"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?" –John F. Kennedy
As the start of the school year approaches, Rice football will continue its tradition of playing Texas with the game scheduled to take place at NRG stadium on September 14th. President John F. Kennedy would have you believe that we choose to do this because it is hard. As a recent graduate from Rice, I now know it's because we think we are so smart that we truly believe our gameplan is going to work this year...
For the first time in my life I live in the city of my alma mater and can't wait to attend games and be a part of the glorious tradition. I unfortunately was severely lacking in basic information from where to park to how much games cost. When reaching out to the athletic department I learned an interesting fact, Rice doesn't just play Football... In fact they have 14 Division 1 sports. Yes Fourteen! And another fun fact, watching most of the games is easy.
The PR team from Rice Athletics sent me over the following data which I am honored to pass on to you the Sportsmap reader. The Rice Campus is beautiful, the games are competitive (and cheap), and they have a great family friendly atmosphere. Armed with the information below I hope I can quickly catch you up on what is going on in the heart of Houston and who knows, maybe I can even convince a few readers to join in on the action. I do know one thing for sure though, I'm going to force you scroll down to see what the 14 sports are.
SOCCER
- 2019 Season Home Opening game: August 25th at home vs. Houston
- Stadium & Avg ticket price: Holloway Field, season tickets starting as low as $30 and individual as low as $8 https://riceowls.com/sports/2018/7/17/tickets-w-soccer-tickets-html.aspx?id=13
- Summary: After finishing 7-9-1 in 2018, the Rice soccer program is under the direction of new head coach Brian Lee – a finalist for National Coach of the Year last season while leading LSU to the SEC Championship. The Owls return seven starters to the lineup in 2019, including C-USA Midfielder of the Year Lianne Mananquil.
- Key events of 2019: August 25 vs crosstown rival Houston; Nov. 1 vs. North Texas (both matches played at home).
VOLLEYBALL
- 2019 Season Opening match: Aug 30th @ Ole Miss (Tournament)
- Stadium & Avg ticket price: Tudor Fieldhouse, individual tickets as low as $8. https://riceowls.com/sports/2018/7/17/tickets-w-volley-tickets-html.aspx?id=14
- Summary: The Owls are coming off a 24-7 season last year in which they advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a sweep of the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles. Rice returns junior outside hitter Nicole Lennon, the reigning C-USA Player of the Year, as well as all-conference recipients Grace Morgan, Lee Ann Cunningham, Anota Adekunle and Carly Graham. In addition to posting their fifth straight 20-win season with a 24-7 record, the Owls earned their best C-USA record (12-2) while notching the longest winning streak (15 straight) in program history.
FOOTBALL
MEN'S BASKETBALL
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
WOMEN'S TENNIS
MEN'S TENNIS
- 2020 Dual opener: January 25 vs. Incarnate Word
- Stadium & Avg. ticket price: George R. Brown Tennis Center Admission is free
- Summary: Rice welcomes back its entire starting lineup, led by 2019 Conference USA Player of the Year Sumit Sarkar. The fall tournament season features the annual Rice Invitational (October 18-20).
- Key events of 2020: A combined dual with the Rice women vs. LSU (#48 in 2019) on February 23; dual vs. TCU (#10) n March 13 and the Rice Invitational March 27-29.
- Note: The George R. Brown Tennis Center will also host a pair of professional tournaments in the fall of 2019. The Texas Tamale Company Houston Cup, an ITF Pro Circuit event, will be played from September 16-22 while the Oracle Challenger Series will be held November 10-17. In addition, the Invesco Series legends tour is projected to return to the Tudor Fieldhouse in November.
CROSS COUNTRY (MEN'S AND WOMEN'S)
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BASEBALL
TRACK & FIELD (MEN'S AND WOMEN'S)
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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