In 2005, the University of Akron hired Mack Rhoades as athletic director, and within a year, the men’s basketball team won 23 games and its first-ever D-I postseason game, defeating temple in the NIT. The football team won its first MAC championship and played in the Motor City Bowl, Akron’s first D-I bowl game appearance. The same year, the women's cross-country team and the men's soccer team won MAC championships, with the latter being the first team in the university's history to have a #1 national ranking.