Rice Owls

The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA-sanctioned sports. Rice was a member of the Southwest Conference until its breakup in 1996. Rice then joined the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA, until joining the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.^[2]^[3] The women's swimming team moved to The American in 2022 after CUSA dropped women's swimming & diving.^[4] Rice is the fifth-smallest school competing in NCAA Division I FBS football measured by undergraduate enrollment, just above the University of Tulsa's 2,756 and the three FBS United States service academies's approximate 4,500. Rice's rivals include the cross-town Houston Cougars.

^ Rice Athletics Branding Guidelines, Rules, & Regulations (PDF). August 19, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
^ "American Athletic Conference Announces the Addition of Six Universities" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
^ "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
^ "American Announces Affiliate Members in Men's Soccer and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.