Five takeaways from UVA basketball’s NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee

Mar 22, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; The Virginia Cavaliers react after losing to the Tennessee Volunteers in the second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images The Virginia Cavaliers’ season is over, and what makes this one sting is that it never really felt out of reach. The No.

3 seed Wahoos fell 79-72 to No. 6 seed Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday night in Philadelphia, ending a season that delivered far more than many expected in Ryan Odom’s first year. But this was not one of those clean tournament losses where the better team simply controls everything for 40 minutes and leaves no room for regret.

Virginia stayed within striking distance all night, fought back from multiple second-half deficits, and even grabbed a 71-70 lead with just over two minutes left before the Volunteers closed the game at the free throw line. That is what makes the final margin feel a little misleading. Tennessee was the better team over the full 40 minutes, yes.

But Virginia had real chances to turn this into another memorable March escape. Instead, the Cavaliers are headed home one game short of the Sweet 16. The threes were there, but the easy points weren’t Odom has made three-point shooting a calling card of this Virginia offense this year and today was no exception.