DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of the prevailing notions heading into the season was that the Big Ten East could end up being a lot better than the West.

It didn’t look that way last weekend.

Northwestern buried Penn State as road underdogs.

Minnesota did the same to Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Nebraska continued its unbeaten start with a rout of Illinois, and Iowa won its second straight road game.

Though it was clearly a small sample size, Saturday’s performances were encouraging for a newly-created division fighting for respect.