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 seven men's and seven 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. The women's swimming team moved to The American in 2022 after C-USA dropped women's swimming & diving. 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.