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Houston–Rice rivalry

Houston Cougars Rice Owls

The Houston–Rice rivalry is a crosstown college rivalry between the Houston Cougars of the University of Houston and Rice Owls of Rice University. The universities are located approximately five miles from one another. It is one of the few NCAA Division I crosstown rivalries, especially between institutions that field Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

The rivalry existed in a more official capacity after Houston joined the now-defunct Southwest Conference in 1971, in which Rice was a charter member. Since the breakup of that conference in 1995, the rivalry has continued. In 2005, Rice joined Conference USA, of which Houston was a member, and again made the rivalry more relevant for conference titles as well. The two schools were once again in separate conferences after the 2012–13 school year once Houston joined the American Athletic Conference. Rice moved into the American in 2023, but at the same time Houston moved to the Big 12 Conference, so the two schools continue to compete in separate conferences.

Baseball

The winner of the Silver Glove series between UH and Rice receives an award dubbed the "Silver Cup Trophy". The teams played against each other for the first time in 1948. Through the 2024 season, Rice leads the series 110–90. ^{[1] [2]}

Both teams compete in the annual Houston College Classic, which began in 2001.

Men's basketball

Bayou Cup

Sport	Basketball
First meeting	January 8, 1972 Houston 101, Rice 73
Latest meeting	December 6, 2023 Houston 75, Rice 39
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	84
All-time series	Houston leads 66–18
Largest victory	Houston, 106–56 (January 12, 1977)
Longest win streak	Houston, 17 (January 8, 1972–January 3, 1980)
Current win streak	Houston, 8 (March 6, 2013–present)

Since 2002, Rice and Houston have competed for an award dubbed the "Bayou Cup" in men's basketball. Through the 2023–24 season, Houston leads the series 66–18. ^[3]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.

Houston victories

Rice victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 January 8, 1972 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 101–73 2 January 16, 1973 Rice Gymnasium #12 Houston 96–77 3 March 5, 1973 Hofheinz Pavilion #7 Houston 116–72 4 January 12, 1974 Rice Gymnasium Houston 95–86 5 March 7, 1974 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 107–62 6 January 11, 1975 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 91–70 7 March 11, 1975 Rice Gymnasium Houston 82–73 8 January 10, 1976 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 87–59 9 February 7, 1976 Rice Gymnasium Houston 99–79 10 January 12, 1977 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 106–56 11 February 8, 1977 Rice Gymnasium Houston 109–73 12 January 21, 1978 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 96–74 13 February 11, 1978 Rice Gymnasium Houston 87–62 14 February 25, 1978A The Summit Houston 108–67 15 January 20, 1979 Rice Gymnasium Houston 101–75 16 February 10, 1979 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 75–72 17 January 3, 1980 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 78–70 18 February 19, 1980 Rice Gymnasium Rice 81–74 19 February 25, 1980B HemisFair Arena Houston 92–80 20 January 3, 1981 Rice Gymnasium Houston 62–57 21 February 24, 1981 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 63–55 22 January 4, 1982 Hofheinz Pavilion #14 Houston 63–61 23 February 23, 1982 Rice Gymnasium Houston 75–69 24 January 26, 1983 Rice Gymnasium #9 Houston 76–40 25 February 26, 1983 Hofheinz Pavilion #2 Houston 86–52 26 January 20, 1984 Hofheinz Pavilion #4 Houston 72–42 27 February 22, 1984 Rice Gymnasium #3 Houston 70–54 28 March 10, 1984C The Summit #5 Houston 53–50 29 January 16, 1985 Rice Gymnasium Houston 77–73 30 February 17, 1985 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 96–91 31 January 11, 1986 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 71–68 32 February 12, 1986 Rice Gymnasium Houston 71–69 33 January 10, 1987 Rice Gymnasium Houston 71–36 34 February 7, 1987 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 75–62 35 February 3, 1988 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 84–67 36 March 5, 1988 Rice Gymnasium Houston 81–65 37 January 4, 1989 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 90–75 38 February 4, 1989 Rice Gymnasium Rice 67–66 39 January 6, 1990 Rice Gymnasium Houston 84–69 40 February 7, 1990 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 84–67 41 March 9, 1990D Reunion Arena Houston 90–81 42 January 9, 1991 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 80–73 43 February 9, 1991 Rice Gymnasium Rice 79–69 No. Date Location Winner Score 44 January 18, 1992 Rice Gymnasium Houston 74–60 45 February 19, 1992 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 86–83 46 February 2, 1993 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 65–61 47 March 3, 1993 Rice Gymnasium Rice 89–78 48 February 5, 1994 Rice Gymnasium Houston 69–67 49 March 5, 1994 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 78–76 50 January 11, 1995 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 87–76 51 February 8, 1995 Rice Gymnasium Houston 73–67 52 January 13, 1996 Rice Gymnasium Houston 76–74 53 February 10, 1996 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 63–59 54 November 21, 1998 Rice Gymnasium Rice 69–64 55 December 7, 1999 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 84–71OT 56 November 21, 2000 Rice Gymnasium Rice 65–45 57 November 29, 2001 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 62–61 58 November 27, 2002 Rice Gymnasium Rice 71–53 59 December 3, 2003 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 62–52 60 November 30, 2004 Rice Gymnasium Rice 74–73 61 January 11, 2006 Rice Gymnasium Rice 71–62 62 March 1, 2006 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 74–71 63 January 17, 2007 Rice Gymnasium Rice 76–71 64 January 31, 2007 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 70–63 65 March 9, 2007E FedExForum Houston 77–62 66 January 23, 2008 Rice Gymnasium Houston 69–60 67 February 23, 2008 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 71–62 68 February 7, 2009 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 72–65 69 February 28, 2009 Tudor Fieldhouse Houston 56–51 70 January 6, 2010 Tudor Fieldhouse Houston 83–66 71 March 3, 2010 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 78–70 72 January 26, 2011 Tudor Fieldhouse Rice 79–71OT 73 March 5, 2011 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 72–57 74 February 8, 2012 Hofheinz Pavilion Rice 79–71 75 March 3, 2012 Tudor Fieldhouse Houston 76–75 76 January 30, 2013 Tudor Fieldhouse Rice 79–69 77 March 6, 2013 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 84–62 78 March 13, 2013F BOK Center Houston 72–67 79 December 21, 2013 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 54–52 80 January 28, 2015 Hofheinz Pavilion Houston 59–48 81 November 14, 2018 H&PE Arena Houston 79–68 82 November 19, 2019 Tudor Fieldhouse Houston 97–89 83 November 12, 2021 Fertitta Center #15 Houston 79–46 84 December 6, 2023 Fertitta Center #3 Houston 75–39 Series: Houston leads 66–18

Notes

^A 1978 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^B 1980 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^C 1984 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^D 1990 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
^E 2007 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
^F 2013 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

Football

Bayou Bucket Classic

Sport	Football
First meeting	September 11, 1971 Houston 23, Rice 21
Latest meeting	September 9, 2023 Rice 43, Houston 41 2OT
Next meeting	September 14, 2024
Statistics
Meetings total	45
All-time series	Houston leads 33–12
Largest victory	Houston, 64–0 (1989)
Longest win streak	Houston, 7 (2011–2022)
Current win streak	Rice, 1 (2023–present)

The football rivalry, sometimes referred to as the Bayou Bucket Classic, ^[4] is the longest running competition between the two institutions. Both teams are part of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.

The first official game between the teams was played in 1971 when Houston joined the now-defunct Southwest Conference of which Rice was also a member. The teams previously met in a 1946 scrimmage marking Houston's inaugural season. ^[5] For many years the competition included an annual regular-season football game between the schools. The winner of the game receives the Bayou Bucket, ^[6] which is a full-sized trophy with a golden bucket on top.

Although the last Southwest Conference football game was part of the series, ^[7] the teams did not compete against each other in football from 1996 to 1998 and from 2014 to 2016. However, they still play as non-conference foes as future schedules allow. Houston leads the series 33–12 through the 2023 season. ^[8]

Game results

Rankings are from the AP Poll released prior to the game.

Houston victories

Rice victories

No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 1 September 11, 1971 Rice Stadium Houston 23 Rice 21 2 September 9, 1972 Rice Stadium Rice 14 Houston 13 3 September 15, 1973 Astrodome #18 Houston 24 Rice 6 4 September 14, 1974 Rice Stadium #19 Houston 21 Rice 0 5 September 13, 1975 Astrodome Rice 24 Houston 7 6 November 27, 1976 Rice Stadium #7 Houston 42 Rice 20 7 November 26, 1977 Rice Stadium Houston 51 Rice 21 8 December 2, 1978 Astrodome #9 Houston 49 Rice 25 9 December 1, 1979 Rice Stadium #10 Houston 63 Rice 0 10 November 29, 1980 Astrodome Rice 35 Houston 7 11 November 28, 1981 Rice Stadium Houston 40 Rice 3 12 November 27, 1982 Astrodome Houston 28 Rice 21 13 September 1, 1983 Rice Stadium Houston 45 Rice 14 14 December 1, 1984 Astrodome Houston 38 Rice 26 15 November 30, 1985 Rice Stadium Houston 24 Rice 20 16 November 29, 1986 Astrodome Rice 14 Houston 13 17 November 28, 1987 Rice Stadium Houston 45 Rice 21 18 November 26, 1988 Astrodome #14 Houston 45 Rice 14 19 December 2, 1989 Rice Stadium #13 Houston 64 Rice 0 20 September 29, 1990 Astrodome #13 Houston 24 Rice 22 21 November 16, 1991 Rice Stadium Houston 41 Rice 21 22 November 28, 1992 Astrodome Houston 61 Rice 34 23 November 26, 1993 Rice Stadium Rice 37 Houston 7 No. Date Location Winning team Losing team 24 November 26, 1994 Astrodome Rice 31 Houston 13 25 December 2, 1995 Rice Stadium Houston 18 Rice 17 26 September 4, 1999 Robertson Stadium Houston 28 Rice 3 27 September 2, 2000 Rice Stadium Rice 30 Houston 27OT 28 September 1, 2001 Robertson Stadium Rice 21 Houston 14 29 August 31, 2002 Rice Stadium Houston 24 Rice 10 30 August 30, 2003 Robertson Stadium Houston 48 Rice 14 31 September 5, 2004 Reliant Stadium Rice 10 Houston 7 32 November 26, 2005 Robertson Stadium Houston 35 Rice 18 33 September 2, 2006 Rice Stadium Houston 31 Rice 30 34 October 13, 2007 Robertson Stadium Houston 56 Rice 48 35 September 20, 2008 Rice Stadium Rice 56 Houston 42 36 November 28, 2009 Robertson Stadium #25 Houston 73 Rice 14 37 October 16, 2010 Rice Stadium Rice 34 Houston 31 38 October 27, 2011 Robertson Stadium #18 Houston 73 Rice 34 39 September 29, 2012 Reliant Stadium Houston 35 Rice 14 40 September 21, 2013 Reliant Stadium Houston 31 Rice 26 41 September 16, 2017 TDECU Stadium Houston 38 Rice 3 42 September 1, 2018 Rice Stadium Houston 45 Rice 27 43 September 11, 2021 Rice Stadium Houston 44 Rice 7 44 September 24, 2022 TDECU Stadium Houston 34 Rice 27 45 September 9, 2023 Rice Stadium Rice 43 Houston 412OT Series: Houston leads 33–12 [8]

References