Week 2 saw a top-10 matchup in Big Ten country, a Big 8 rivalry renewed and a program win its first ranked non-conference game in a dozen years.
And after it was all done, we had a better understanding of the Big Ten and how its 18 members stack up. Here's a look at this week's power rankings:
18. Northwestern: The Wildcats have been exciting, give them that. But a touchdown win over Miami (Ohio) followed by a double-overtime loss to Duke, both at home, has added up to an underwhelming start to David Braun's first full season as permanent head coach in Evanston.
17. Maryland: The Terrapins blew a late lead and lost at home to a Michigan State program that struggled last year and was picked to finish near the bottom of this year's Big Ten standings.
16. Minnesota: The Gophers responded from a disappointing opening-week loss to North Carolina by beating Rhode Island, 48-0, as P.J. Fleck looks to start rowing his boat in the right direction.
15. Indiana: One of the worst teams in the Big Ten last season is going to have to prove itself against better competition, but putting up 77 on anybody - as the Hoosiers did on Saturday against Western Illinois - will at least get some attention.
14. Purdue: The Boilermakers are basically a blank slate, with an FCS win and a bye so far. Games against Notre Dame and Oregon State in the next two weeks will change that.
13. UCLA: The Bruins had a strange Week 2 bye; all we've seen of them is a narrow win at Hawaii in their first game under new coach DeShaun Foster.
12. Iowa: How much a half can change a team's fortunes. The Hawkeyes led by 13 at halftime on Saturday against Iowa State and looked like one of the best teams in the Big Ten, then came apart with some uncharacteristic defensive lapses and lost the Cy-Hawk game at home.
11. Rutgers: We still don't know much about the Scarlet Knights after they opened the season against Howard and Akron. A trip to Virginia Tech this week should be revelatory.
10. Michigan: Credit to Michigan for scheduling a top-five opponent in its non-conference, but its visit from Texas went poorly. Combine that with a less-than-stellar season-opener against Fresno State, particularly on offense, and this team looks like it's taken a bigger step back than we thought from last year's national title.
9. Wisconsin: The Badgers will be undefeated entering their home showdown with Alabama on Saturday, but after a competitive fourth-quarter game with Western Michigan and a two-touchdown win over an FCS opponent on Saturday, there will likely be plenty of nervousness in Madison entering this one.
8. Washington: We're still waiting to truly find out how formidable Washington is under Jeff Fisch after two strong but not overwhelming performances to open the season, most recently over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. A trip to Washington State next week should answer that question.
7. Oregon: One game is a fluke, but two is a pattern. After narrowly beating Idaho to open the season, Oregon needed a last-second field goal to beat Boise State at home in Week 2. The Broncos are a good Group of 5 team, to be sure, but a team ranked in the top three of the preseason hasn't looked the part through two weeks.
6: Nebraska: Dylan Raiola has been solid as a freshman quarterback, but it was the Cornhuskers' defense that smothered Colorado for a dominating Week 2 rivalry win. The only reason Nebraska's not higher is some doubt about how well this win will hold up given what we've seen from Colorado.
5. Michigan State: The Spartans are alone at the top of the Big Ten standings. After a lackluster showing in Week 1, the Spartans rallied late behind heroics from Aidan Chiles and Nick Marsh to open Jonathan Smith's Big Ten tenure with a road win over Maryland.
4. Illinois: Only two Big Ten teams can say they have wins over ranked teams: USC and the Illini. Kansas outgained Illinois on Saturday but the Illini defense recorded four takeaways for its first non-conference win over a ranked opponent in nearly 13 years.
3. Penn State: Listen, a hangover after a big day in Morgantown is understandable. The Nittany Lions followed up their impressive Week 1 win at West Virginia with a less-than-impressive seven-point Week 2 win over Bowling Green at home, but still have one of this conference's better resumes to date.
2. USC: The owner of the Big Ten's best non-conference win to date - a Week 1 win over LSU - didn't show any signs of slowing down as it thumped Utah State, 48-0, at home as a follow-up. Do the Trojans finally have a good enough defense to not waste a high-powered Lincoln Riley offense?
1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes haven't been challenged yet and likely won't be for a few more weeks, but the team with the most talent on paper hasn't yet given us any reason to think it isn't the conference's best. The Buckeyes beat Western Michigan, 56-0, as freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith continues to look like a breakout star.