Let's face it, if you aspire to be a big shot in the civic and/or commercial aspects of Central Ohio but have no ties to OSU, you're in a big hole that you have to climb out of. No other university in a city of comparable size to Columbus has that kind of pull, not Harvard, not Stanford, not Pitt, not UC or Xavier.
Also, look at the pathetic attempts at local businesses, small and large, to identify with OSU. The one that really fascinates me is Rick Rosati, of Rosati Windows on TV stressing that he's an OSU alum. Who cares? Well, sadly, enough apparently that he believes it affects his bottom line.
When Big Bear was in business, they tried to hitch their wagon to John Cooper’s star, IIRC. Lot of good that did them.