While the quality may not be the highest, there are few college football conferences that are more entertaining than the MAC. Within the MAC, the Kent State Golden Flashes appear to be one of the up-and-coming programs. While the program continues to grow, it’s still possible to find cheap Kent State football tickets. But that may not be the case for much longer. The Golden Flashes are slowly becoming a program that’s worth watching. Plus, with plenty of budding rivalries with the other MAC schools from the state of Ohio, last-minute Kent State football tickets are becoming more difficult to find.

A Flash in the Pan

For much of its football history, Kent State has struggled to gain much traction. Longtime coach Trevor Rees led the program for nearly two decades after World War II and took the Golden Flashes to their first-ever bowl game in 1954. But when his tenure ended in 1963, Kent State was rarely able to retain a coach for more than a few seasons or find any sustained success. A conference championship under Hall of Fame coach Don James in 1972 turned out to be little more than an isolated incident. It took 40 years after that for the Golden Flashes to win a division title and reach the MAC Championship Game for the first time.

Staying Golden

The 2012 season became a turning point for Kent State football. Under head coach Darrell Hazell, the Golden Flashes won the MAC East division and played in a bowl game for the first time in 40 years. Despite a few rough seasons that followed Hazell’s exit, Sean Lewis eventually picked up the reins and guided Kent State to the program’s first-ever bowl victory in 2019. It was a watershed moment for the Golden Flashes and a sign that Kent State football is finally a program on the rise.