The Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. Lovett Hall William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science and Art) is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas, USA, near the Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. ...

Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics and is part of Conference USA. Rice was a charter member of the Southwest Conference until its breakup in 1996 . Rice then then joined the Western Athletic Conference before joining C-USA on July 1, 2005. Rice is the second smallest school competing in NCAA Division I FBS football measured by undergraduate enrollment, just above the University of Tulsa's 2,756. Rice's major sports rivalry is with cross-town University of Houston, also of C-USA. Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. ... The Southwest Conference (SWC) was a college athletic conference in the United States, now defunct. ... The Western Athletic Conference (commonly referred to as the WAC, pronounced wack) was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAAs Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division I-A). ... Division I (or DI) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. ... The University of Tulsa is a private, comprehensive university awarding bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ... For other system schools, see University of Houston System. ...

Baseball

The Rice baseball team is currently the school's top athletic program and one of the NCAA's top baseball programs, having won its conference the last twelve consecutive seasons stretching back to the final Southwest Conference championship. The Owls won the College World Series in 2003. More recently, Rice's baseball team has finished third in both the 2006 and 2007 College World Series tournaments. Rice now has made six appearances to Omaha for the CWS. The team has played at on-campus Reckling Park since the 2000 season. The College World Series is the tournament which determines the NCAA Division I collegiate baseball champion. ... Reckling Park is the baseball stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium was built on the site of Cameron Field, Rices home from 1978-99, in time for the 2000 season. ...

Rice has produced several Major League Baseball players, including all-star Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros and David Aardsma of the Boston Red Sox. In 2004, Rice became the first school ever to have three players selected in the first round of the MLB draft when Philip Humber, Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend were selected third, fourth and eighth, respectively. In 2007, Joe Savery was selected as the 19th overall pick. Major Leagues redirects here. ... William Lance Berkman (born February 10, 1976 in Waco, Texas) is a Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 5, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 40, 42, 49 Name Houston Astros (1965–present) Houston Colt . ... David Allan Aardsma (born December 27, 1981 in Denver, Colorado) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. ... Major league affiliations American League (1901–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 27, 42 Name Boston Red Sox (1908–present) Boston Americans (1901-1907) Other nicknames The BoSox, The Olde Towne Team, The Sox Ballpark Fenway Park (1912–present) Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds... Philip Humber Philip Gregory Humber (born December 21, 1982 in Nacogdoches, Texas) is a minor-league baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization. ... Jeff Niemann (born February 28, 1983 in Houston, Texas) is a pitcher in the minor league system of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. ... Wade Daniel Townsend (born February 22, 1983 in Austin, Texas) is a minor-league baseball pitcher in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. ... Joe Savery is a First baseman/Pitcher[1] who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball 19th overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. ...

Football

The Owls play at an on-campus football facility, Rice Stadium, which was the site of Super Bowl VIII and a speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962 in which he challenged the nation to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. Rice Stadium opened in 1950 with a capacity of 70,000 seats. After improvements in 2006, the stadium is currently configured to seat 47,000 for football but can be readily reconfigured to its original capacity of 70,000^[1], more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased^[2]. Rice Stadium is a football stadium located on the Rice University campus in Houston, Texas. ... Date January 13, 1974 Stadium Rice Stadium City Houston, Texas MVP Larry Csonka, Running back Favorite Dolphins by 7 National Anthem Charley Pride Coin toss Game referee Halftime show University of Texas at Austin Band Attendance 71,882 TV in the United States Network CBS Announcers Ray Scott, Pat Summerall... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Owls began playing football in 1919 as a member of the Southwest Conference. They played at the site of what is now the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium until 1950, when Rice Stadium was completed. At first, Rice was competitive with the larger public schools they played against, but over time, the program stagnated. However, in 2006, the football team played in the New Orleans Bowl, the first time the team had gone to a bowl game since 1961, ending the second-longest bowl drought in the country at the time. Rice Track/Soccer Stadium behind fence and sign. ... The New Orleans Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. ...

The Rice Owls play in the Western Division of Conference USA and are currently coached by David Bailiff. David Bailiff (born May 26, 1958 in San Antonio, Texas) is a college football coach, who is currently the head coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas. ...

Other Sports

Rice's men's basketball teams won 10 conference titles in the former Southwest Conference (1918, 1935*, 1940, 1942*, 1943*, 1944*, 1945, 1949*, 1954*, 1970; * denotes shared title). Most recently, guard Morris Almond was drafted in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.

Rice has been very successful in women's sports in recent years. In 2004-05, Rice sent its women's volleyball, soccer, and basketball teams to their respective NCAA tournaments. In 2005-06, the women's soccer, basketball, and tennis teams advanced, and five individuals competed at the national championships in outdoor track and field. In 2006-07, the Rice women's basketball team made the NCAA tournament, while four Rice women's outdoor track and field athletes received individual NCAA berths, two of them earning All-America honors.

Traditions

In addition to football, Rice Stadium also serves as the performance venue for the university's Marching Owl Band, or "MOB." Despite its name, the MOB is a scatter band which focuses on performing humorous skits and routines rather than traditional formation marching. Prior to the dissolution of the Southwest Conference, the MOB had a lesser rivalry with the "Fightin' Texas Aggie Band" from Texas A&M. The Marching Owl Band (aka The MOB) is the Rice University band for football, basketball, and other events. ... Texas A&M University redirects here. ...

Rice's mascot is Sammy the Owl. In previous decades, the university kept several live owls on campus in front of Lovett College, but this practice has been discontinued. Edgar Odell Lovett College is the seventh of the nine residential colleges at Rice University in Houston, Texas. ...

Rice also has a fourteen member coed cheerleading squad and an all-female dance team, both of which perform at football and basketball games throughout the year. Youth Cheerleaders during a football halftime show. ...

Facilities

* - Currently undergoing major renovation Rice Stadium is a football stadium located on the Rice University campus in Houston, Texas. ... Autry Court is multi-purpose arena in Houston, Texas. ... Reckling Park is the baseball stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium was built on the site of Cameron Field, Rices home from 1978-99, in time for the 2000 season. ... Rice Track/Soccer Stadium behind fence and sign. ...

See also

• Bayou Bucket
• Marching Owl Band

The Marching Owl Band (aka The MOB) is the Rice University band for football, basketball, and other events. ...

References

1. ^ RiceOwls.com Rice Stadium Page
2. ^ Rice Facts: Alumni

External links

• The Rice Football Webletter, a long-running Rice fan site.
• The R Association, a group formed in 1913 to support Rice athletics.
• Rice Owls Official Athletics Website, hosted by CSTV