CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – After a one-year hiatus, Virginia is back in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers earned the 3-seed in the Midwest Region and will play 14th-seeded Wright State on Friday in Philadelphia.

“Just a testament to the hard work these guys have put in since they got here in June,” coach Ryan Odom said after the selection. “We know we’re playing a really good team. you get to this time of year you’re going to play a team that’s won a lot of games and believes in itself.”

Odom said the players, staff and staff’s families watched the selection show together at Odom’s home.

The winner of that game would face the winner of Tennessee’s matchup with either SMU or Miami of Ohio. Those two meet in the First Four in Dayton.

Michigan is the top seed in the Midwest. Iowa State in the 2-seed and Alabama is the 4-seed in the region.

Playing the first weekend in Philadelphia, on the East Coast and just four hours from Charlottesville is “great for our fans,” Odom said.

In its first year under Ryan Odom, Virginia went 29-5, finished second in the ACC during the regular season and lost the conference championship game to Duke on Saturday night in Charlotte.

UVA hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since Tony Bennett guided it to the 2019 national championship.

The ACC got eight teams into the NCAA tournament – Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisville, Miami, Clemson, SMU and North Carolina State.

N.C. State and SMU were among the last four teams in the field as at-larges.

The UVA women also earned an at-large spot in the NCAAs. The Cavaliers will play a First Four game in Sacramento, Calif. on Thursday against Arizona State. The winner gets a 10-seed and a Saturday matchup with 7th-seeded Georgia.

They went 19-11 this season but left themselves squarely on the selection bubble by dropping their opening game in the ACC tournament to Clemson. Still, with a NET ranking of 36 and three Quad 1 victories, UVA earned a spot in the Big Dance for the first time since 2018.

“I’m just excited for the experience for this team,” said coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton in a statement. “I just think we have a lot of players on our team that this will be the first time that they’ve been to the NCAA Tournament and we have players that have been to the NCAA Tournament that will get a chance to play significant minutes. I just want them to seize the day, stay present and compete.”