Two weeks ago, Michigan and (to a lesser extent) Notre Dame both made some strides on the food chain by staging a dramatic shootout in Ann Arbor that looked like an instant classic. And two weeks later, I suppose it's just a coincidence that both got out by the skin of their teeth as substantial favorites against the two teams almost unanimously regarded as the worst in the Big Ten:

The positive spin out of those escapes is that both teams remain winners -- Michigan is 4-0, Notre Dame 3-1 -- and got "gutsy" efforts from their starting quarterbacks, Tate Forcier and Jimmy Clausen, both of whom returned from injuries to throw the winning touchdown pass. Charlie Weis said Clausen wouldn't have played in the second half at all if Purdue hadn't cut into Notre Dame's 10-point halftime lead. In that sense, these were great efforts from two feted SoCal kids scratching out victory in the hardscrabble Midwest, etc.

But these aren't really inspiring wins, in general: Notre Dame's three wins are over teams that are 2-5 outside of their losses to the Irish, with losses to Central Michigan, Colorado State and Northern Illinois in that record. The Irish have barely gotten out of two straight, three-point wins against Big Ten also-rans whose only victories are over Toledo and Montana State, respectively, and which have each lost three in a row after those initial cupcake dates. On one hand, the Irish have kept alive their solid record against losing teams (they opened 5-1 against a similar schedule last year), but offered few hints -- especially on defense, where they currently rank 94th in total D and 106th against the pass -- that they've progressed enough to reverse the years-long skid against winners, now at 17 losses in the last 18 games against teams that finished above .500.

At the time, off back-to-back carpet-bombings of Hawaii and Nevada, the similar aerial barrage at Michigan looked like a natural progression against more talented teams. But the question after Indiana's 467-yard, 33-point barrage Saturday is "Who isn't going to put up huge yards on the Wolverines?" The Hoosiers -- dead last in the Big Ten in every significant offensive aspect last year -- went on long marches and hit big plays alike (an 85-yard touchdown run and a 56-yard completion to set up another score) and might have been on their way to more points if the officials had seen Donovan Warren's clinching interception differently on IU's final drive. The Wolverines are 89th nationally in total defense and 92nd against the pass, slightly worse than last year's numbers for the year and significantly worse than their 2-2 start in September. There is no comparison between the offenses, but the progress of the Michigan D (or lack thereof) puts a real crimp in the prospective rise in the Big Ten. The fact is, resetting expectations after the first month, neither of these teams has put much separation between preseason expectations and their prospects for the season.

Revised skepticism isn't just for Midwestern powers: I compared the outstanding ND-Michigan game to the barn-burning Miami-Florida State affair a few days earlier, and the readjustments must be due to the initial optimism that followed the 'Canes and 'Noles out of that game, as well, after their flops against Virginia Tech and South Florida. It didn't take them long, either, to start looking pretty much like who we thought they were to begin with.