The Drexel Dragons will travel to Charlottesville on Tuesday to play the Virginia Cavaliers to open up both teams' seasons. A majority of the sport tipped off their season on Monday, but these two programs will begin their journey a day later. Virginia has their biggest expectations in a long time and they will look to start their season with a win against an opponent they are more talented than.
Virginia has multiple talented offensive players back for another season in Chance Mallory and Thijs De Ridder but they will likely still try to play at a slow pace offensively. Last season, the Cavaliers played slow and are expected to do the same in the 2026-27 season. According to Evan Miya, Virginia is preseason ranked #311 nationally in true tempo, indicating that they will play slow this season. Their slow pace combined with Drexel’s projected slow tempo gives the under a great chance in this matchup.
Drexel ranked #334 in adjusted tempo on KenPom last season and is expected to be near that again this season. The Dragons have ranked outside the top 300 nationally in adjusted tempo over the last four seasons under head coach Zach Spiker and will likely keep that same mentality moving forward. The total went under in more than 50% of both Virginia’s and Drexel’s games last year and I expect that to continue into this season. With that in mind, 142.5 points feels too high for this matchup that is not expected to have a ton of possessions, so take the under here.
Drexel vs Virginia prediction: Under 142.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 142 (-110).
