The 2016 Virginia Cavaliers baseball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2016 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Cavaliers played their home games at Davenport Field as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by head coach Brian O'Connor, in his 13th season at Virginia. The 2015 team won the National Championship, their first in school history.
Previous season
In 2015, the Cavaliers finished the season 2nd in the ACC's Coastal Division with a record of 33–19, 15–15 in conference play. They qualified for the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament by winning a play in game against Georgia Tech, and were eliminated in pool play, losing all three . They qualified for the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament unseeded and were placed in the Lake Elsinore Regional, hosted by UC Santa Barbara. Also in the regional were UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State, and USC. The Cavaliers defeated USC, 6–1, in the opening game, and USC, 3–1, to advance to the regional final. There, they again defeated USC, this time by a score of 14–10 in 11 innings. the Super Regional was hosted by the Cavaliers in Charlottesville. There Cavaliers defeated Maryland, 5–3 and 5–4, defeating Maryland in a super regional for the second year in a row, to advance to the College World Series.
In the College World Series, Virginia's first game was against Arkansas, whom the Cavaliers defeated, 5–3. In the second round, Virginia defeated #4 national seed Florida, 1–0. In the semifinals, the Cavaliers lost to Florida, 10–5, but bounced back in the second game, winning 5–4. The Cavaliers advanced to the College World Series finals to play Vanderbilt, a rematch of the 2014 world series. In the first game of the finals, the Commodores won by a score of 5–1. Virginia then rebounded to defeat Vanderbilt, 3–0, in game two. In a winner-take-all game three, Virginia prevailed, 4–2, to be crowned national champions. Josh Sborz was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player recording three wins and a save in four games; pitching 13 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, four walks and seven hits allowed.[2]
Rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked | Week |
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| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
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| Coaches' | 7 | 7* | 7* | 18 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 25 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 12 | | | | |
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| Baseball America | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 14 | — | — | — | 22 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 8 | | | | |
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| Collegiate Baseball^ | 9 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 21 | 26 | — | 20 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | | | |
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| NCBWA† | 8 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 20 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | | | | |
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^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.
