Most people -- including cosmologists -- are badly misusing the word "universe" which means, by definition, everything that there is.
Well I will say this, you’ve got me brushing up on math and physics that I have not used in a long time. I am researching how the big bang did not violate conservation of energy. I’ve always ignored “inflation” because I thought it improbable. Now I have to dig in to really understand current theory on the creation of the universe. :(