
"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)
GOLF
SWIMMING
BASEBALL
TRACK & FIELD (MEN'S AND WOMEN'S)
A timely blast from Caratini fuels another Astros win
Jul 1, 2025, 11:32 pm
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.
He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.
“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”
Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.
The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”
You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.
#Astros GM Dana Brown has the latest on Yordan Alvarez who will see a hand specialist tomorrow
We'll discuss on @astros Pregame before tonight's game with the Rockies starting at 7PM on SCHN pic.twitter.com/7hyIFL9jah
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 1, 2025
Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.