Rice Football was projected to finish seventh in the AAC Preseason Media Poll, the highest preseason rank for the Owls under head coach Mike Bloomgren to date.
In recent memory, expectations have, quite literally, never been higher for Rice football. The 2024 AAC Media Poll, released during Media Days on Tuesday morning, projected Rice to finish seventh in the 14-team conference. Not only is that higher than the Owls’ were picked last year (12th), but it’s also higher than any team head coach Mike Bloomgren has coached at South Main thus far.
“To see us tied for seventh, I guess that’s improvement,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said. “But again, that’s not where I think we should be with our team and what this coaching staff and these players have built together collectively.”
Rice was never picked to finish higher than second from the bottom in the West in Conference USA’s divisional structure. In 2021, the Owls’ only year in the league without divisions, Rice was tabbed to finish 10th. For this program to overcome outside perceptions and get recognition in the middle of the pack is not insignificant. The five-spot rise is the second biggest of any team in the AAC. South Florida was the only other program in the league to climb more than two spots, moving from 13th to fourth.
Rice has been a program content to play the underdog role as they’ve built from a two-win season in 2018 to back-to-back bowl campaigns in their most recent seasons. They aren’t the favorites just yet, but those outside of South Main clearly don’t view this program as a perennial underdog any longer.
No longer is this a team expected to finish in the bottom view. First impressions might not change quickly, but something has certainly shifted when it comes to the perception of Rice football around the AAC.
The players inside the locker room have noticed the shift, too. “Talking together as a group, we feel like we should be in the championship conversation,” proclaimed veteran safety Gabe Taylor. “We can’t make no excuses this year. We have to learn how to win and make sure we take care of business one week at a time.”
At the end of the day, media polls are worth the paper they’re printed on. Outside prognostications don’t determine the actual order of finish, that’s what the games are for. And until you start winning those games with regularity, those polls will likely be a lagging indicator of the quality of the program you’ve built. Seventh is better than tenth, but it’s a far cry from first. There is work left to be done.
“I think that’s a good thing. I think the less eyes that are on us the better,” said running back Dean Connors.” We fuel off the underdogs. We have a lot of guys that weren’t highly recruited. The longer we stay like that, the better.”
If things go according to plan, Rice football might not be flying under the radar for much longer.
