Rice strolled off the field at Raymond James Stadium on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to wrap up an emotional night. The Owls were far from satisfied from their performance, getting decimated 52-3 by South Florida, as many of the 39 seniors honored one week prior at Rice Stadium completed their final college football game.
Entering as heavy underdogs, Rice needed its greatest upset in ages to sustain its season and clinch a bowl game. However, the 49 points of separation on the scoreboard ensured the Owls’ 2025 campaign was cemented in stone at 5-7.
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Until it wasn’t.
In the days leading up to conference championship weekend, rumors swirled around that Iowa State and Kansas State were contemplating the unthinkable. Both Big 12 schools — which recently experienced coaching changes — were planning to decline bowl bids. The only other non-COVID related instance of that occurring in the 21st century was 2024 Marshall, which opted out of the Independence Bowl due to a lack of available personnel, a landmark decision which contributed to moving the transfer portal window back to January.
With all 82 teams that attained six wins occupying a bowl spot, a slew of 5-7 teams were on deck. The first calls were made to the 5-7 teams with the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR), and Rice stood third on that list, only trailing Florida State and Auburn. The Owls are quite familiar with this concept as they were the lone 5-7 team to qualify for the 2022 postseason thanks to a stellar APR.
“Coming off these last two weeks playing two of the best teams in the country and two of the best teams in our league wasn’t easy for our program,” Rice head coach Scott Abell said. “We began to really tie up things as far as what 2025 was for us and look back holistically. But at the beginning of the week, we were getting word that we were sitting at the top of the next man up list. We had an idea this was a possibility, so you begin to wrap your head around that and have some pre-planning going on. I believe you should never be caught off-guard.”
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While in the state of Virginia, Abell waited all of Saturday night for a call but none never came, thus causing the first-year head coach to lose hope about his bowl prospects. But on Sunday morning — even prior to Notre Dame’s decision to opt out of the postseason — Abell learned the prospects were favorable and the Owls were likely headed to a bowl. Then that coveted invitation arrived, and suddenly, Rice was headed to the Armed Forces Bowl.
“‘Let’s go!’ was my first words,” Abell recalled after receiving the invitation. “Any opportunity you have like this in a postseason for your program, especially year one, the opportunity to go to a bowl game and represent Rice, and the possibility of getting Rice its first bowl win since 2014, I’m really excited to take the field with this team one more time in 2025. I’m really excited for this experience for our alumni and our fanbase.”
In his first year at the helm, Abell produced a 5-7 record with Rice — improving on the team’s 2024 record in year one of a rebuild. The Owls, which installed a unique spread option offense under the former Davidson College coach, finished 3-1 in non-conference play with notable victories over 6-6 Louisiana and 9-3 UConn. They stood at 5-5 after 10 matchups with two opportunities for bowl eligibility, but 11-2 North Texas and 9-3 South Florida were uphill battles in November.
“This week gave me time to reflect on year one, and you’re never satisfied,” Abell said. “But I think we accomplished a lot of things year one. We set the culture. There’s no doubt. We took the right steps in learning how to win. We’ve got to take better steps, but we set the foundation for what we need to do as we move into 2026. And now we have the opportunity to put an exclamation point on that.”
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With an unprecedented three opt-outs, there was a long list of 5-7 teams that declined bowl bids — assuming their season ended and fully unprepared for the possibility of qualifying. However, Rice’s players remained ready to pounce on the opportunity throughout the week, fully ready to rid themselves of the taste from the South Florida game and finish strong.
“The guys are somewhat prepared,” Abell said. “They heard through the rumor mill this was a possibility.”
Rice will face Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2 in Fort Worth. It’s a familiar opponent for the Owls, which faced the Bobcats two years ago in the First Responder Bowl in nearby Dallas. But Rice isn’t just excited to make a bowl. The team understands with this opportunity comes great responsibility.
“Our goal will be to play our best football. We’ll be excited to be in a bowl game, but for me, it’s how do we play our best football of the year vs. Texas State?”
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Rice is a program starved for success. Currently at 5-7, the Owls cannot claim their first winning season since 2014, but they can claim their first bowl victory since taking down Fresno State in the 2014 Hawaii Bowl. Abell desires that shining moment in Fort Worth in January, providing his seniors an unforgettable moment and a win that goes down in the history books for Rice football.
“It’d be a great, great way to leave a legacy for these seniors, wrap up 2025, and really set the standard of what we want 2026 and the future to look like,” Abell said. “The team will be incredibly proud if they can secure a victory for Rice University and Rice football and bring so much joy back to our alumni that fought so hard to see a better future for our program.”
