Wagon Wheel Challenge

Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge

Each of the fourteen (14) sports will be worth one (1) point. For a school to be the winner of The Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge, it must accumulate at least seven-and-a-half (7.5) points.
The point is awarded to the team that wins the season series in the head-to-head competition.
If the teams play head-to-head once in a given season (e.g. football), then the school that wins will receive the point.
All regular-season games count toward the season series tally (including if non-conference games are played) with the school that wins more games (e.g., winning two of three in softball) receiving the point. If teams split the regular season match-ups (e.g., in basketball), then each team receives a one-half (½) point for that sport.
For men's and women's cross country, golf and indoor/outdoor track and field, one point is awarded to whichever school finishes higher in the MAC Championship for each of those sports. (For these sports, no other competitions – in-season or post-season – will count toward the series.)
MAC and/or NCAA Tournament games can count toward determining the season series winner (e.g., the schools split the two regular-season meetings in basketball and then plays in the MAC Tournament, whichever school wins that game is awarded the point.)
In the event of a 14-sports season tie, the school that won the trophy the previous year will retain possession.

According to legend, the "Wagon Wheel" trophy traces its beginnings to the spring of 1870 when Akron industrialist John R. Buchtel set out for the town of Kent in search of a site to establish a college. In the muddy Ohio fields, however, his wagon became bogged down in the area where Kent State University is currently located. When horses pulled the wagon, a wheel came loose and became buried until it was discovered in 1902 during the construction of a pipeline along the Western Reserve Trail.

The wheel eventually fell into the possession of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who as the Kent State Dean of Men in 1945, suggested the local historic artifact be offered as the trophy to the winner of the annual Akron-Kent State football game.

Through the 2018 game, Akron leads the series at 24–23–1 in Wagon Wheel games. Dating to 1923, Akron leads the all-time series on the gridiron, 35-24-2.