WVU than Pittsburgh...(note Ohio River starts in Pittsburgh after the Monongahela River and the Allegheny Rivers merge) so if travelers were to get off they might get to WVU quicker...otherwise from what I understand they have to fly in to Pittsburgh and then bus to Morgantown anyway...I'm not sure if a large steamer/paddle boat could continue down the Monongahela River or not - if it could then you may be able to get to Morgantown.
Can't leave out Louisville they are just down stream from Cincinnati.
LSU in Baton Rouge is a candidate for sure...
The Minnesota Golden Gophers could possibly stake a claim...
Poor St Louis they don't have a D1 team - but you could possibly get far enough up the Missouri River and get close to Columbia for Mizzou.
Iowa River perhaps to Iowa City...would end up to small and still to far away for ISU in Ames.
Perhaps the Rock River could get close enough to Dekalb for NIU.
Maybe the Wisconsin River is big enough or close enough to Madison for the Badgers...
I'm not an expert on the big paddle wheel steam boats on rivers or on how wide/deep rivers are in different areas - although I grew up on the Mississippi watching them go by but I'd say realistically (as if reality matters in trying to find a winner in this ridiculous category) the winners from potential candidates that have Div I FBS schools would be Memphis perhaps by a landslide followed by Cincinnati and then your other P5 school/locations in LSU/Baton Rouge, Louisville and then Minnesota Golden Gophers followed by Pittsburgh...
Sorry Cincinnati - we cherry picked a category just for you and still couldn't get you to be the winner
You lose out on current candidates to Memphis and possibly (and in actual selection) lost out to Pittsburgh and Louisville...