Baseball

The Rice baseball team is the school's top athletic program and one of the NCAA's top baseball programs, having won 20 straight conference championships dating back to 1996.^[5] The Owls won the College World Series in 2003 and finished third in both the 2006 and 2007 College World Series tournaments.^[6] Rice now has made 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances.^{[as of?]} The team has played at on-campus Reckling Park since the 2000 season.^[7]

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,^[8] more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased.^[9]

The Owls began playing football in 1914 as a member of the Southwest Conference. Until 1950, when Rice Stadium was completed, they played at Rice Field, the site of which is now Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. During its first 40 years, Rice's football program was a regional and national powerhouse. By the early 1960s, the program found it difficult to compete against schools that were ten times its size or more—and in some cases, had more freshmen than Rice had undergraduates. 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 was coached by David Bailiff until the end of the 2017 season.

The Rice Owls finished the 2008 Regular season with a 9–3 overall record (7–1 C-USA)—the first time they won more than seven games in over 40 years—and accepted a bid to play against Western Michigan University in the Texas Bowl on December 30 where they came away with a 38–14 victory for their first bowl victory since 1954.

At the end of the 2008 season wide receiver Jarett Dillard was named a 2nd Team All-American by the Football Writers Association, the first Rice Owl selected in 50 years. He has also been named an All-American by Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com (where he was joined by fellow owls Chase Clement and James Casey), and Walter Camp.

In 2013, Rice finally won its first outright football conference championship since 1957, when it defeated Marshall in the Conference USA championship game.

Men's basketball

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 selected in the 2007 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.

Women's basketball

The Rice women's basketball team has achieved great success in recent years, having most recently won the 2021 Women's National Invitation Tournament after having won the Conference USA regular-season title in that season. The Owls' most recent NCAA tournament appearance was in 2019, when they won the Conference USA Tournament.

Women's sports

Rice has been more successful in its women's sports. 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 to NCAA tournaments, 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. In 2008–09, the Rice women's volleyball team went to NCAA playoffs again, where they played Wichita State in 08 and TCU 09.

Women's swimming & diving

Rice began women's swimming & diving competition in 1975 as a member of AIAW Division II. The program continued into the NCAA era through 1990–91, when changes in NCAA specifications for pool facilities led Rice to drop diving from its aquatics program.^[10]

In 2013, 2014, 2015 the Owls sent multiple swimmers to the NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships hosted in Indianapolis.

Rice frequently outscored its opponents in the swimming portion of conference championships, including its first American Conference season in 2023–24, but could not win a conference title due to its lack of divers. In January 2024, Rice announced the reinstatement of women's diving effective in 2024–25.^[10]

Men's tennis

Sam Match won the NCAA doubles championship with Rice University along with his doubles partner Bob Curtis in 1947.^[11]

The Owls were team runner-ups in the 1968 and 1970 NCAA men's tennis championship. ^[12]

Women's golf

Rice will add women's golf in the 2026–27 school year, following a $5 million startup donation from energy industry executive and former Owls women's basketball player Lynn Elsenhans.^[13]

Notable non-varsity sports