In a surprise move a few weeks away from the beginning of the college basketball season, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett has retired from his post.
Virginia's odds to win the ACC regular season have dropped from a consensus open of +1200 to roughly +1500. The Cavaliers are as low as +2000 at BetRivers.
The Cavaliers' odds to win it all have changed a bit since open, too. BetMGM slated Virginia as +10000 underdogs to win it all. After the news, that price was +15000. Virginia is as low as +75000 at Caesars to win the title.
At FanDuel, odds didn't change all that much. They have the market-low price of +7500 to win the title and +1900 to make the Final Four.
Since winning the title in 2019, Virginia has been a disappointment year after year. The team was upset in the first round in the 2021, 2023, and 2024 NCAA Tournaments, falling in the First Four in the most recent tourney. In 2022, the Cavaliers failed to even make the NCAA Tournament.
Still, amid his team's struggles, Bennett signed a contract extension over the summer that would've kept him in Charlottesville until 2030. The trend of long-tenured coaches retiring across college football and basketball has persisted since a Supreme Court ruling permitted collegiate athletes free agency every year and the ability to be paid.
"My staff and I look forward to adapting to the new landscape of college athletics," Bennett said after his contract extension in June. "We will continue to build one of the best basketball programs on and off the court without compromising the values of our university."
Virginia will enter the season outside of the AP Top 25 for the first time in years, receiving no preseason votes as a top-25 team.
