A pretty good case could be made for Cincinnati as a value team in the Big East, but things have gotten a little tougher for the Bearcats. Their best defensive lineman and top deep threat have left the Bearcat program.

While this isn’t breaking news (I just found it in doing my preseason work this week), there’s some value to it. Cincinnati is one of those programs that doesn’t get smothered in coverage and can be overlooked among the bigger schools in the Big East. A case could have been made that UC could be a “go with” team. They lost 5 games last year but there’s no shame in getting vanquished by Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and West Virginia. Coach D’Antonio’s move to Michigan State happened before the bowl season, allowing new coach Brian Kelly and his staff to coach the Bearcats in their International Bowl win over Western Michigan.

But UC is the kind of school that doesn’t have the depth to withstand the loss of their top defensive lineman and a top receiver. Though the future is probably bright under Kelly, the transition got a little more difficult.

It is also interesting to note the Anderson was granted a release to attend Eastern Michigan and Michigan, but not to attend Michigan State to play for his old coach. There’s more detail in this article. Kelly was second choice at Michigan State when D’Antonio was hired and there may be some bad blood there.