It's a touchy subject for some.
"It doesn't mean we don't like the name Ohio University," Ohio athletics director Jim Schaus says. "But it would sound strange if you said Indiana University Hoosiers. The University of Arkansas is just Arkansas. We feel the same way. We're branded as Ohio. It's important to our alumni, students and staff."
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Across the country, people have become a bit more familiar with Ohio, which has about 17,000 undergraduate students on its residential campus near the Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio. The NCAA tournament has that effect on schools.
There are an NCAA men's tournament record four universities from the state ? Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier and Ohio ? in Thursday's and Friday's NCAA tournament regional semifinals, more commonly known as the Sweet 16.
Among them, Ohio is the stunner.
Ohio State is a Big Ten powerhouse seeded second in the tournament. Cincinnati, a No. 6 seed, has made nine Final Four appearances. Xavier, seeded 10th, has made seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and 11 in the last 12 years.
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"You look at the high school (basketball) programs, the coaches, you look at the AAU programs and the jobs that those guys do. It's obviously a tribute to the state and for the fans," says Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "? It takes a lot of luck for four teams to get here, but by the same token, I think it speaks volumes to the level of basketball in the state."
The other three schools have long overshadowed Ohio, which plays in the mid-major Mid-American Conference and is only the second 13 seed since 1999 and first since Bradley in 2006 to reach the Sweet 16.
The Bobcats (29-7) will play No. 1 seed North Carolina (31-5) in St. Louis on Friday (7:47 p.m. ET, TBS).
The Bobcats defeated Michigan last Friday and South Florida on Sunday to advance.
Even coach John Groce (pronounced Gross) was unfamiliar with the area before being hired in 2008, despite his seven years recruiting the state as an assistant to Matta at Xavier and Ohio State.
"It's a community in itself," he says of the university.
Ohio had not won two NCAA tournament games since 1964. That was not lost on university President and alumnus Roderick J. McDavis, whom CBS caught on video delivering a jazzed speech to the team in the locker room after the Bobcats knocked out South Florida 62-56.
"Absolutely awesome," Nick Kellogg, whose father Clark is the lead men's basketball analyst for CBS and an Ohio State graduate, says of the president's affinity for the team.
McDavis was a few years shy of enrolling at Ohio when the team last won two tournament games. He became sprinter for the track team who regularly attended basketball games. His residence is in the middle of campus and he is known for interacting with the students.
"It was a mild celebration," he says with a laugh. "It was one of the truly most exciting moments in my eight years as president at Ohio University."
Therein lies some of the school's appeal. Ohio's fans are savoring just about every moment of the tournament. Diehard fans of schools such as Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina aren't truly satisfied unless the school wins a national championship.
Friday night, after Ohio upset fourth-seeded Michigan 65-60, students spilled onto Court Street, a cobblestone road lined with popular bars, restaurants and eclectic shops. Ohio has the distinction of No. 1 party school in the U.S., according to The Princeton Review.
Groce saw video of the spontaneous party. "It looked like Mardi Gras out there," he says.
Many students held off a day on their spring break plans to watch the Michigan game locally, says Tom VanDyke, owner of The Pub on Court Street.
"As soon as they won, everyone ran on the street and the bars emptied. People were hollering, having a good time. It was even sweeter that it was Michigan."
T-shirt frenzy
Michigan has been a sore spot for students and fans ever since Michigan football coach Brady Hoke sarcastically referred to Big Ten rival Ohio State as Ohio.
"The unintended consequence is it disparages us," Schaus says.
One of the best-selling items at The Book Store in Athens is a T-shirt that says MichiGone on the front. On the back: "Now you know! We are Ohio."
One of the store's managing partners, Andrew Stout, had more MichiGone shirts printed Monday after his batch sold out. With each Ohio victory, he had T-shirt designs uploaded to the store's Facebook site.
Official NCAA-branded merchandise was on the way Monday, but Stout has a licensing agreement with the university that allowed him to print shirts without the NCAA logo.
"These are printed in Athens, Ohio," he says. "People are being employed right now because of this. That's pretty cool."
'We don't fear anybody'
The television and news media exposure for the university is worth millions, Schaus says. Comparing March 15-19 to the same time period a year ago, the university web site had a 61% increase in new views, says Katharine Quaranta of the university's communications and marketing department. The athletics website, OhioBobcats.com, saw a 102.3% increase in unique browsers.
Schaus is hopeful about raising another $1.15 million to meet the university's $11 million goal for a multi-purpose indoor facility for outdoor sports. There are plans to renovate the men's basketball locker room.
But all signs point to the team's unlikely run ending Friday. UNC has five McDonald's All-Americans in its starting lineup (to none for Ohio).
UNC point guard Kendall Marshall, who averages 8.1 points and 9.8 assists, sounded doubtful because of a broken right wrist for which he had surgery Monday. Nevertheless, UNC is heavily favored, not that you would know by talking to Ohio players.
"I speak for most of the guys," Kellogg says. "We don't fear anybody."
Adds teammate T.J. Hall: "When you're on the outside looking in, it's like, 'Dang, they gotta face North Carolina.' But on the court we have athleticism, speed, shooters and rebounders. We're really confident right now."
Groce had plenty of NCAA tournament experience as an assistant coach. He was at Ohio State when the Buckeyes reached the NCAA championship game in 2007 and at Xavier when the Musketeers advanced to the Elite Eight in 2004.
"I tell our guys, 'There's nothing like playing in the NCAA tournament, other than advancing in the NCAA tournament,' " Groce says.
Point guard D.J. Cooper, who leads the Bobcats with a 20-point scoring average in the tournament, thought he had his greatest college moment two years ago when Ohio upset Georgetown in the NCAA's round of 64. Getting to the Sweet 16, "that's on top of the charts now," he says.
There are large framed photographs of the win against Georgetown hanging in the basketball office. Monday, Aaron Fuss, director of basketball operations, pointed to other spots on the walls where new pictures will hang.
"There's going to be pictures here," he said. "And here ? and here. "Anywhere you look."
They will say Ohio.
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