Sometimes jokes fall very flat via texts or SM. Especially when the audience doesn’t know the sense of humor. And talking smack to a stranger, or in this case millions of strangers, is simply unprofessional coming from the football team itself. Not the end of the world. If people want to get their feathers ruffled, so be it.
FWIW, Ohio St isn’t the ONLY university branded with a “The” in its title. Utah is too. So is Texas. And Arizona. And Kansas. And North Carolina. And Chicago. There’s a LOT of schools who are. This perceived “snub” is really much ado about nothing.