Kent State head basketball coach Rob Senderoff’s favorite Kent-Akron rivalry memory is from a senior night game that was sent into overtime during the 2022-2023 season.
Senderoff has been the head basketball coach of Kent State for 14 seasons. He has led the team in 28 rivalry games against Akron.
“They made three free throws at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. The call wasn’t a great one that sent them to the free throw line,” Senderoff said. “I got a technical foul to start overtime and Sincere Carry scored almost every point in overtime for us to win. It was an awesome game.”
Senderoff sees each season’s differences as the basketball teams go through changes.
The Kent State University Flashes and the University of Akron Zips have a rivalry that has grown over the years.
“It is a rivalry born out of proximity, determination and sheer competitiveness,” according to Bleacher Report. “The two schools are constantly contending for the Mid-American Conference championship, all the while being separated by just 14 miles.”
With Kent and Akron being so close to one another, the proximity rivalry makes sense.
According to the College of Social Work, “Teams located near each other often face off more frequently, and these repeated match-ups can intensify tensions over time.”
Terry Pluto, an American sportswriter, agrees that the closeness of the schools fuels the rivalry.
“Both schools can easily go to the games,” Pluto said. “Most graduates of both schools live close by and know others who went to the opposing school.”
Along with proximity, passionate fans can find a sense of belonging within a rivalry.
Sports rivalries are deeply rooted in social identity theory, which suggests that people gain self-esteem from being part of a group, according to the College of Social Work.
“At the rivalry game, you’re rooting for your team to win at all costs and for the other team to lose,” Michael Kerr, a University of Akron student, said.
Sam Timar, a sophomore nursing major at Kent State, also enjoys going to the rivalry games.
“Both teams are very competitive in their sports, so it makes a good game,” Timar said. “It’s fun to watch the fans, they definitely get into the rivalry. The stadium is packed for those games.”
The Kent-Akron rivalry is a smaller school rivalry, Pluto said. The local fans make the games interesting.
“People a few states away know very little about it,” he said. “This is pure local.”
History highlights
The Kent-Akron rivalry never goes one way; the wins go back and forth rather than one team dominating the other.
The two schools first met in 1923 for a football game, with Akron defeating Kent State. In the first 12 games against Akron, the best Kent could do was a tie.
Kent State secured its first victory over Akron in 1942, then World War II put a pause on sports.
When the war ended and football resumed, Kent State beat Akron that season and the next four.
Since then, the rivalry has continued to go back and forth.
In 1936, the Akron Zips left their conference, putting the rivalry on hold. They didn’t join another conference but decided to go independent.
“The renewal of Ohio’s hottest collegiate rivalry will be seen this winter, it was learned today,” a Kent Stater report said. “The traditional rivalry severed in 1936 when the Zippers athletic heads saw fit to go big time with their college athletics.”
With Akron leaving the conference, it never impacted the intensity of the rivalry.
“The rivalry between Akron University and Kent has always been of the hottest intensity,” a Kent Stater report said. “Rumors, accusations and degradations of all sorts have hurled back and forth, and though both sides have won victories, supremacy has never been admitted by either.”
Just because a team is having a tremendous season, a rivalry game can throw that progress off track.
In 1958, Kent State and Akron were meeting for their first basketball rivalry game of the season.
Kent State came into the game with two recent losses, while Akron came in leading the conference and having won eight out of 11 games.
Akron was set up for victory, but rivalry games can bring unexpected outcomes. Kent State won 62-55.
“Most of Akron’s success in the rivalry, which dates back to 1915, came in the early years,” a Kent Stater report said. “The Flashes have been able to gain a substantial edge in recent years. Last season, the two clubs split, both winning on their home court.”
Fast-forward 50 years, and Kent State decided to try a colorful approach to prepare for the rivalry.
The sports rivalry led the Kent State Campus Bus service to help promote school spirit by painting the buses.
“Slogans such as ‘Beat Akron’ and ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Go To Akron’ can be seen wheeling all over campus in blue and gold washable paint,” the Kent Stater report said.
The first year the school participated in the bus promotion, Kent State beat Akron. Kent State students believed it to be a good luck tradition for years, according to the Kent Stater report.
The Wagon Wheel
The Kent-Akron rivalry has become known as the Wagon Wheel.
John R. Buchtel, a businessman and industrialist, was looking for land to build a new college in 1870. He rode across the land that Kent State is now on.
His wagon got stuck, and his horses managed to break away, which left the wagon broken, including the wheel.
He kept moving on to create Buchtel University, which later became known as the University of Akron.
When the wheel was discovered in 1902, Kent kept possession of it. Akron officials were not happy upon learning that.
Russell Beichly, Akron’s athletic director at the time, came up with an idea for the wheel. He decided that the wheel should be a trophy for the winner of the annual football game between the teams.
Rivalry now
The rivalry started off with football many years ago, followed by basketball, but the rivalry has extended to many other sports teams.
Kent sports teams such as women’s basketball, softball, cross country, track and field and more compete against Akron throughout their seasons.
They may not be the biggest sports for the rivalry, but these games typically bring in the most attendance from fans.
Kent’s softball team played a game on April 23, 2024, against Cleveland State University. The attendance at this game was only 30, according to Kent State Athletics.
When the softball team played against Akron on May 3, 2024, they brought in 244 attendees. The difference in attendance at regular games and rivalry games is huge.
Rob Senderoff describes the basketball rivalry as an intense rivalry that both teams deeply care about, resulting in high attendance.
“The gyms are packed. The games are on national television and usually, the games are very important for conference standings,” Senderoff said. “That makes it a great environment.”
Robyn Taylor is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].