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Rice Football 2024 Roster Tracker

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The Rice football roster is ever-evolving. From the Transfer portal to high school signees, stay tuned here for updates.

Roster churn has become a part of college sports as we know and Rice football is not immune to the ebb and flow of players coming in and out. The Owls have a higher retention rate than most, but there are still plenty of changes to address. With the 2023 season in the books, this page will serve as a running tracker regarding the roster for the upcoming season as it currently stands.

Looking for the latest recruiting changes such as offers and new commitments? Subscribers can access the recruiting tracker here. Not a subscriber yet? Join here. Feel free to bookmark it and refer back to it from time to time as players announce their intentions throughout the offseason.

All roster changes are up to date as of July 1, 2024.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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Rice Football News

The Roost Podcast, Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting, Conference USA, Rice Basketball

The Roost Podcast | Ep 201 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: FAU

Posted: June 13, 2025

The 2025 Rice Football season previews march on. This week, we’re joined by Kevin Fielder to talk FAU and their new head coach, Zach Kittley. The third edition of our Rice Football opponent summer preview series is in your podcast feeds. Returning guest Kevin Fielder, an FAU alum who’s covered college sports at various outlets, […]

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting, JD Singletary

Rice Football Recruiting: EDGE JD Singletary commits to Owls

Posted: June 12, 2025

The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has added another pass rusher to its ranks. Middletown (OH) edge JD Singletary has committed to the Owls. The defensive front is looking rather nice as far as the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class is concerned. Following a commitment from defensive end Quincy Tchikou to kick off the month […]

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting, Jacob Swain

Rice Football Recruiting: SLOT Jacob Swain commits to Owls

Posted: June 10, 2025

The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class just picked up another playmaker on offense. Melissa (TX) wide receiver Jacob Swain has committed to the Owls. Do-it-all players at the high school level tend to become difference makers at the next. The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class picked up one such star player from in-state. Melissa athlete […]

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting, Prince Hall

Rice Football Recruiting: WR Prince Hall commits to Owls

Posted: June 9, 2025

The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class continues to stockpile offensive weapons. Ellison wide receiver Prince Hall has committed to the Owls. Following a spring bent on filling the final roster spots before the 2025 season arrives, the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class has taken center stage in the focus of the staff on South Main. […]

Rice Football, NCAA

Judge Approves Historic House v. NCAA Settlement

Posted: June 6, 2025

Following a lengthy process, a federal judge on Friday granted final approval of the House v. NCAA Settlement, paving the way for schools to pay athletes directly. In a landmark decision that will alter the landscape of collegiate sports, Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California approved a far-reaching settlement of the House […]

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Rice Football Recruiting: ATH Payton Matthews commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class just landed another difference-maker on the offensive side of the ball. Versatile athlete Payton Matthews has committed to the Owls.

At its core, recruiting is about finding the most talented athletes possible. Once they’re on campus, coaches have to put the pieces together in the most optimal way. The 2025 recruiting class has leaned fully into that philosophy with its latest addition, picking up a pledge for an elite athlete and leaving the exact position he’ll play open-ended. Athlete Payton Matthews has committed to the Owls.

Matthews’ ability to do a lot of different things all over the field is part of what drew him to the Owls’ scheme. “I’ve always floated around from position to position,” Matthews told The Roost. “I think [the Rice coaching staff] can utilize my playmaking abilities all over the field.”

Along the way, Matthews picked Rice over offers from UTSA, Navy, Air Force, Central Michigan and others.

Early indications are he’ll start off in the wide receiver room with the understanding he’s not going to be a stagnant piece in the offense. Matthews indicated his conversations with the staff emphasized that versatility. “I’m supposed to be all over the field which is one of the things I love most,” he said.

The addition of Matthews further bolsters the offensive weaponry of the 2025 class which includes a couple of tight ends, a pair of running backs and multiple receivers, the majority of which have committed in the last two weeks.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Matthews is a lightning bolt on film. His explosiveness and elusive nature make him a home-run threat whenever he gets the football in his hands. How that happens remains to be see, but he’s the type of playmaker you want to get on the field however you can.

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AAC Football: Media Outlets release preseason projections

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Publications have started to release their preseason predictions for the AAC Football order of finish. Memphis is the favorite, where does the rest of the league stack up?

The following is a sampling of where AAC Football teams project to finish in the conference standings according to various different media outlets. The ESPN ranks are projections from Bill Connely. Phil Steele, Lindy’s and Athlon are three of the most prominent preseason magazines that have started to arrive in stores over the past few weeks.

Rank Team ESPN Phil Steele Lindy’s Athlon  Average
1 Memphis 1 2 1 1          1.25
2 UTSA 2 1 4 2          2.25
3 Tulane 3 2 2 4          2.75
4 South Florida 4 4 3 3          3.50
5 Army 6 10 5 5          6.50
6 Rice 7 8 9 6          7.50
7 Florida Atlantic 8 6 10 7          7.75
8 East Carolina 5 5 13 8          7.75
9 North Texas 10 7 8 9          8.50
10 Navy 9 11 6 10          9.00
11 UAB 11 8 7 11          9.25
12 Tulsa 12 12 11 12       11.75
13 Charlotte 13 12 12 13       12.50
14 Temple 14 14 14 14       14.00

The consensus

Memphis is the clear frontrunner to win the AAC Football title this season. Only one publication, Phil Steele, kept the Tigers out of the top spot, dropping them to No. 2.  In fact, all four of these sources view the quartet of Memphis, UTSA, Tulane and South Florida as the clear top four. None of that group are projected to finish lower than fourth with each getting multiple votes to finish in the top three.

On the opposite end, Tulsa, Charlotte and Temple are the projected bottom dwellers. None of these sources project any of that trio to finish outside the bottom three in the league. There are other teams that fall into the bottom third of the rankings on individual lists, but this is the group that can reasonably say “nobody believes in us.”

The wide middle

The rest of the group is squarely in the middle. In fact, there isn’t much of a perceived difference between Army and Navy. Both have at least one ranker projecting them inside the top six and another putting them in the bottom five. Those two, along with East Carolina, represent the programs with the greatest standard deviations in rank. There isn’t a consensus on how good those teams will be.

Rice football could be a sneaky team in the midst of this group. Every team outside the top four has at least one projection putting them in the bottom five except for the Owls. They’re consistently tabbed to finish somewhere between sixth and ninth. An upset here or there and holding serve against some of the weaker teams on their schedule could allow them to break into the upper quarter of the ranks by season’s end.

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2024 Rice Football Season Preview: Safety

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Next up in our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview: safety. Here’s our breakdown of the Owls’ plans for the group this season.

One of the younger rooms on the Rice football roster, the safety position boasts an interesting mix of established veterans and up-and-coming players looking to make a name for themselves. Gabe Taylor is the household name here, but he might not be the only man at this position to make a significant impact on the field this fall. Who else will step up beside him?

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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The latest with Rice Football Recruiting: June 2024 Q&A

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The past two weeks have been a blur as Rice football recruiting has picked up the pace during official visit weekends. This month’s Q&A digs into the festivities.

Things were relatively quiet on the Rice Football recruiting front until very recently. The Owls entered the month with three commitments. They’re going to leave June with at least a dozen, if not more. Where did this come from? And what can the Owls expect from their recent surge of recruiting wins? We tackle those questions and more in this month’s subscriber Q&A.

Questions were edited briefly for clarity. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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Q: Was this planned? Were all these commits just waiting in secret to announce at the same time?

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