# 2013 Rice Owls football team

The 2013 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by seventh-year head coach David Bailiff and played its home games at Rice Stadium. The team was a member of the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They finished the season 10–4 overall, 7–1 in C-USA play, which was good for first place in the West Division. They won the C-USA championship by beating Marshall, the first-place team in the East Division, 41–24 in the C-USA conference championship game. They were invited to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, where they lost to Mississippi State, 44–7.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 12:00 pm | at No. 7 Texas A&M* | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | ESPN | L 31–52 | 86,686 |
| September 14 | 6:30 pm | Kansas* | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | CBSSN | W 23–14 | 22,974 |
| September 21 | 2:00 pm | vs. Houston* | Reliant StadiumHouston, TX (rivalry) | FSN | L 26–31 | 34,831 |
| September 28 | 6:00 pm | Florida Atlantic | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | FCS | W 18–14 | 14,380 |
| October 5 | 2:30 pm | at Tulsa | Chapman StadiumTulsa, OK | CBSSN | W 30–27 $^{OT}$ | 20,014 |
| October 12 | 3:00 pm | at UTSA | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX | TWCS | W 27–21 | 25,272 |
| October 19 | 7:00 pm | at New Mexico State* | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | CSNH+ | W 45–19 | 16,164 |
| October 26 | 2:30 pm | UTEP | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | CSS | W 45–7 | 15,355 |
| October 31 | 6:30 pm | at North Texas | Apogee StadiumDenton, TX | FS1 | L 16–28 | 22,835 |
| November 16 | 6:00 pm | Louisiana Tech | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | CBSSN | W 52–14 | 19,707 |
| November 21 | 6:30 pm | at UAB | Legion FieldBirmingham, AL | FS1 | W 37–34 $^{OT}$ | 5,831 |
| November 30 | 2:00 pm | Tulane | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | FCS | W 17–13 | 20,048 |
| December 7 | 11:00 am | Marshall | Rice StadiumHouston, TX (C-USA Championship) | ESPN2 | W 41–24 | 20,247 |
| December 31 | 3:00 pm | vs. Mississippi State* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ESPN | L 7–44 | 57,846 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP PollAll times are in Central time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rice | 14 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 31 |
| #7 Texas A&M | 7 | 21 | 10 | 14 | 52 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |