Rice University Athletics
Owls Take Flight To LendingTree Bowl
12/4/2022 1:45:00 PM | Football
Face Southern Miss on December 17
Rice Football has accepted an invitation to return to bowl action for the first time since 2014 as the Owls will face Southern Miss in the LendingTree Bowl which will be played on December 17 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and broadcast nationally by ESPN. Kickoff for the 24th edition of the game is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
Fans can visit the Rice Bowl Central page for the latest information on tickets, special fan packages as well as information on 2023 Rice football season tickets.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to take this team to Mobile and play Southern Miss," Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach Mike Bloomgren said. "It's especially meaningful since Rice has not been bowling since 2014 and when we practiced last week, I could tell how much this game means to our team. Our seniors have a chance to represent Rice one more time and earn the right to be called bowl champions and our underclassmen can take another step in the building of this program."
The LendingTree Bowl will be the Owls' 13th appearance in a bowl game and their first since they defeated Fresno State 30-6 in the 2014 Hawai'i Bowl. Rice has a 7-5 record in bowl games in its history which began in 1938 when the Owls defeated Colorado 28-13 in the second annual Cotton Bowl. It will mark the sixth appearance in a post-season game for the Owls since 2006 and the Owls are 3-2 in games over that stretch.
The Golden Eagles finished 6-6 in their first season as members of the Sun Belt. Rice and Southern Miss met 12 times as members of Conference USA with the schools splitting the series evenly after the Owls won the last two meetings. This will mark the ninth consecutive year they have met. The Owls and Golden Eagles shared one common opponent this past season as both defeated Louisiana, Rice beat the Ragin Cajuns 33-21 on September 17 at Rice Stadium won while Southern Miss won 39-24 in Hattiesburg on October 27.
