Virginia Tech News: Football rankings tumble, WBB gears up for Iowa

In this edition of Virginia Tech News, the Hokies football team tumbles in power rankings after a blowout loss at Louisville, and the women’s basketball team gets ready for a monster early-season matchup against Iowa.

Virginia Tech football drops in power rankings

Over the last month, the Virginia Tech football team has been rising in most power rankings following winning three out of their first four ACC games. Game 5 did not go the Hokies way in a 34-3 loss at Louisville and as a result, they slid in this week’s power rankings to nobody’s surprise.

In ESPN’s rankings, the Hokies dropped to No. 58, but one look at the rankings has Virginia Tech 19 spots ahead of this week’s opponent and 6-3 Boston College. ESPN still believes in Brent Pry’s team as they had them listed in their bowl projections earlier this week, but to get there, they’re going to have to win at least one game on the road, a place where they are 0-4 in 2023.

In CBS Sports power rankings, the Hokies slid down to No. 63 after their loss to the Cardinals and this is how much of a difference there is between ESPN and CBS’ rankings. CBS has BC ranked No. 49, 28 slots higher than ESPN. Go figure.

One day until Virginia Tech’s WBB meets Iowa in heavy-weight battle

The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team began their season Monday night at home with a 94-55 rout of High Point. The No. 8 ranked Hokies in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 got strong efforts from their entire roster and senior center Elizabeth Kitley put on a clinic against the undersized Panthers.

Now they will get their first big test of the 2023-24 season when they play third-ranked Iowa on Thursday night at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte at 8 p.m. Both teams made it to the Final Four last spring in the NCAA Tournament but played each other in Dallas as the Hokies lost in the semifinals to LSU and the Hawkeyes lost to the Tigers in the championship game. What an early-season battle this is going to be.