MAC Spotlight: Akron - Kent State Rivalry
MAC Spotlight: Akron - Kent State Rivalry:
Arch rivals collide Friday, Nov. 27 at Noon ET as Akron hosts Kent State at InfoCision Stadium in the battle for the Wagon Wheel. Akron leads the overall all-time series 31-24-2. The Golden Flashes did not pick up a win in the series until 13th game in 1942 (Akron was 11-0-1). After that stretch, Kent State won 10 straight from 1942 - 1954. In 1974 the all-time series was tied 11-11-2. Since then Akron has won 18-of-31 meetings and 11 of the last 17. Last season, Kent State topped Akron at Dix Stadium as the Golden Flashes scored a touchdown in the final minute of the fourth quarter to secure a 27-24 victory.
The Wagon Wheel
• Friday marks the 58th time the rivals face off on the gridiron in a series that dates back to 1923. Since 1946, the Wagon Wheel has been the prize to the winner, with the Golden Flashes leading the series 23-20-1. The wheel itself dates back to the middle of the 19th century.
• Legendary stories abound as to the roots of the Wagon Wheel...Perhaps the foremost is the one that includes John R. Buchtel, the founder of Buchtel College, which eventually became the University of Akron...It was said that Buchtel in the spring of 1870, began a horse wagon search for a site for a proposed college around Kent...Legend has it that Buchtel's wagon became stuck in a pool of mud somewhere on the present site of Kent State University...The wheel remained embedded in the ground and was just a piece of wood when it was found in 1902. The wheel was eventually in the possession of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who was the dean of men at Kent State in the 1940s...He suggested the wheel as a reward to the winner of the Kent State-Akron game in 1946. Manchester had the wheel painted in the school colors (of both schools) blue and gold.
• The two campuses are just 11.6 miles apart, the sixth closest distance among two FBS schools. Rice and Houston is the closest at 6.1 miles.
• Arguably, the most famous Kent State Wagon Wheel victory came in 2003, when Kent State quarterback Josh Cribbs led a late comeback in a 41-38 win at the Rubber Bowl in Akron.
• In addition to the wheel itself being on the line, one point is also at stake in the fourth year of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge. The competition includes 15 varsity sports, with each sport adding one point to the challenge standings.
