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was ranked No. 1 in the country for a good chunk of the campaign. UVa lost in the national semifinals to North Carolina in a game that was played in Philadelphia. By 1983-84, Sampson was gone and it didn't even look like Virginia was going to make the NCAA Tour- nament. In fact, not many people had the Cavaliers going to the Big Dance after a loss to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament. At that point, Virginia had a 17-11 overall record. But the Cavs somehow snuck into the field as a No. 7 seed, and then promptly proved that they deserved to be there. They beat Iona, Arkansas, Syracuse and Indiana to make it to the Final Four in Seattle. At the Kingdome, Virginia took Houston to the wire before falling 49-47 in overtime. Future head coaches Jim Larranaga, Dave Odom, Seth Green- berg and Jeff Jones were all on Hollland's staff. Virginia's 1988-89 and 1994-95 teams would also probably crack many people's top five. In 1988-89, UVa, led by freshman Bryant Stith, went 22-11 overall and 9-5 in the ACC, and made it to the Elite Eight. The Cavaliers, behind Stith's 28 points and eight rebounds, upset Oklahoma 86-80 in the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual NCAA champion Michigan in Lexington, Ky. The 1994-95 team, coached by Jeff Jones, also made a run to the Elite Eight. That squad, led by current Virginia assistant coach Jason Williford, fin- ished 25-9 overall and 12-4 in the ACC. The Cava- liers ended the season with a loss to Arkansas after knocking off No. 1 seed Kansas. Williford said there are a lot of similarities between his 1994-95 team and this year's squad. "They're close," he said. "To this day, my '95 group is close. We all keep in touch." Of course, it's hard not to include the 1975-76 squad on any list of great UVa teams. Holland, in just his second year at the helm, led the Cavaliers to an ACC Tournament championship and the program's first NCAA Tournament berth. Until this season, the 1975-76 squad was the only in program history to win the ACC Tournament. That team was led by "Wonderful" Wally Walker, one of the greatest players in school history. Virginia, though, lost in the first round of the Big Dance to DePaul. — Whitelaw Reid Center Ralph Sampson led way for a UVa team that won 29 games, earned the ACC regular-season crown and advanced to the Final Four in 1980-81. PHOTO COURTESY UVA i12-15.Men's BKB.indd 6 4/3/14 3:39 PM