Why? Because it's freaking annoying. What's the point of it? Because it's the name of their school? The University of Chicago, The University of Iowa, etc. THE Ohio St. University is really the only annoying-sounding one. I can understand when it's NOT the school's name (e.g. "University of Illinois") but I don't get the rant otherwise. I don't have specific examples at the moment, but it's used a lot more than when it's just part of the name. Even when it is...it's the over-emphasizing that's annoying. I have only heard it emphasized for OSU.