What Started Kent Vs Akron Rivalry? A Bromance Gone Wrong

KENT, OH - The Mid-American Conference Men's basketball tournament will be held March 10-12 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. In advance, of the big showdown two local colleges are explaining the history of their rivalry.

Kent State University and the University of Akron released dueling videos explaining the origin of their locally storied rivalry. It's worth noting that in the institution-laded world of college basketball, with iconic rivalries like Duke vs North Carolina, the annual battles between Kent and Akron hold a special place in the hearts of many Northeast Ohioans.

While Kent State has achieved more national notoriety for its college basketball team (which made a shocking run to the Elite Eight in 2002 and has produced Charger Tight End Antonio Gates), Akron is actually the more dominant team in the 2016-2017 season.

Akron is currently leading the East division of the Mac with an in-division record of 11-1 and an overall record of 21-4. Meanwhile Kent State is 5-7 in-conference and 13-12 overall. The two teams will do battle again on Feb. 17 (in Akron) and March 3 (in Kent).

Separated by a measly 15 miles, Kent and Akron compete to recruit many of the same prospects, in all sports, and advertise to many of the same high school students. Families will often send one kid to Kent and the other to Akron, so the rivalry between the two schools is never more intense than in a split living room. In fact, in 2009 Bleacher Report called the rivalry between Kent and Akron the "most underrated rivalry" in college basketball.

The two teams also do battle on the gridiron every year to try and win the Wagon Wheel, a football rivalry that has been played since 1944.

So what started the rivalry? A bromance gone wrong, apparently.

The two schools released dueling videos dramatizing the origin of the feud. You can see Akron's version of history below.

Find it hard to believe the kangaroo? No worries. The Golden Flashes have their own version of events.

Photo from YouTube Screenshot