[edsg25]

OK. Forgive me. I'm back. You know, the idiot who asks all those questions about Michigan's universities. Time to be scared: I'm asking one more.

We all know that as Ohio's only real flagship public university OSU goes by the name The Ohio State University. Penn State officially is The Pennsylvania State University.

But here's something new and it comes from a state, like Michigan, with two flagship public universities. Seems that FSU is now The Florida State University. Obviously FSU pushed for the "The" since words have meaning to make its status akin to UF.

So how about Michigan? For much of its lifetime, MSU has had to run through hoops set up in Ann Arbor concerning its name. It had to wait until the 1950s to gain its university status past U-M and the state legislature. Bill deal: in the post war years, every state college was turning into a university.

MSU had to wait another some ten years to drop "of Agriculture and Mechanical Science" and become just plain MSU to U-M's horror.

Well if tFSU is right, there is only only plateau left to climb. Is it time to consider:

The Michigan State University???

[northstar22]

Please. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Go Blue.

[Bydand]

I think it sounds foolish when applied to MSU. It would make more sense and sound better if UM did it. That coming from a die hard MSU fan.

I don't see either one adding a "The" in front of their names. No need.

[dragon_fly_12]

Yeah, I'm going to agree.. this is a ridiculous question. It does not apply to either UofM or MSU.

[Jwo85]

I never heard of people referring to Ohio State as "The Ohio State"

[UKUKUK]

My teacher in high school, in Lexington, KY, used to brag about going to THE Ohio State University.

UK fans are not merciless or forgiving.

[Starrman69]

Hmmmm, "The" University, of Michigan is in East Lansing...with all those injuries they got into the Final Four and MSU did win the two football games that mattered the last two years...MSU is just fine without "The"

[SummerIntern10]

Originally Posted by chance2jump

Yeah, I'm going to agree.. this is a ridiculous question. It does not apply to either UofM or MSU.

THANK YOU ... I totally agree... stupid question/suggestion/comment/whatever...

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Jwo85

I never heard of people referring to Ohio State as "The Ohio State"

Watch Sunday Night and Monday Night Football when the starting lineups are being shown.

[edsg25]

I'm not the least bit upset about negative comments given to my initial suggestion here. If you disagree, that's cool.

But seriously, guys: I didn't invent the concept discussed.

I started by using Florida State as an example. It did recently change its name with the addition of "The". There is little question as to why it did so: there are many public universities in Fla, but FSU wanted to make it clear that two transcend the others are the flagships of the system: U-F and FSU. The "The" is there to drive home the point.

Ohio State has a reason for the "The", too. Unlike other states, a number of well established public universities preceeded the flagship OSU's formation after the Morril Act and landgrant status. OSU needed to push its position in state that other Big Ten flagships did not due to the existent of far older and very prominent universities like Miami and Ohio. These schools due to age and status gave the flagship OSU a challenge not offered by EMU, CMU, or WMU to U-M and MSU or NIU to U of I, or any UW to UW-Madison. The "the" was designed to proclaim OSU as "the" state university.

Same a Penn State. Originally a college, mainly for agriculture, it evolved through name changes like MSU and has that "The" in it for a reason.

So feel free to dislike the notion of my question and think that MSU is fine without it. Frankly it is. But the idea of tMSU would merely make a statement of the reality that Michigan has two flagship universities.