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American Conference Football 2025: Bowl Schedule and Coaching Changes

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Tulane has won the 2025 American Conference Football Championship. Now, a record nine teams venture on to bowl season, and five teams will have new coaches.

TeamBowlOpponentTimeDate
South FloridaCure BowlOld Dominion4:00 PMDec. 17 (Wed)
MemphisGasparilla BowlNC State1:30 PMDec. 19 (Fri)
TulaneCFP First RoundOle Miss2:30 PMDec. 20 (Sat)
UTSAFirst Responder’s BowlFIU7:00 PMDec. 26 (Fri)
East CarolinaMilitary BowlPitt10:00 AMDec. 27 (Sat)
ArmyFenway BowlUConn1:15 PMDec. 27 (Sat)
North TexasNew Mexico BowlSan Diego St4:45 PMDec. 27 (Sat)
RiceArmed Forces BowlTexas State12:00 PMJan. 2 (Fri)
NavyLibertyCincinnati3:30 PMJan. 2 (Fri)

*All times are in central time

Coaching Changes

UAB opened up the American Conference coaching carousel when they dismissed Trent Dilfer in mid-October. Several head coaches received calls from Power conference programs, and not all of those jobs have been filled at this point. Here’s the most recent list of changes in the league this offseason:

TeamPrevious CoachNew CoachHired From
MemphisRyan SilverfieldTBDTBD
North TexasEric MorrisNeal BrownWest Virginia (HC)
UABTrent DilferAlex MortensonUAB (Interim)
USFAlex GoleshBrian HartlineOhio State (OC)
TulaneJon SumrallWill HallTulane (Pass Game Coordinator)

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 222 – Rice Football Surprise Bowl!

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The 2025 Rice Football season isn’t done yet. The Owls are going bowling and have drawn a postseason rematch with Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Good grades have gotten Rice football to the postseason for the second time in four years. The Owls are officially going bowling and will play Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2. Carter and Matthew walk through the journey it took to get here and break down the significance of this particular extra game for the Owls in Year 1 under head coach Scott Abell.

We talked through it all. You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 222.

Episode Notes

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better. Join our discussion on Discord here.

Become a Patron!

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Homefield

Rice Football to play Texas State in Armed Forces Bowl

  • How did we get here?
  • Why a bowl berth matters so much for Rice football this year
  • Texas State rematch
  • More Rice Football!

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s College Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner. If it’s happening in college football in Texas, we’re talking about it. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Football to play Texas State in Armed Forces Bowl

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The 2025 Rice Football season isn’t done yet. The Owls are heading to the Armed Forces Bowl to play Texas State.

For the second time in the past four seasons, good grades will work in the favor of Rice football. Although they finished the regular season 5-7 and one win away from securing bowl eligibility, the Owls will accept a bowl bid as the highest-rated program in the Academic Progress Rate that was not already part of the initial field.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Rice football has accepted a bid to play in the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2. This will be the Owls’ second trip to the bowl game, most recently playing in it in 2012. The Owls’ opponent is slated to be Texas State.

“I think any opportunity you have like this in a postseason for your program, especially year one,” head coach Scott Abell said. “The opportunity to go to a ball game, the opportunity to represent Rice. And the possibility of getting Rice its first bowl win since 2014. I’m really excited to take the field with this team one more time, 2025. I’m excited for the experience for our players, our alumni and our fanbase.”

MORE: Scott Abell Inks Tremendous 2026 Rice Football Recruiting Class

Decisions by Kansas State and Iowa State not to play in a bowl game, both of which came on Selection Sunday, opened the door for Rice football to extend its season. This will mark the third bowl game Rice football will play in in the span of four seasons. That’s just the second time the program has achieved that.

Abell made it clear the Owls won’t be content to just show up, though. They want to win.

“I think [a win] would be a great, great way to leave a legacy for these seniors, to wrap up 2025 and really to set the standard for what we want [2026] and the future to look like,” he said. “I think the team will be incredibly proud if they can secure a victory for Rice University and Rice Football and to bring so much joy back to our alumni base who fought so hard to see a better future for our program.”

Rice Football Recent Bowl History

  • 2023 First Responder Bowl: Rice lost to Texas State
  • 2022 Lending Tree Bowl: Rice lost to South Miss
  • 2014 Hawaii Bowl: Rice defeated Freson State
  • 2013 Liberty Bowl: Rice lost to Mississippi State
  • 2012 Armed Forces Bowl: Rice defeated Air Force
  • 2008 Texas Bowl: Rice defeated Western Michigan
  • 2006 New Orleans Bowl: Rice lost to Troy
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Rice Women’s Basketball Pummels UNLV at Home

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Dominique Ennis became the program’s leading three-point shooter as Rice women’s basketball rocketed past UNLV for a big home win.

Hailey Adams knocked down a jumper to open the scoring and then it sure looked as if Rice women’s basketball would be off to the races. The Owls scored the contest’s first seven points and opened the game on a 13-4 run only to watch that double-digit advantage dwindled in a matter of minutes in the second quarter.

UNLV would fight back, taking the lead with a 19-5 run of their own and daring Rice to recover. Dominique Ennis responded with a back-to-back threes. She would hit six during the game, officially becoming the program’s all-time leader in three-pointers made.

MORE: Scott Abell Inks Tremendous 2026 Rice Football Recruiting Class

Victoria Flores added a triple of her own to close out the half before Ennis opened the third quarter with another deep make. That’s when the Rebels’ resolve seemed to run out.

A barrage of threes and free throws quickly extended the Owls’ advantage. Rice would lead by 23 at the end of the third quarter, pulling in front by as many as 28 points in the fourth and final frame. The three ball kept UNLV at a distance and helped clinch another home victory.

With the win, Rice women’s basketball improves to 7-3 on the season and 4-0 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Final Box | Rice 75, UNLV 50

What They’re Saying

What a game. What a 40 minutes by our young ladies. I am so proud of them. From start to finish we played a complete basketball game. We dominated on both ends of the floor. We had a different look in our eyes and were exactly the team that I knew we were capable of. So thankful that that group showed up today. This is a major win on our home court. We protected home, with Dom and Vic leading the way, along with others. It was just an awesome 40 minutes, and I am very proud. – Rice Women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Showing Up More

Following an impressive fourth quarter finish to pull away from Sam Houston on Wednesday, head coach Lindsay Edmonds made it clear that she was “Excited to see that team show up more.” While it wasn’t a flawless four quarters for Rice on Saturday — things got pretty hairy in the second — it was absolutely more of that high-quality version Rice women’s basketball than we saw over the first couple of weeks of the season.

One good quarter against Sam Houston turned into three good quarters against UNLV. That was enough to blow out the Rebels, who entered the game 5-3 with win over UTSA and Creighton as well a narrow loss to No. 7 Baylor. And Rice smoked them.

If Wednesday showed this version of the team exists, Saturday proved their is enough of it to rely on for more than sporadic high points. This team’s ceiling exists and they might just be starting to discover it.

Up Next: vs UT Arlington (Fri. Dec. 12 at 11:15 am)

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 221 – Rice Football Season Review and Signing Day Recap

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As we close the book on the 2025 Rice Football regular season, we review learnings from the year, signing day and what might be next for the program moving forward.

Rice football finishes the regular season 5-7 with a big win over UConn and many reasons for optimism. On this week’s show, we talk through how we got here, what we probably should have seen coming and what else might be in the future for the Owls with head coach Scott Abell at the helm.

We talked through it all. You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 221.

Episode Notes

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better. Join our discussion on Discord here.

Become a Patron!

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Homefield

Rice Football 2025 Regular Season and Early Signing Period Recap

  • The 2025 Rice Football team overachieved vs expectations
  • Scheme shifts are hard, and it’ll probably stay that way
  • This roster wasn’t as good as we had it hoped it would be
  • What additional benefits might consistency bring next season and beyond
  • Rice flips a player from Baylor, inks highest rated recruiting class in program history

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s College Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner. If it’s happening in college football in Texas, we’re talking about it. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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