Boise State Broncos ON SI

Pac-12 expansion candidates: Rice Owls

Conference must add at least one football-playing school before 2026

Bob Lundeberg

Rice Owls guard Kellen Amos.
Rice Owls guard Kellen Amos. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The rebuilt Pac-12 has eight members signed up for the 2026-27 athletics season: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Washington State and Utah State. 

The conference must attract at least one more football-playing member before 2026 to reach the NCAA’s eight-team minimum to qualify as an FBS conference. Gonzaga does not have a football program. 

The Pac-12, which poached five teams from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference, is expected to add between one and six additional members in the coming weeks and months. 

As conference realignment wages on, Boise State Broncos on SI is taking a look at schools that have been linked to the Pac-12 in various reports. 

We began our series last month with the Memphis Tigers and North Texas Mean Green and will now dig into another American Athletic Conference member: the Rice Owls. 

Rice University 

Location: Houston, Texas

Current conference: American Athletic Conference

Enrollment: 8,672

Endowment: $7.814 billion

Athletics budget: Unknown*

Football stadium: Rice Stadium (47,000 capacity)

Basketball arena: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208 capacity) 

*As a private institution, Rice is not required to release revenue and expense figures. 

The case for Rice

Rice’s case is relatively straightforward: world-class academics and a desirable market. 

With a metro population of 7.5 million, greater Houston is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the country and a recruiting hotbed. 

Rice is routinely ranked among the best universities in the United States and beyond and boasts an endowment of $7.814 billion, dwarfing new Pac-12 leaders Washington State ($1.27 billion) and Oregon State ($829.9 million). If desired, the Owls have more than enough money to be a player in the NIL game.

Rice has improved its facilities over the last decade, including a $33 million sports performance center in the north end zone of Rice Stadium. The Owls are also considering a bigger project to replace the historic venue with a new, smaller stadium. 

The case against Rice

A Southwest Conference power in the 1950s, Rice fell into athletics obscurity over the years and was left behind when the SWC dissolved in 1996. 

The Owls have no recent success in football and men’s basketball. Previously a baseball power, Rice hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since legendary coach Wayne Graham retired in 2018. 

Opened in 1950, Rice Stadium is a cavernous facility that recently had its capacity reduced from 70,000 to 47,000. The old building needs to be replaced. 

Rice also has the fifth-smallest enrollment among FBS schools, trailing only the three service academies and Tulsa. 

Simply put, Rice has minimized its focus on athletics over the last 60-plus years. And there is no indication that the Owls are suddenly interested in dumping buckets of money into sports. 

Verdict 

While the addition of Rice could potentially help lure Cal and Stanford back to the conference if the ACC implodes, the Owls do not have the profile of a Pac-12 expansion candidate at the moment. 

All eight future Pac-12 schools take athletics seriously and expect to compete at the highest level. That is not where Rice currently sits.

Unless the Owls change course, the Pac-12 will have better expansion targets in the Lone Star State than Rice.

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Continue to follow our Boise State coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

Published |Modified
Bob Lundeberg
BOB LUNDEBERG

Bob Lundeberg is a reporter for Boise State Broncos On SI. An Oregon State graduate, Bob has lived in Idaho since 2019 and is an avid hiker and golfer.

Home/Football