An almost universally strong week for the Big Ten ended with only three losses. One was Indiana’s Thursday night home loss to the Buckeyes. The other two may have been two of the conference’s more encouraging performances of the weekend, with Rutgers holding its own against a top-10 opponent and Purdue putting a serious scare into Lamar Jackson and Louisville.

The upper crust had its share of scares. Most of the conference’s title contenders held their breath through some hiccups before pulling away from their first opponents of the year. All 14 teams have something positive to talk about after getting the season started, but that doesn’t mean that our preseason power rankings didn’t need a bit of adjusting after a first look at what the Big Ten has to offer.

1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes put up 49 points on Thursday night and still looked like they weren’t quite in gear. That speaks to their top-end talent – hello there, J.K. Dobbins – and explains why many folks see a playoff bid in this team’s future. The secondary needs to take a step forward this week with Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma coming to town.

2. Penn State: No rust removal necessary in Happy Valley. Saquon Barkley was electric and Trace McSorley was efficient in a blowout of Akron to start the year. The Nittany Lions' defense was equally dominant in giving up only 159 total yards – the second fewest allowed during James Franklin’s tenure.

3. Wisconsin: The receivers had a shaky start to the season and contributed to the 10-0 hole that the Badgers dug against Utah State in the first half. On the plus side, Troy Fumagalli, the Wisconsin running backs and a still-ball-hawking secondary made that hole look like little more than a divot very quickly in the second half.

4. Michigan: Beyond the back-to-back interceptions that Florida returned for touchdowns in the second quarter, Michigan dominated a Power 5 opponent. The fresh-faced defensive front allowed a grand total of 11 rushing yards and sacked the Gators six times. This won’t be a rebuilding year for the Wolverines.

5. Maryland: The most notable upset of the weekend came in Austin, where D.J. Durkin’s Terps ruined Tom Herman’s Texas-sized welcome party. Maryland still has plenty to prove and to improve, but two capable quarterbacks and a physical defensive performance provide reasons to be excited.

6. Iowa: The defense was up to the challenge of stopping Wyoming’s Josh Allen in his first game of the season. Led by 14 tackles from Josey Jewell and a couple of late interceptions, Iowa’s defense looked good enough to carry a heavy load. The offense avoided the kind of mistakes committed by most of the teams below them in this week’s rankings.

7. Northwestern: The Wildcats are off to a better start than a year ago, which is to say they won despite showing some flaws against Nevada on Saturday. Quarterback Clayton Thorson put up impressive numbers, but it wasn’t until his touchdown dive more than halfway through the fourth quarter that Northwestern could feel comfortable about avoiding an 0-1 start.

8. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers are another team that should feel lucky to start the year with a 1-0 record. They won, but giving up nearly 500 yards to Arkansas State while giving the state of Nebraska a free nail-trimming is cause for concern. The newly installed 3-4 defense will face a stiff test next week at Oregon.

9. Michigan State: A rocky start smoothed itself out for a Spartans team that has been looking for a reason to celebrate for almost a full year now. Brian Lewerke appeared to be the steadying presence Michigan State needs at quarterback. We’ll learn a lot more about the talent level in East Lansing next week when Western Michigan visits.

10. Indiana: The passing attack in Bloomington is reason enough to believe the Hoosiers will climb higher in these rankings as the year moves forward. The up-tempo pace remains despite Kevin Wilson’s departure, but as one of only three teams to lose this week, Indiana takes a slight dip.

11. Minnesota: There is work to be done in Minnesota despite starting off with a win against Buffalo. The Gophers’ linemen didn’t look as in control as one might expect on either side of the ball against a weaker opponent, and neither quarterback blew anyone’s hair back. A win, nonetheless, is still a win.

12. Purdue: Jeff Brohm’s debut lacked a fairy-tale ending but should give the Boilermakers plenty of reason to believe change is coming. Quarterback David Blough and his receivers kept pace with a Heisman winner for four quarters, and the Purdue defense made several big plays.

13. Rutgers: The cupboards are not yet stocked in New Jersey, but a handful of impactful transfers (starting with quarterback Kyle Bolin and running back Gus Edwards) helped the Scarlet Knights compete with a top-10 team this weekend. Washington was bigger, faster and stronger. Rutgers didn’t look out of place, which is a step in the right direction.

14. Illinois: Let's start with the positive: Mike Dudek and Mike Epstein are two good offensive weapons for the Illini. The negative: Illinois lost most statistical categories to Ball State, a middle-of-the-pack MAC team, and needed to block a last-second field goal to avoid overtime.