Rice Owls NCAA Football Odds

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy famously addressed Rice University about the United States’ ambitions to land on the moon. He appealed to his audience by asking why Rice’s football team plays Texas each year.

Rice Owls football fans have probably wondered the same thing since that speech, but the answer reflects JFK’s reasoning for the moon voyage: not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

With an enrollment of fewer than 7,000 students, the Owls are almost always facing competition from much larger universities. For fans, it can be both frustrating and exhilarating. For Texas sports bettors, it presents an opportunity to find value in another Lone Star State Division I college football program. Below, we take a look at the Rice Owls football team, its current odds and more.

This week’s Rice Owls point spread odds

Below, find this week’s Rice football point spread, moneyline and totals odds from the most reputable Texas betting sites. If you see Rice Football odds you like, click and go directly to the corresponding sportsbook.

Rice Owls CFP National Championship odds

Rice has never hung a championship banner, and most college football pundits would probably tell you it never will. But oddsmakers don’t believe in “never,” which is why you’ll find all the available Rice Owls championship odds in our feed below.

How to bet on Rice football online

College football has a rabid following in Texas, which comes as no surprise considering the state is also a hotbed at the high school football level. For bettors looking to get in on the college football betting action but don’t know where to start, we’ve assembled a small guide on four popular bet types.

What is this week’s Rice football moneyline?  

Newcomers to sports betting gravitate toward the moneyline bet because of its simplicity. There’s still a lot of homework and research required, but there is less to figure out when compared to other bet types.

You’ll find moneyline bets in every Texas sportsbook (once legalized), including Caesars. The Las Vegas OG sportsbook has been doing this for a long time, which is why it offers some of the tightest lines available in the industry today. You’ll still find value in the right games, however, which is one of the reasons Caesars has remained popular, along with its Caesars Sportsbook app.

A moneyline bet oftentimes looks something like this:

  • Rice Owls                     -110
  • Houston Cougars     +145

You can identify which team is the favorite by finding the negative odds. In this fictional example, that’s Rice with the -110 odds. The underdog is identifiable thanks to positive odds.

Negative odds show you how much you need to wager in order to win $100. Positive odds, on the other hand, indicate how much you stand to win for every $100 you bet. If you were to bet $110 on Rice in the above example and they won, your payout would be $210, which is your original bet returned to you plus $100 in profits.

By contrast, a $100 bet on the Houston Cougars would result in a $245 payout, or $145 in winnings plus your $100 bet back.

What is the Rice football point spread?

The point spread bet typically offers up more value than the moneyline if only because it negates lopsided odds by assigning a number of points by which the favorite is expected to win. Experienced bettors tend to use this bet type because it creates more of a “fair” game and gives the underdog a chance to land on the winning side of the bet.

If the favorite fails to win by the assigned number of points or more, then bets on the underdog would pay out.

At DraftKings, college football point spreads are plentiful. Bettors can find most of the FBS schools available there, including those that hail from the Lone Star State. Competitive lines and college football promotions are sure to be common at DraftKings Texas Sportsbook.

You might come across a point spread bet at your sportsbook that looks like this:

  • Rice Owls       -9.5 (-110)
  • UAB Blazers  +9.5 (-110)

If the Owls are able to win this matchup by 10 points or more, then the payout will be $100 for every $110 wagered, which is the same odds for the Blazers as the underdog. UAB just needs to lose by fewer than nine points in the game to win the bet.

Keep in mind that you don’t need to bet that amount of money. You can go as low as you’d like and much higher. Just remember that any amount you bet will pay out based on the odds when you finalize your bet slip.

Rice football totals bets  

The totals bet is slightly different in that it doesn’t rely on which team wins the game. Instead, it is focused 100 percent on the combined final score. Your job is to determine if the two teams can combine to score over or under the oddsmakers’ total prediction, which is why this bet type is also known as the over/under.

At FanDuel online sportsbook, you’ll find over/under bets for most major college football games, as well as nearly every other popular sports league. The oddsmakers at FanDuel are just as skillful as those who reside in Las Vegas, which is one of the reasons the sportsbook has remained so popular across the country.

Here’s an example of a potential over/under bet:

  • Over            48.5 (-110)
  • Under         48.5 (-110)

For bettors who go with the under, they’ll need the two teams to combine for fewer than 48 points, such as a 24-20 game. For the over to hit, it needs to be 49 combined points or more.

On both sides of the bet, we have -110 odds. A winning $250 bet on either side would pay out $477.27, which includes $227.27 in profits.

What are the best Rice football prop bets?  

Props are side bets you make with your sportsbook. These bet types see quite a bit of action, especially around larger events like bowl games and the College Football Playoff.

Each sportsbook puts a different priority on prop bets. Some go with the full variety of serious and stat-based bets, while others are more exotic and sometimes a bit absurd.

BetMGM may not have as many prop bets as some of its competition, but the sportsbook tends to offer competitive lines and prop bet opportunities for most major games. You’ll also be able to find prop bets through BetMGM’s live betting feature, which is available on the BetMGM online sportsbook and BetMGM betting app.

Here’s just one example of what a prop bet might look like:

Will the Rice Owls have over/under 20 points in the first half? 

  • Over (+155) or Under (+120)

Prop bets can be over/unders (as seen above), or they can concern game events, like which team will punt first or whether there will be a safety in a game. There will always be a variety of props at your legal Texas sportsbooks, but you should shop around.

Who is the Rice football coach?

Despite having been in the college football ranks since 1912, there have only been 19 head football coaches at Rice University. Below, we take a look at the current staff before running down the program’s full coaching history.

  • Head coach: Mike Bloomgren
  • Defensive coordinator: Brian Smith
  • Offensive coordinator: Marques Tuiasosopo
  • Special teams coordinator: Chris Monfiletto
  • Strength and conditioning coach: Hans Straub

Here is a list of the head coaches throughout the history of the Rice Owls:

  • Mike Bloomgren (2018-current)
  • David Bailiff (2007-2017)
  • Todd Graham (2006)
  • Ken Hatfield (1994-2005)
  • Fred Goldsmith (1989-1993)
  • Jerry Berndt (1986-1988)
  • Watson Brown (1984-1985)
  • Ray Alborn (1978-1983)
  • Homer Rice (1976-1977)
  • Al Conover (1972-1975)
  • Bill Peterson (1971)
  • Bo Hagan (1967-1970)
  • Jess Neely (1940-1966)
  • Jimmy Kitts (1934-1939)
  • Jack Meagher (1929-1933)
  • Claude Rothgeb (1928)
  • John Heisman (1924-1927)
  • Philip Arbuckle (1919-1923)
  • John E. Anderson (1918)
  • Philip Arbuckle (1912-1917)

Where do the Rice Owls play their home games?

The Owls play in the aptly named Rice Stadium, which has been their home since 1950. It also hosted Super Bowl VIII in 1974.

Rice Stadium

  • Address: 6100 South Main Street, Houston, Texas
  • Owner: Rice University
  • Operator: Rice University
  • Capacity: 47,000 (expandable to 59,000)
  • Opened: September 30, 1950
  • Construction cost: $3.295 million ($37.1 million in 2021 dollars)

How to watch and listen to Rice Owls football games

To watch all the action, you can catch some games at:

  • Pac-12 Network
  • ESPN
  • ESPN3
  • CBS Sports

For streaming services, you can find some games at:

  • ESPN+
  • fuboTV
  • Sling TV
  • DirecTV Stream
  • AT&T TV
  • YouTube TV

If you’d rather listen to the games, tune your dial to:

  • KTRU 96.1 FM
  • KRIC 950 AM
  • KFNC 97.5 FM

You can also stream the games over the internet via:

  • TuneIn App
  • iHeartRadio
  • riceowls.com

A brief history of the Rice Owls football team

The Rice Owls were once a powerhouse football program, but their rivals’ exponential growth has made things far more difficult in modern times. Below, we’ve compiled a quick rundown of the most important years in Rice University football history.

  • 2013: Rice University wins the Conference USA title, its first conference championship since 1994.
  • 2008: The Owls defeat Western Michigan 38-14 to win the Texas Bowl, their first bowl victory since 1953.
  • 2005: The Owls join Conference USA.
  • 1996: Rice joins the Western Athletic Conference.
  • 1974: Rice Stadium plays host to the NFL Super Bowl VIII in which the Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings.
  • 1962: President John F. Kennedy gives a speech at Rice Stadium to promote the United States’ mission to reach the moon.
  • 1954: Dickey Maegle runs down the sideline in the Cotton Bowl but is tackled by Alabama’s Tommy Lewis, who came off the sideline with no helmet to make the hit. The Owls would go on to win 28-6.
  • 1950: Rice Stadium opens and becomes the home for Owls football games.
  • 1937: The Owls play in their first-ever bowl game, defeating Colorado 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
  • 1934: Bill Wallace, a back, becomes the school’s first All-American player.
  • 1934: Rice wins the Southwest Conference, which they would do again in 1937, 1946, 1949, 1953, 1957 and 1994.
  • 1915: The Owls join the Southwest Conference as a charter member.
  • 1912: Rice University fields its first football team.

Rice Owls Football FAQ

According to SeatGeek.com, the average price of tickets to an Owls home game is $34. They can be found for as low as $4, depending on the opponent.

No, but the program has eight conference championships and two division titles throughout its history.

Jess Neely, who coached from 1940 to 1966, has the most wins in school history with a 144-124-10 record. His win percentage is .536.

The coach with the highest win percentage to lead the program for three years or more is Philip Arbuckle, who was the team’s first-ever coach from 1912-1917 and came back for a second stint from 1919-1923. During those years he went 51-25-8 for a .655 win percentage.

The Rice Owls have participated in 12 bowl games as of July 2022 and have a record of 7-5.

Their first-ever bowl game was in 1937 when coach Jimmy Kitts led the team to a 28-14 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

There have been 139 players out of Rice to be drafted into the National Football League.

The first-ever selection was John McCauley, a back who was taken 10th overall in 1936 by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles would also choose his teammate, Bill Wallace, with the 28th pick that year.

There have been seven players selected in the first round with only one going as the No. 1 overall pick. King Hill, a quarterback, was taken No. 1 by the Chicago Cardinals in 1958.

Six players have earned consensus All-American status during their time playing for the Rice Owls. The first was offensive lineman Weldon Humble, who earned All-American honors in 1946.

Other All-Americans from Rice include James Williams (end, 1949), Dicky Maegle (back, 1954), Buddy Dial (end, 1958), Tommy Kramer (quarterback, 1976) and Trevor Cobb (running back, 1991).