http://www.collegefootballnews.com/big_e...review.htm

Selected quotes

Unfortunately, it still might take another year of seasoning as all of last year's inexperienced, erratic first year players are now experienced, erratic second year players looking to improve. However, if UC could go 4-7 last year with all the problems, getting to at least six wins this season won't be that undoable a jump.

The defense, Dantonio's specialty, should be far better with a strong back seven and a young line that should be good enough to dominate by next season. The linebacking corps of Corey Smith and Anthony Williams on the outside and Kevin McCullough in the middle should shine, while corner Mike Mickens and free safety Haruki Nakamura are strong enough to grow into All-Big East performers.

This isn't going to be a Big East title season, and it might not even be a winning campaign, but UC had to build from the bottom up. The patience will pay off by the end of this year and into 2007.

Key player to a successful season: The entire offensive line. The Bearcats allowed 40 sacks and only averaged 3.2 yards per carry. While there are several players with starting experience, this is hardly a line that knows what it's doing with three starters gone and needing several career backups to become reliable producers.

Key game: September 8th vs. Pitt. Cincinnati isn't good enough to hang around with Louisville, so a win over the Panthers will be vital to avoid a bad Big East start. With road trips to Ohio State and Virginia Tech ahead, a win will be vital to avoid a 1-3 overall start.

I like these better :-) (For what it's worth from CFN). UC was picked at the bottom of CUSA several times and had very succcesful seasons. If the offensive line gells, which did not look promissing during the spring game, the Cats could be a sleeper. I kind of got that from this write up...just to mnay unknowns to give them a favorable review.

"There are mile-wide holes and several major problems to overcome, but it wouldn't be completely unrealistic if the Bearcats beat Eastern Kentucky, Miami University, Akron, South Florida, Syracuse and Rutgers. It'll likely take at least two upsets to come up with a winning season, but it's an attainable goal."

"Sophomore CB Mike Mickens. A rail-thin 6-0 and 165 pounds, Mickens is one of the pound-for-pound toughest tacklers in the Big East. More importantly for the Bearcats, he's also growing into one of the league's premier cover-corners with 14 broken up passes as a true freshman."

"Mark Dantonio's second year as head coach was a tumultuous one, but he and his staff brought it on themselves by playing ten freshmen in prominent roles. Predictably, the team was inconsistent, but going 4-7 isn't a bad rebuilding year considering the program made the jump from Conference USA to the Big East. "