Virginia has always been for real and proved it in NCAA Tournament win over Oklahoma

There was something everyone seemed to forget once the jokes about the Virginia Cavaliers’ first-round struggles with the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs had run their course and it became clear Virginia wasn’t going to lose to a No. 16 seed again.

The No. 1-seed Cavaliers won by 15.

It wasn’t pretty, but it would’ve been a perfectly acceptable margin of victory for any No. 1 seed other than Virginia. First-half struggles weren’t enough to make people start doubting the No. 1-seed Duke Blue Devils or North Carolina Tar Heels. Of course, those teams never lost to No. 16 seeds, but Duke has lost to No. 15 seeds before and North Carolina has lost to a No. 14 seed.

Right now, the difference is Mike Krzyzewski and Tar Heels coach Roy Williams both have reputations of winning in March — and April — while Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett is still looking for his first Final Four appearance.

A coach is always a March Madness choker until he’s not. With a 63-51 win against the No. 9-seed Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday, Virginia looked like a team which could change Bennett’s reputation by the end of the NCAA Tournament. Forward Mamadi Diakite scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. All-American forward De’Andre Hunter chipped in 10 points. Star guard Ty Jerome added another 14. All-American guard Kyle Guy only had four points, but still did this:

The criticism for the Cavaliers is obvious. They’ve proven they can lose to anyone in the tourney. In the regular season, they proved they can beat anyone, which ultimately is what matters most in the NCAA Tournament.

Plenty of deeply flawed teams have made runs through March and won championships. The Villanova Wildcats won as a No. 8 seed in 1985. The Connecticut Huskies won the 2011 title after finishing ninth in the Big East Conference. Connecticut won again in 2014 as a No. 7 seed. These teams were more bulletproof than Virginia? No, but they had enough talent to beat anyone.

The Cavaliers have proved year after year they can beat anyone. Virginia has won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season four times since 2014 and this year netted wins against North Carolina, the Florida State Seminoles and the Virginia Tech Hokies. Led by Guy, Jerome and Hunter, these Cavaliers might have the most future NBA players they’ve had in the Bennett era.

Odds are this won’t be the year Bennett shades his label as a choker. With all four No. 1 seeds and all four No. 2 seeds alive, the next two weeks will be a toss-up. Virginia can beat everyone left.

And, yes, the Cavaliers could lose to anyone, too.