Cincinnati actually puts up some pretty good numbers on the research front. It's a moot point though since tOSU will never let them in.
No it's a moot point because none of the conference wants Cincinnati, which was my point the first time.
Yeah, they're decent with research, but fairly or unfairly, they're perceived as a commuter school (which the Big Ten doesn't want) and they're in the existing footprint (which the Big Ten doesn't want). They're not even remotely a candidate so what Ohio State would or wouldn't want is irrelevant.
As I said, if the league were going to consider someone in the footprint, it would at least be someone like Pitt who is top-10 in total research expenditures. Cincinnati puts up decent numbers, but they ranked 14 out of 15 schools in the Big Ten in R&D in 2012. So if the league is going consider someone already in the footprint, it's going to be someone that a) better than what they have academically and/or b) better than what they have athletically.
I don't know how else to say this, but flatly, the Big Ten doesn't even remotely consider Cincinnati a candidate. They were not even included in the Big Ten's research of 20-25 possible candidates back in 2010 when they hired a firm to determine value.