The 2024 Rice Football season is over and the Transfer Portal is officially open. Here’s the latest on who’s coming and going from South Main.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.
Team | NFL Owl(s) | This Week | Result | Next Week |
---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit Lions | Jack Fox (P) Myles Adams (DL) | vs Packers (Thr) | W, 34-31 | vs Bills |
Indianapolis Colts | Kylen Granson (TE) | — BYE — | — | at Broncos |
Pittsburgh Steelers | Chris Boswell (PK) Calvin Anderson (OL) | vs Browns | W, 27-14 | at Eagles |
Washington Commanders | Luke McCaffrey (WR) | — BYE — | — | at Saints |
Anderson was active but did not see action in the Steelers’ win over the Browns this week.
McCaffrey and the Commanders were on bye this week.
Granson and the Colts were on bye this week.
Adams racked up three tackles and a quarterback hit in his Detroit debut this week. He had previously been with the Seahawks but had since been signed to the Lions active roster.
Fox was only asked to punt twice this week, averaging 46 yads per kick with a long of 50 yards.
Boswell went 2-for-2 on field goals against the Browns on Sunday, including a long of 54 yards. He also connected on all three extra-point attempts. He’s made 36-of-39 field goals this season
From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more details on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.
Team | Bowl | Opponent | Time | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Memphis | Frisco | West Virginia | 8:00 PM | Dec. 17 (Tues) |
Tulane | Gasparilla | Florida | 2:30 PM | Dec. 20 (Fri) |
UTSA | Myrtle Beach | Coastal Carolina | 10:00 AM | Dec. 23 (Mon) |
USF | Hawaii | San Jose State | 7:00 PM | Dec. 24 (Tues) |
Navy | Armed Forces | Oklahoma | 11:00 AM | Dec. 27 (Fri) |
Army | Independence | Marshall | 8:15 PM | Dec. 28 (Sat) |
ECU | Military | NC State | 4:45 PM | Dec. 28 (Sat) |
North Texas | First Responder | Texas State | 3:00 PM | Jan 3 (Fri) |
All times are in central time
Rice opened up the AAC coaching carousel when they dismissed Mike Bloomgren at the end of October. Tulsa wrapped things up by hiring East Tennessee Stat’s Tre Lamb this week. Here’s the final list of changes in the league this offseason:
Team | Previous Coach | New Coach | Hired From |
---|---|---|---|
Charlotte | Biff Pogii | Tim Albin | Ohio (HC) |
ECU | Mike Houston | Blake Harrell | ECU (Interim) |
FAU | Tom Herman | Zach Kittley | Texas Tech (OC) |
Rice | Mike Bloomgren | Scott Abell | Davidson (HC) |
Temple | Stan Drayton | K.C. Keeler | Sam Houston (HC) |
Tulsa | Kevin Wilson | Tre Lamb | East Tennessee St (HC) |
A pair of free throws from Trae Broadnax followed by a jumper from Trey Patterson put Rice basketball in front on the road against Texas State on Sunday afternoon. The Owls’ lead endured for the early portion of the first half before a 6-0 Texas State run leveled the score at eight apiece and signaled a changing of momentum for the remainder of the contest.
Both sides traded baskets from that point onward but a flurry of three-pointers by Texas State would prove to be significant. The Bobcats hit six in the first half, accounting for nearly half of their made baskets. The Owls had to make do with just two triples and went into the half training by four points.
Rice cut their deficit to one point on five separate occasions in the second half but never was able to break through and level the score. Each close call was answered by Texas State and while the Bobcats never built a commanding lead — their largest of the game was nine — it was enough to hold on for the victory.
Rice falls to 7-3 with the loss and 4-3 in games played away from Tudor Fieldhouse.
FINAL | Texas St 75, @RiceMBB 66 pic.twitter.com/F1QGEFfid4
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) December 8, 2024
Rice basketball did a lot of things well against Texas State. Aside from a couple less threes and the already evident free throw inconsistencies, the Owls mirrored the Bobcats in shooting and outdid them in second chance points, blocks and steals. The one most glaring deficiency came on the boards, where Texas State finished with a commanding 37-28 advantage.
In a game that was within a possession or two for almost a full 40 minutes, those nine rebounds add up. Another rebound here or there can swing momentum and perhaps change the result of a close game like this. For the time being, this game should be considered the exception, not the rule. Rice was +49 in rebounds entering this game and had never been outrebounded by more than four.
Rice Women’s Basketball found themselves in a defensive slugfest on the road against Louisiana early Saturday afternoon where points were at a premium and the score was harrowingly close for a full 40 minutes.
A 4-0 Louisiana lead to start the game proved to be just one basket shy of the largest lead by either side through the first 38 minutes. Louisiana led by three after the first quarter. The game pinballed back and forth to a 27-27 tie at halftime. Louisiana pulled back in front by two entering the fourth quarter before the game would be all tied up at 49 apiece with 5:09 to go in regulation.
Every indication suggested this one would go down to the wire. The contest featured eight ties and 12 lead changes culminating in a two-point Louisiana lead with 80 seconds to play. Then things went sideways for the Owls, who were held without a field goal for more than two minutes down the stretch while the Cajuns closed things out on an 8-0 run.
FINAL | Louisiana 64, @RiceWBB 54 pic.twitter.com/zmxuvENGPV
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) December 7, 2024
For the past month, it was tempting to look at this team’s offensive inconsistency and tendency to allow big leads to wither late and believe everything would be better when Malia Fisher returned to the floor. Rice Women’s basketball was victorious in her return game against Utah Tech, but the good feelings were stifled somewhat by a 10-point loss in what should have been a much closer contest against Louisiana.
If it wasn’t clear before, this team isn’t one player away from being “fixed”, whatever that was supposed to mean, anyhow.
The good news is that it’s not even the middle of December yet and Fisher is far from the version of herself she’ll hopefully be in the spring. But that same truth has to be indicative of this team, too. There’s a lot of growth that needs to happen over the next several weeks and months for them to become the juggernaut they dreamed of being this season. The AAC is a tough league and they’re not going to be handed another conference crown.
Up Next: vs Texas Southern (Fri, 12/13)