Urban Meyer smile lean 2014 Ohio State

Urban Meyer needs to lead Ohio State to a win over Cincinnati, but a loss to the Bearcats won't lessen his grip on the best high school talent in Ohio.

(Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State has a lot at stake when it invites Cincinnati into Ohio Stadium on Saturday night. Recruiting isn't one of them.

Though the Buckeyes have a real chance to lose their first game to an in-state opponent since 1921, the result of the game won't have an effect on Urban Meyer's rule on top Ohio talent.

Just ask Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville.

"We don't compete against Ohio State," Tuberville said during his weekly press conference. "There are probably three or four that we've been in on that we've tried to recruit. In the future, we will have a better chance as we get the program to where we want it to be.

"But like I tell everyone, there's plenty of people out there. There are plenty of players available. Sometimes we have to go a little farther to get them because we haven't gotten the ones we'd like to have because of Ohio State."

That doesn't mean Cincinnati couldn't help its cause with a win over Ohio State in a game that will be televised in primetime on the Big Ten Network. The Bearcats are trying to get their name out there as a viable option in the Midwest, not just in the state of Ohio.

But Tuberville is smart about how he approaches recruiting, using time on prospects that he has a real chance at landing. The top prospects in Ohio with Ohio State offers just aren't going to chose the Bearcats over the Buckeyes.

"They have their foot hole in the ground, they've made a name for themselves over the past years, they have a great tradition and we need to build on what we've done," Tuberville said of Ohio State. "I don't like to waste time recruiting just to say we're recruiting guys that Michigan is recruiting, or Alabama.

"We'll throw our name in the hat, but I want a decision pretty quick because we need to move on. And we need to move on and get somebody that fits and can fit into what we do and can help us win games and championships."

Check out our complete coverage for the Cincinnati game:

• The inside story of Ohio State coach Urban Meyer's life as an unknown walk-on football player at Cincinnati

• Take the Urban Meyer coaching quiz (Spoiler alert: Read list of coaches to beat him afterward)

• What if the Buckeyes lose to UC? What's with Michigan?: Ohio State Insider Show

• Could Buckeyes use H-back Jalin Marshall as a Wildcat QB on Saturday? Ohio State quick hits

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