re: Why LSU and not Louisiana State?

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I don't know why it happens, but there are a few schools that are just much better known by their initials than by their full names.

LSU, UCLA, SMU and TCU are probably the most extreme examples, but USC, BYU and UTEP are also probably better known by their initials than by their full names.

I think one reason why many schools named ___ State University aren't known as exclusively by their initials is that most states start with a letter that other states also start with, so it would be confusing. Is OSU Ohio State, Oklahoma State or Oregon State? MSU could be Michigan State, Mississippi State, etc. Even some schools in states that start with a unique letter, like Florida State, have other schools with the same initials (like Fresno State). While there is La Salle University that technically goes by LSU (and has purple and gold as their colors, by the way), there is really only one recognizable LSU.

Also, of course, Louisiana has more syllables than most states, so it makes saying the whole name more cumbersome, and there's no obvious or easy abbreviation for it in the spoken jargon (like there is for Pennsylvania or North Carolina). This may be part of the reason why UCLA and USC are also better known by their initials, although "Cal" is frequently used as an abbreviation of California and is used by UC-Berkeley. "Cal" is also used in an abbreviated form of USC (Southern Cal), but the school for whatever reasons (probably marketing brand-identification issues) discourages this and does not use it to identify itself.

In any event, it no longer matters why or how LSU came to be known almost exclusively by its initials. At this point, it only matters that LSU is far and away the most commonly used and widely recognized designation of our school. It's become a very visible brand and, therefore, it is beneficial to us to keep using it and promoting it.

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