The most prominent rival for Kent State is the Akron Zips of the University of Akron, located approximately to the southwest of Kent in Akron, Ohio. The earliest athletic meeting between the two schools is a men's basketball game on February 19, 1916, in Kent, followed by a baseball game later that year, also in Kent. The two schools first met in football in 1923. They were conference rivals as members of the Ohio Athletic Conference from 1932–1936 and again from 1944–1951. Kent State joined the Mid-American Conference in 1951 and Akron joined the MAC in 1992 after transitioning to Division I-A in football. The Flashes compete with the Zips in softball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, and women's volleyball.