UVA men drop to 13th, Virginia Tech women climb to No. 8 in AP polls

After losses at Boston College and North Carolina, Virginia’s men fell seven positions to No. 13 in Monday’s Associated Press poll as they await home games against Clemson and Louisville to finish the regular season.

Houston, Alabama, Kansas, UCLA and Purdue remained at spots 1-5, in that order.

Though the Cavaliers can’t win the ACC regular-season title, they’re still the conference’s highest-rated team in the poll. Miami, stunned Saturday on a 3-point buzzer-beater by Florida State, fell three places to 16th.

Pittsburgh, which leads the ACC standings, checked in at No. 25, the Panthers’ first appearance in the poll since 2016 and their first in Jeff Capel’s coaching era.

Duke is second among the teams receiving votes below the top 25, and N.C. State (six) and Clemson (five) got a little support. VCU, which needs one more win to take the outright Atlantic 10 regular-season title, got one vote.

In the coaches poll, UVA dropped six spots to 12th. The top five mirrors the AP’s, as does Miami’s No. 15 and Pitt’s No. 25 rankings.

Women

Virginia Tech climbed one position to No. 8 in the AP poll, moving one spot ahead of a Connecticut team that lost to St. John’s last week.

The Hokies, who finished with the best regular-season record in school history (24-4), received a double bye to Friday’s 8 p.m. quarterfinal in the ACC Tournament, which starts Wednesday at Greensboro Coliseum.

Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley was named the ACC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. At North Carolina, she became the Hokies’ all-time leading scorer before sinking the winning jumper to finish with 21 points and 10 rebounds. In Sunday’s victory at Georgia Tech, she had 29 points and 11 rebounds.