... since I've coordinated the Coaches Poll for the NWCA since 2005 (save two years in the middle).

It's not your team DROPPING as it is another team moving up. Sure, Minnesota got throttled, but they got beat by a higher ranked team. They were "supposed" to lose that dual, so the loss was expected.

Lehigh pounded the No. 4 team, so it makes sense No. 10 would jump over No. 9. No. 4 slid down to nine, so the Hokies were passed by one team which had a significantly better win. VT was supposed to beat CMU on paper.

The votes are also two coaches per conference, ranked teams 1-25. I send out the ballot each week with each team's wins, losses, win streak and season long resume. It's never a "simple" process, but the whole belief a team is "dropped" isn't exactly accurate. Others moved up based on their performance over ranked teams.

It's how polls SHOULD work. I've also seen "rankings" (not polls) move teams up for close losses. Yeah, that doesn't fly. "Almost beat" is still a loss, but that's another topic entirely.