Houston's Rice University considering a 'drastic' change for its football stadium

[greenminer]

I'm not even sure what we're talking for here.  What you think should be done with Rice, what you think Rice is trying to accomplish, what you think the AAC should do, and/or what you think the AAC will actually do?

[HoustonEagle]

On 6/20/2024 at 8:08 PM, NT80 said:

I don't agree.  Athletics at our level is pure marketing for the school.   I never hear Rice mentioned, athletically or academically.  Duke, yes.  Rice, no.   If they won't support athletics correctly, then they should just drop to DIII and stop pretending to be competitive even in the AAC, because they are not.   

A little publication called the US News and World Report is all the marketing they need.  Seriously though, you never hear about Rice academically?  

[HoustonEagle]

On 6/21/2024 at 11:21 AM, NT80 said:

I will use Stanford as an example for Rice.  Rice has about 4,800 undergrads, plus very high academics. Stanford has 7,800 undergrads, plus very high academics.   But Stanford excels in Athletics too...

Stanford's program has won 136 NCAA team championships, the most of any university. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 48 consecutive years, starting in 1976–77 and continuing through 2023–24. Through January 2024, Stanford athletes have won 552 individual NCAA titles.

Stanford has won 26 of the 29 NACDA Directors' Cups, awarded annually to the most successful overall college sports program in the nation, including 25 consecutive Cups from 1994–95 through 2018–19. 177 Stanford-affiliated athletes have won a total of 296 Summer Olympic medals (150 gold, 79 silver, 67 bronze), including 26 medals at the 2020 Tokyo games

Great points but that is all in the past.  The new world order has Stanford in a desperate move to the ACC.  A conference that will almost certainly be broken up soon and winners from that conference shakeup will not be Stanford, SMU, Duke, Cal, Pitt etc.   They will be playing in the special-ed conferences like most schools.  The silver lining to all of this is we can return back to the day of the student athlete and focus on academics first.  Hundreds of schools around the country realize now that the chase is over and will shift gears.  

[Thayer]

Rice needs to rip down that monstrosity and build a smaller stadium like Ford at SMU.  That stadium is ridiculous for Rice, it always was, that was the Brown Bros. deal in the 50’s, they owned a massive construction company and practically built it for free.  It’s at least twice as big as they need.  Rice is a very wealthy school thanks to William Rice, who they now have all but canceled in some woke  ridiculousness, his heirs should ask for his 5 billion back 

[Pavlovs Eagle]

On 6/20/2024 at 8:24 PM, SUMG said:

 

And yet.....when there are new conference configurations put together.....some times they're included...and we're not. 

Boggles the mind. 

This also chaps my rear...

I hate reading conversations about reloading the PAC or a future depleted ACC with teams like Rice (because who knows why?) and UTSA (because of recency bias) while UNT is just over here at least giving the appearance of attempting to put a product on the field/court.

[DentonStang]

Try or don't try. Some try and can't.  Rice however has the money, and rich alumni,  to be good.  Dont get it.  What's the point.

[NT80]

On 8/26/2024 at 9:43 PM, Thayer said:

Rice needs to rip down that monstrosity and build a smaller stadium like Ford at SMU.  That stadium is ridiculous for Rice, it always was, that was the Brown Bros. deal in the 50’s, they owned a massive construction company and practically built it for free.  It’s at least twice as big as they need.  Rice is a very wealthy school thanks to William Rice, who they now have all but canceled in some woke  ridiculousness, his heirs should ask for his 5 billion back 

When it was built Rice was a National power, winning the SWC, and drawing crowds appropriate for that stadium.   Tulane had a similar history and stadium with the Sugar Bowl.

[rcade]

On 7/6/2024 at 9:21 PM, HoustonEagle said:

A little publication called the US News and World Report is all the marketing they need.  Seriously though, you never hear about Rice academically?  

I was going to ask the same question. Rice is an academic powerhouse that's among the highest ranked universities in the South. It just cracked the Forbes top 10 of all U.S. universities.

Yes it sucks at athletics, no doubt. But let's keep it real about academics.