Zips

Under Joe Moorhead, who began his fourth season in 2025, Akron is trying to get back to a bowl game after an absence stretching back to 2017. The program traces to 1891, when the university still went by Buchtel College, and the nickname arrived much later, in 1950, as a shortening of "Zippers."

The Zips have not had many high points to point back to. The one MAC Championship came in 2005, paired with an East Division title that year and others in 2000 and 2017. Between those bookends sat a stretch that defined the program more than any trophy: a 28-game losing streak at the FBS level running from 2006 to 2013, ended with a win over Miami (Ohio). The program has a bowl record otherwise stuck at 1-2.

Jason Taylor came through the program before his Hall of Fame career took shape, and quarterback Charlie Frye is remembered as one of the better players to wear the Blue and Gold. Games at home are played at InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field, which took over in 2009 from the Rubber Bowl after nearly seventy years there.

The rivalry that matters most is with Kent State, fought over a literal wagon wheel and known by that name; Kent State holds a 27-24-1 edge in the series as of 2023. A once-active rivalry with Youngstown State, contested for the Steel Tire, has faded.