Staff and wire reports
Thanks to its bounce-back win over North Carolina, Virginia Tech dropped only two spots in the new Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday.
The Hokies (12-2) fell from No. 7 to No. 9. They suffered an upset loss at unranked Clemson last Thursday but bounced back with a win over then-No. 13 North Carolina on Sunday.
North Carolina (9-4), which has lost three straight games, dropped nine spots to No. 22 in the new poll.
South Carolina (13-0) remained a unanimous choice for No. 1, with Stanford, Ohio State, Notre Dame and UConn rounding out the top five.
Tech’s loss to Clemson was part of a trend. There were 22 losses by teams in the AP top 10 this season before Jan. 1. That was tied for the most in the past 23 years before January, matching the 2014-15 season. Seven of those losses came to unranked teams, tied with 1999-2000 and 2004-05 for the most ever.
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Virginia Tech was one of four teams in the top 10 to lose to an unranked foe since last week’s poll was announced.
Indiana (13-1) dropped two spots to No. 6 after losing to unranked Michigan State. NC State (12-2) dropped four spots to No. 10 after losing to unranked Duke. UCLA (13-2) dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 after losing to unranked Oregon State.
Duke (13-1) cracked the poll at No. 19.
Virginia rose two spots to No. 11 in the new Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday, while The College of Charleston moved into the rankings for the first time in 20 years.
Charleston (14-1), which beat Virginia Tech in the Charleston Classic final in November, is No. 23. The Cougars are in the Top 25 for the first time since the 2002-03 season, when they were in the Southern Conference.
Charleston is the first Colonial Athletic Association team to make the AP Top 25 since David Robinson and Navy were ranked No. 18 in January 1987.
Charleston lost to then-No. 1 North Carolina in its second game and has since reeled off 13 straight wins. The Cougars outlasted CAA preseason favorite Towson 76-74 in overtime on Saturday.
Purdue (13-0) remains No. 1 for the fourth straight week, receiving all but one first-place vote from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 Houston (14-1) and No. 3 Kansas (12-1) each moved up a spot, and No. 4 UConn (14-1) dropped two spots after losing to Xavier.
Miami is No. 12, while Duke is No. 16.
No. 20 Missouri (12-1) is ranked for the first time since the 2020-21 season in the wake of its win over Kentucky. No. 24 Ohio State (10-3) and No. 25 Iowa State (10-2) moved back into the poll.
Kentucky, Mississippi State, North Carolina and West Virginia dropped out.
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