One of the unique nicknames in all of intercollegiate athletics belongs to The University of Akron

University of Akron

The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...

. Originally Zippers, athletic director Kenneth Cochrane

Kenneth Cochrane

-External links:...

 officially shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Twenty-five years earlier a campus-wide contest had been conducted to choose a nickname for the university's athletic teams. Suggestions submitted by students, faculty, and alumni included Golden Blue Devils, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks, Hillbillies, Kangaroos, and Cheveliers. The winner, freshman Margaret Hamlin, received a prize of $10 for Zippers. The name is in reference to the rubber overshoes made by the Goodrich Corporation

Goodrich Corporation

The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...

, BF Goodrich Company, that were nationally popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The university's mascot is "Zippy", a kangaroo. Zippy is one of only a few female college mascots in the United States.

Football

Akron's major football rivalry is with Kent State University

Kent State University

Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

, whom they play for the Wagon Wheel. They also formerly played Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University

Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...

 for the Steel Tire

Steel Tire

The Steel Tire was awarded, from 1940 until 1995, to the winner of the annual college football game between the University of Akron and Youngstown State University. The trophy comes from the main products of the two cities; Akron for its rubber and Youngstown for its steel.The series was...

 until that series was discontinued in 1995.

Soccer

The Akron Zips men's soccer team, ranked number one throughout the 2009 regular season, went undefeated, making it to the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship, but lost in penalty kicks to the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 Cavaliers

Virginia Cavaliers

The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams officially representing the University of Virginia in college sports. The Cavaliers compete in 25 NCAA Division I varsity sports and are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

. On December 12, 2010, Akron won the NCAA Division 1 National Championship in Men's Soccer by defeating the Louisville Cardinals, 1-0. This was also the first NCAA team championship for the school in any sport. The Zips play their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field.

Basketball

The men's basketball team is currently coached by Keith Dambrot. They have enjoyed success of late including four consecutive 20-win seasons and three consecutive appearances in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game. In 2009 they won their first-ever MAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1986.

History

Mack Rhoades

Mack Rhoades

Mack Rhoades IV is the current athletic director at the University of Houston. On June 11, 2009 it was announced he would be leaving the University of Akron to take over the Athletics Director position at the University of Houston...

 was hired as athletic director

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 in 2005. That year, the men's basketball

Akron Zips men's basketball

The Akron Zips Men's Basketball team represents the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. The team currently competes in the Mid-American Conference East division. The team first played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 1986 when Bob Huggins was their coach. The Zips are currently...

 team, under head coach Keith Dambrot

Keith Dambrot

Keith B. Dambrot is an American college basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach of the University of Akron. Dambrot also coached NBA Star, LeBron James, while serving as head coach of St. Vincent-St...

, won their first ever Division I post-season game by defeating Temple

Temple Owls

Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a very long-running athletic program. The school's sports teams are called the Owls, originating from the university's early days as a night school. The current athletic director is Bill Bradshaw....

 in the NIT, led by first team All-MAC performer Romeo Travis (former teammate of LeBron James

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...

 in high school) and also won the most games in a season, 23. The football

Akron Zips football

The University of Akron Zips are a college football program representing the University of Akron that competes in NCAA Division I FBS Mid-American Conference football...

 team won their very first MAC

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

 championship giving them a chance to play in the Motor City Bowl

Motor City Bowl

The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually since 1997. The first five games were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Starting in 2002, the game was moved to 65,000-seat Ford Field in downtown...

, Akron's first Division I bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 appearance where they lost to the University of Memphis

University of Memphis

The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....

. That same year the women's cross country team and the men's soccer team

Akron Zips men's soccer

The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of Akron. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Akron is regularly ranked in the Top 10 NSCAA Collegiate men's soccer poll, and have achieved...

 also won the MAC championship in their respective sports. The men's soccer team was also the first team in the history of Akron sports to have a #1 rating in the nation.

Rhoades left Akron in 2009, taking the Athletic Director position at the University of Houston

University of Houston

The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...

.

The 1978 men's archery team, led by 3-time national individual college champion Richard Bednar and hall-of-fame coach Bill Bednar, was the first team in UA history to win a national collegiate team championship.