round upset loss to No. 16 seed UMBC, merely the biggest upset in tournament history; second-round loss to No. 4 seed Florida; regional final loss as a No. 1 seed to No. 10 seed Syracuse; second-round upset loss as a No. 2 seed to No. 7 seed Michigan State; Sweet Sixteen upset loss as a No. 1 seed to No. 4 seed Michigan State; NIT; blowout first-round loss as a No. 10 seed to No. 7 Florida.
The record: 6–0 in 2019, 7–8 otherwise. The Cavaliers are serial underachievers, glass-jawed tourney softies, the opponent every double-digit seed wants to see in its bracket on Selection Sunday.
Forde is right and wrong.
Virginia has been a consistent program, just in the regular season in the ACC over the years. It hasn’t been able to take that into the NCAA Tournament aside from that run in 2019.
It’s been a failure in the Bennett era with just the one title and a few early exits in the tournament. It’s not like Virginia hasn’t had talent or good teams, it’s just that for some reason it hasn’t learned how to win in March.
But saying it is the worst tournament program ever is a stretch. Or is it?
With this loss, it’s another blemish on Virginia’s all-time resume. And like UNC, who missed the tournament this year, the Cavaliers will just have to wait until next year to try to make up for it.
