Owls Accept Texas Bowl Invitation
12/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 3, 2008
• Texas Bowl Central
• Texas Bowl Ticket Information
• Official Rice Texas Bowl Package (PDF)
Capping off one of the most productive seasons in school history, the Rice Owls have accepted an invitation to play in the 2008 Texas Bowl on December 30. The formal invitation was made by bowl officials to head coach David Bailiff and the Owls prior to a press conference to formally announce the invitation.
Tickets for the 2008 Texas Bowl are available on-line . Rice fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets through the Rice Athletic Department. All sales made through 5 p.m. Friday, December 12, will be seated by established Rice Athletics Fund procedures. All sales after that time will be seated on a first-come basis.
Rice capped a 9-3 regular season with a 56-42 win over Houston in the Bayou Bucket last Saturday. The win was the Owls' sixth in a row and allowed them to reach nine wins for the first time since 1953.
The Texas Bowl will be the ninth in school history and the second in the last three years after a gap of 45 years. It will mark the second time that Rice has played in a bowl game without having to travel outside the city limits. The Owls met Kansas in the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl, which was played at Rice Stadium, The Jayhawks took a 33-7 decision that day, and Rice would not return to post-season pageantry until 2006 when Rice met Troy in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
The 2008 Texas Bowl will be televised live nationally on NFL Network. The game will also be broadcast nationally by Westwood One radio and locally on ESPN 97.5 The Ticket.
The Texas Bowl is partnered with the Conference USA and the Big 12 Conference. After the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) pairings have been set, the Texas Bowl holds the third selection among Conference USA-affiliated bowls and the seventh choice among Big 12-affiliated bowls.
TCU defeated the University of Houston, 20-13, on in the 2007 Texas Bowl before a crowd of 62,097. The audience was the third-largest crowd ever to see a college bowl game in Houston. The 2007 Texas Bowl attracted the eighth-largest crowd among non-BCS bowls last year.
The inaugural Texas Bowl was played on Thursday, December 28, 2006 at Reliant Stadium. Rutgers defeated Kansas State, 37-10, before a crowd of 52,210, the largest crowd to witness a bowl game in Houston not involving a Texas team since 1972.