Rice Owls

Infobox college athletics
name = Rice Owls

university = Rice University
conference = Conference USA
division = Division I
director = Chris DelConte
city = Houston
state = Texas
stateabb = TX
teams = 16
stadium = Rice Stadium
baseballfield = Reckling Park
arena = Autry Court
mascot = Sammy the Owl
nickname = Owls
fightsong = Rice Fight Song
color1 = Blue
color2 = Gray
hex1 = 000080
hex2 = A9A9A9
pageurl = http://riceowls.cstv.net/
pagename = www.riceowls.comThe Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls.

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 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.

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.

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 [ [http://riceowls.cstv.com/facilities/rice-stadium.html RiceOwls.com Rice Stadium Page] ] , more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased [ [http://www.professor.rice.edu/professor/Alumni1.asp?SnID=1070739414 Rice Facts: Alumni] ] .

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.

The Rice Owls play in the Western Division of Conference USA and are currently coached by David Bailiff.

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.

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.

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.

Facilities

* - Currently undergoing major renovation

ee also

* Bayou Bucket
* Marching Owl Band

References

External links

* [http://www.ricefootball.net/ The Rice Football Webletter, a long-running Rice fan site.]
* [http://www.r-assoc.com/ The R Association, a group formed in 1913 to support Rice athletics.]
* [http://riceowls.cstv.com/ Rice Owls Official Athletics Website, hosted by CBS College Sports]