History of the Owls

Rice Owls sports teams have a long and storied history in NCAA athletics. The Owls first fielded a team in 1912, making them one of the oldest college sports programs in the country. Since then, Rice has won numerous conference championships and made several appearances at the NCAA tournament.

The most successful sport for Rice is undoubtedly football. The program began with great success under legendary coach Jess Neely who led them to six Southwest Conference titles from 1931-1946 before retiring after 32 seasons as head coach of the university's football program! The modern era of Owl Football saw its greatest successes come during David Bailiff's tenure as Head Coach from 2007-2016 when they won three consecutive bowl games (2008 Texas Bowl, 2009 Texas Bowl & 2010 Armed Forces Bowl) and earned multiple top 25 rankings including two Top 10 finishes (#6 AP Poll 2008 & #7 Coaches' Poll 2008).

Other notable achievements by Rice include their men’s basketball team reaching four NCAA tournaments between 1980-2005; baseball winning five straight Western Athletic Conference titles (2006–10); soccer claiming seven CUSA regular season championships since 2003; golf having eight individual national champions since 1977; track & field earning nine indoor/outdoor conference championship titles since 2006; volleyball capturing eight Southwest Conference Championships between 1984–1996 plus an additional three CUSA Championship crowns over that same period; tennis clinching ten SWC Championships from 1973 through 1995 along with another five CUSA Titles afterward until 2014 when they moved to American Athletic Association play where they've captured one more title so far this year (2020 AAC Champions). Finally, swimming has been quite successful for Rice, winning 11 conference championships since 2005!

Overall it can be said that there is something special about being an athlete or fan associated with such a historical institution like Rice University – whether you're cheering on your favorite sport or simply watching all these teams compete against each other every year - it truly makes you part of something much bigger than yourself which will last throughout generations yet to come!