Schedule Analysis: Rice Owls

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In an age where fans struggle to keep up with an evolving roster and coaching staff, familiarity wins the day on South Main. The Rice Owls are led by Mike Bloomgren, who enters his seventh season in charge of Rice as the longest-tenured head coach in the Lone Star State. His team returns more than half of its starters on both sides of the ball and wasn’t ravaged by the transfer portal. A second year in AAC should also help the Owls, who are searching for their third consecutive bowl trip and first winning season in a decade. 

RICE OWLS 

2023 record: 6-7
2024 record prediction: 6-6

BIGGEST GAME – vs. Sam Houston on Aug. 31 

Every year is a make-it-or-break-it season for most coaches in college football and Bloomgren is no exception. He’s helped the Owls grow their win total by one game in each of his full seasons in charge, but none have resulted in a winning record. A hot start is required to reach seven wins and a loss to Sam Houston would be catastrophic to those efforts. Beat the Bearkats and the Owls are likely 2-0 heading into the Bayou Bucket rivalry game with a Houston team it knocked off last year. Lose to Sam Houston and the Owls could be 1-2 with a road trip to Army in Week 4. 

TRAP GAME – vs. Charlotte on Sept. 28 

Picking a trap game for a team battling for a bowl invite is tricky, but Rice knows what losing to Charlotte can do to a season. The Owls lost one to Charlotte in 2022 that almost cost them a bowl invitation – through a high APR got a five-win Rice team the nod. Rice needs to hold serve at home against evenly matched teams like Charlotte. Add into the fact that the game against Charlotte is sandwiched between a trip to Army and a home game against UTSA and it gets even more important to win. 

UPSET ALERT – vs. UTSA on Oct. 12 

Rice likely needs to upset one of UTSA, Tulane, or Memphis to overachieve in 2024. The Owls play Army, Tulane, and Memphis on the road, however. The lone home game against one of the AAC favorites is against UTSA. The good news for Rice is that it comes after an idle week. 

FULL SCHEDULE 

Aug. 31                 Sam Houston                  
Sept. 7                  Texas Southern              
Sept. 14               at Houston       
Sept. 21               at Army                
Sept. 28               Charlotte           
Oct. 12                 UTSA   
Oct. 19                 at Tulane            
Oct. 26                 at UConn           
Nov. 2                    Navy    
Nov. 8                    at Memphis     
Nov. 23                 at UAB                  
Nov. 30                 South Florida

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