The ACC is often regarded as the best college basketball conference , and UVA leads the series in its official ACC basketball rivalries : against Virginia Tech 96 – 56 , and Louisville 15 – 4 , . A budding but lopsided series between Virginia 's Tony Bennett and Louisville 's Rick Pitino saw Bennett win 5 of 6 games before Pitino 's Hall of Fame career ended in scandal at Louisville . Other notable basketball rivalries include those against North Carolina and Maryland . Notably the 1982 ACC Tournament championship game where Dean Smith had his team of future NBA stars ( such as Michael Jordan and James Worthy ) hold the ball for seven minutes against a Virginia team featuring Ralph Sampson led to the advent of the shot clock and the three-point line in college basketball . The Maryland rivalry is now mostly dormant , but was reignited for the 2014 and 2018 editions of the ACC – Big Ten Challenge , with both Challenges won by the Cavaliers on the road in College Park
1982 ACC Tournament
1982 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
University of Virginia