For the first time since 2014, Rice football is going to a bowl game. The Owls will play Southern Miss in the Lending Tree Bowl.
Rice Football is back in the postseason. After finishing the regular season 5-7, the Owls qualified for bowl eligibility by way of Academic Progress Rate (APR), which rates programs based on their academic success. Rice will play Southern Miss, a familiar foe who clinched bowl eligibility in their final game of the regular season.
Up until this past season, Southern Miss was a member of Conference USA along with Rice. The Owls and Golden Eagles have split their 12-game history, 6-6 with Rice winning each of the last two games. This will be the first time the programs are meeting at a neutral site.
The Lending Tree Bowl is played on Saturday, December 17 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Liberty defeated Eastern Michigan in last year’s Lending Tree Bowl matchup. Georgia State (2020) and Louisiana (2019) are previous winners since Lending Tree took over the sponsorship rights. The bowl had previously been played under the following names: Dollar General Bowl, GoDaddy Bowl, GoDaddy.com Bowl, GMAC Bowl and the Mobile Alabama Bowl.
Rice Football Bowl History
Rice has played in 12 bowl games in program history and holds a postseason record of 7-5. Rice went 3-1 in four bowl games under previous head coach David Bailiff.
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
| 1937 | Cotton Bowl Classic | Colorado | W 28–14 |
| 1946 | Orange Bowl | Tennessee | W 8–0 |
| 1949 | Cotton Bowl Classic | North Carolina | W 27–13 |
| 1953 | Cotton Bowl Classic | Alabama | W 28–6 |
| 1957 | Cotton Bowl Classic | Navy | L 7–20 |
| 1960 | Sugar Bowl | Ole Miss | L 6–14 |
| 1961 | Bluebonnet Bowl | Kansas | L 7–33 |
| 2006 | New Orleans Bowl | Troy | L 17–41 |
| 2008 | Texas Bowl | Western Michigan | W 38–14 |
| 2012 | Armed Forces Bowl | Air Force | W 33–14 |
| 2013 | Liberty Bowl | Mississippi State | L 7–44 |
| 2014 | Hawaii Bowl | Fresno State | W 30–6 |
Rice Football vs Southern Miss history
| Season | Location | Result |
| 2007 | Hattiesburg, MS | W, 31-29 |
| 2008 | Houston, TX | W, 45-40 |
| 2011 | Hattiesburg, MS | L, 48-24 |
| 2012 | Houston, TX | W, 44-17 |
| 2014 | Hattiesburg, MS | W, 41-23 |
| 2015 | Houston, TX | L, 65-10 |
| 2016 | Hattiesburg, MS | L, 44-28 |
| 2017 | Houston, TX | L, 43-34 |
| 2018 | Hattiesburg, MS | L, 40-22 |
| 2019 | Houston, TX | L, 20-6 |
| 2020 | Hattiesburg, MS | W, 30-6 |
| 2021 | Houston, TX | W, 24-19 |
Make sure you’re subscribed to The Roost on Patreon for breakdowns of the matchup, practice reports and more as the 2022 Rice Football season marches onward for a few more weeks.