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Breaking down the 2019 football schedule

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The 2019 Rice Football schedule has been finalized and published. Here are three takeaways from the Owls’ upcoming slate.

Date Opponent Location
Fri, Aug 30, @ Army West Point, NY
Sat, Sep 7, Wake Forest Rice Stadium
Sat, Sep 14, Texas NRG Stadium
Sat, Sep 21, Baylor Rice Stadium
Sat, Sep 28, Louisiana Tech Rice Stadium
Sat, Oct 5, @ UAB Birmingham, AL
Sat, Oct 19, @ UTSA San Antonio, TX
Sat, Oct 26, Southern Miss Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 2, Marshall Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 16, @ Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, TN
Sat, Nov 23, North Texas Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 30, @ UTEP El Paso, TX

1. Two bye weeks

You’re not reading that incorrectly, Rice has two off weeks (Oct. 12 and Nov. 9). That’s true of every team in college football this year. The calendar falls a bit differently with a later Thanksgiving. To make sure everything is accounted for the season is stretching just a bit. There will be the same amount of games, but it will be spread over one more weekend. College football fans will be just fine with that arrangement.

2. Home cooking

Rice starts 2019 on the road against Army, but returns for a four-game homestand. That’s two games longer than the Owls’ longest stretch of home games in 2018 and the longest stretch of home games since 1986 — Rice hosted Lamar, SMU, Southwest Texas and Texas.

3. Tough sledding

Army finished No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll of 2018. Texas finished No. 9. Nine of the Owls’ 12 opponents went to a bowl game last season. Rice plays both UAB and Middle Tennessee, the two championship game representatives from Conference USA. Outside of a large chunk of games at home, you couldn’t draw up a road which was that much more challenging.

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Looking ahead at the Owls’ 2019 Schedule

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Rice football has a schedule, sort of. With the game dates still to be set the Owls now know all of their 2019 opponents.

2019 Rice Football opponents

HomeAway
Wake ForestArmy
BaylorUTSA
Southern MissUAB
North TexasUTEP
Louisiana TechMiddle Tennessee
Marshall
Texas (at NRG Stadium)

1. More home games

Rice played 13 games last season, but the majority of them were away from Rice stadium. They’ll get the reverse in 2019, with seven games played in Houston including one game against the Texas Longhorns at NRG Stadium. The mass of burnt orange will still be plentiful, but staying home is always preferable to a long road trip.

2. Statement games

Rice gets three Power 5 opponents in Houston in 2019: Baylor, Wake Forest and Texas. The Owls won their first CUSA game in November, making an upset of this proportion seem a bit farfetched, but crazier things have happened and that’s why they play the games.

All three of these games come relatively early in the season giving the Owls a chance to get a quick jump on their opponent as both sides work out the kinks. Rice took Hawaii and Houston to the brink early on in 2018, coming a few plays short. 

3. Tough draw from the East

The final two teams added to the schedule were Marshall and Middle Tennessee. The Owls couldn’t have gotten much more challenging of a draw. MTSU was only CUSA team to beat eventual conference champion UAB. Rick Stockstill was named CUSA Coach of the Year for his efforts. The Blue Raiders will need to find a new starting quarterback, but they’ll still be a formibable opponent, especially on the road.

Marshall finished as the runner up in the East in 2018, narrowly missing out on a divisional crown themselves. The Thundering Herd have gone to bowl games in five of the last six seasons, winning double-digit games in three of those seasons under current head coach Doc Holliday.

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2018 Rice Football Schedule: How to watch, tv channels and broadcast info

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The 2018 Rice football schedule spans a variety of networks with different programming restrictions. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the Owls.

All 13 of Rice football’s 2018 games will be available over the radio and either via tv or an online streaming service. You don’t need to worry about which games are on which channels and where to go. That’s what this guide is for.

Radio

  • Sports Map 94.1 (FM)
  • Stretch Internet (Online)

TV Schedule

  • 8/25 – Prairie View A&M: ESPN+
  • 9/1 – Houston: CBS SN
  • 9/8 – Hawai’i: Stadium (Streaming only)
  • 9/22 – Southern Miss: ESPN+
  • 9/ 29 – Wake Forest: ACCN
  • 10/6 – UTSA: ESPN3
  • 10/13 – UAB: ESPN+
  • 10/20 – FIU: ESPN+
  • 10/27 – North Texas: ESPN+
  • 11/3 – UTEP: ESPN3
  • 11/10 – Louisiana Tech: ESPN+
  • 11/17 – LSU: TBD*
  • 11/24 – Old Dominion: ESPN+

How to watch

CBS SN (DirecTv Channel 221, Dish 158, Uverse, 643, Xfinity 106). This is different than CBS and may require a premium cable subscription beyond the basic tier of channels. Check with your provider for more information.

ESPN3 is available with all major cable providers. The ACC Network is available on this service. Access the streaming service here.

ESPN+ is available as a stand-alone streaming service from ESPN. This is different from ESPN3 and is not included in a basic cable subscription. You can subscribe to ESPN+ here. They also offered seven day free trials at any time.

Stadium stream live games right here. No providers, no cable, no hassle. The Hawaaii game will be available on their app (in both Android and Apple app stores)

* LSU games is listed as TBD right now but will be updated with TV information as it is available. This will come no later than 12 days before kickoff. More than likely it will be available through ESPN in some fashion.



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Schedule set for every 2018 conference game

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Rice football officially has a countdown. The season opener against Prarie View A&M will start at 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, Aug. 25.

The dates haven’t changed, but kickoff times and viewing details have been finalized for the majority of the Rice football games in 2018.

Once again, Rice will get an early start. Their opening game against Prarie View is scheduled for “Week 0”, which traditionally was the final week of the offseason before the first weekend of games started in early September. That should mean no distractions for fans, as only a handful of other games are scheduled that Saturday – most teams will play their first contests on Sept. 1.

For the first time since 2015, Rice will open and close their season at Rice Stadium. That makes for a few longer road trips in between the home games, including just one home game, against Houston, in the entire month of September.

Another benefit for fans this year are several late kickoffs. The Owls only have one day game on the docket through the start of October. Keeping out of the summer sun as long as possible will be a plus. Rice hosts Houston at 12:00 p.m. in their second game of the year.

Rice will have a number of their games broadcast on ESPN’s new streaming service ESPN+. That means every game is going to be televised in some form or fashion, for a fee. Costs for ESPN+ currently run $5 per month, separate from your cable bill. ESPN+ is available online and on most streaming devices (Roku, Amazon Fire stick, etc.).

Away games at Hawaii, Wake Forest and LSU have yet to be finalized. Those details will be released as the calendar gets closer.

The full schedule, including broadcast information and start times is available here.



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