Rice Football only plays a few games a year outside of Conference USA, but the Owls rich history stretches across almost every college football conference.
In 2005 Rice joined Conference USA. They left the WAC that year, a pitstop after spending decades in the Southwest Conference. During that time Rice has played dozens upon dozens of schools and amassed favorable records across several of the sport’s most notable names.
More than 100 years of football later, here are a few of the Owls more impressive series wins across nine different conferences and a few independent squads.
Power 5
- ACC – North Carolina (1-0), Pittsburgh (2-1)
- Big 12 – WVU (1-0), Kansas (2-1), Iowa State (3-2)
- Big Ten – Northwestern (4-3)
- Pac-12 – Arizona (4-0), Utah (3-1), Colorado (1-0)
- SEC – Alabama (3-0), Auburn (2-0), Georgia (1-0), Florida (4-3-1)
Quick… how many active college football programs are undefeated in games against Alabama, Auburn and Georgia? Six of the Owls’ 82 wins against current SEC teams came over three of the truest blue-bloods in college football.
Rice has a rich rivalry with some of the premier academic institutions across the nation. They’ve played Duke and Stanford six times and Northwestern seven. The Owls and Wildcats are scheduled to meet again in 2029.
Group of 5 and Independent
- AAC – Tulane (20-15-1)
- CUSA– UTEP (14-8), Charlotte (2-0), FAU (2-1)
- MAC – Western Michigan (1-0)
- Mountain West – New Mexico (3-0), UNLV (2-0), Colorado State (1-0), Hawaii (5-3)
- Independent – New Mexico State (1-0), Army (4-3)
Rice has a winning record over their first opponent of 2019, Army, but the Black Knights could even the series with a home win in August. Among Group of 5 teams, Rice and Tulane have some of the richest history. The series has had several starts and stops but always been close with Rice winning seven of the last 10.
Within the confines of the Owls’ current conference affiliations, Rice has controlled UTEP with the most regularity. The Miners got the upper hand in 2018, but Rice will look to avenge that defeat in El Paso this fall.