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Teams / American Athletic / Rice
Index · this season
53
at its 5-year level▲ Up 3 this season
Career61since 1936
Peak881953
Last 552seasons
#111 nationally · 1-5 (0-2 conf)
Résumé #128 · better than its record
Schedule so far #42
Margin ±5 pts (tightens with games)
Why 53? →

Rice Owls

American Athletic · Houston, TX · Rice Stadium · Head coach Scott Abell
Rival
Houston · also UTSA
Building rivalry
12-35 all time (47 meetings since 1971)
Houston leads
Last: lost 35-9 (2025) · Houston has won 2 straight
Wants it back
program traits are earned from history
No recognized national titles since 1936. Counted: AP poll champion, a coaches-poll champion, or the BCS / playoff title-game winner; a split year counts for both.0national titles
Heisman Trophy winners0Heisman
Seasons finishing in the AP top 10 since 19364AP top-10
Consensus All-Americans since 19367All-Americans
NFL draft picks since 196724NFL picks
Winning percentage since 193639.9%win pct
History since 1936 · football since 1912. Every season →
Chemistry
Chem 58: typical58
Chem 56: typical
56Foundation
Chem 61: typical
61Gel
gel counts 45% so far
▲ Above its norm +8
early · #69 of 138
HC year2
Ret. starters27%
QB yrs w/ OC1
View chemistry →
Team chemistryearly · #69 of 138 FBS teams
Chem 56: typicalFoundation56+Chem 61: typicalGel61=Chem 58: typicalChem58Gel counts 45% so far (it grows as games are played, up to half)
Foundationwhat the program has built · moves over seasons
Foundation56Staff stability — Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnoverStaff stability74Roster continuity — Returning starters and the lineup's experienceRoster continuity49Unit cohesion — QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played togetherUnit cohesion57Administration — Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignmentAdministration61Investment — Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruitingInvestment61Fan base — How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matterFan base32
ContinuityClimate
Continuity · who has played and coached togetherlive

Who has played and coached together, and for how long, ranked against every FBS team at the same point of the season.

▸Staff stability
Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnover
74
Staff cohesion49
HC year 2 · OC year 2 · DC year 2
Assistant turnover99
0% of on-field staff new this season (FBS average about 45%)
▸Roster continuity
Returning starters and the lineup's experience
49
Returning core53
27% of last season's starters · FBS median 32%
Experience45
9 career starts per starter · FBS median 12
▸Unit cohesion
QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played together
57
QB & coordinator55
1st season together · same as 76% of FBS teams
QB & receivers49
3.0 games started together on average · FBS median 3.9
Line cohesion65
5.4 games per linemen pair · FBS median 5.2
Defensive cohesion63
4.5 games per defensive pair · FBS median 4.5
Climate · around the programlive

The administration, money and fans around the team: athletic director continuity, willingness to invest, and crowds.

▸Administration
Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignment
61
AD continuity61
Tommy McClelland · year 4 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
▸Investment
Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruiting
61
Football's share56
28% of department spending goes to football
Investment trend75
+55% over three years
Football investment55
$19.6M on football (2024-25 federal report)
Recruiting spend49
$0.64M men's recruiting
Department resources58
$70M athletic department revenue
▸Fan base
How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matter
32
Sellouts30
sellout crowds (95%+ of capacity) at 0 of 42 home games (last 8 seasons)
Sells out anyway34
sellout crowds at 0 of 42 games that didn't matter: cupcakes, or a team expected to lose or having a losing season

Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures, as reported by each school. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Attendance: reported crowds vs stadium capacity.

Gelhow it is working right now · moves week to week
Gel61Playing above its parts — Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by gamePlaying above its parts67Settled & sharp — A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normalSettled & sharp69Alignment — Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one pageAlignmentsoonResilience — Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversityResiliencesoonFan & media mood — Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins laterFan & media mood55Coach security — The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new ADCoach security52
InternalOn-field fitExternal
Internal · how the program talkscoming

How the team talks in press conferences and interviews, each program against its own normal, so a naturally terse coach isn't read as upset. Being built program by program, Big Ten first.

▸Alignment
Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one page
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.
▸Resilience
Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversity
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.

Readings are team-level; we don't publish psychological readings of individual players.

On-field fit · how it is playing togetherlive

How the team is playing together this season: beating or missing its preseason expectation, a settled lineup, clean execution.

▸Playing above its parts
Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by game
67
This season67
+1.8 points a game vs its preseason projection (5 games)
▸Settled & sharp
A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normal
69
This season69
85% of starters kept game to game
External · pressure from outsidelive

Pressure from outside the building: the hard-facts hot seat now; this season's fan and media mood as it is measured.

▸Fan & media mood
Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins later
55
This season55
outside the AP poll: projected #124 preseason -> #111 in our Index now · lost to rival UTSA 16-14 (-6) · results 1-5 (-10, recent games count more)
▸Coach security
The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new AD
52
This season52
Scott Abell, year 2 · 17% wins so far · +1.8 pts a game vs preseason expectation · last two seasons +5% vs the program's norm

Dashed gold ring = typical (62). 20-50 is the warning zone; under 10 is a collapse. Spokes with no data yet are dashed and left out until they fill in. Chem blends the two halves, then places the blend among this season's teams.

Trend · Foundationeach program year runs Feb 1 to the title game
'1667'1763'1819'1955'2060'2154'2258'2354'2462'257'262016 wk 1 vs Western Kentucky: 70 · L2016 wk 2 vs Army: 82 · L2016 wk 3 vs Baylor: 67 · L2016 wk 4 vs North Texas: 67 · L2016 wk 5 vs Southern Miss: 63 · L2016 wk 7 vs UTSA: 62 · L2016 wk 8 vs Prairie View A&M: 65 · W2016 wk 9 vs Louisiana Tech: 64 · L2016 wk 10 vs Florida Atlantic: 66 · L2016 wk 11 vs Charlotte: 65 · W2016 wk 12 vs UTEP: 65 · W2016 wk 13 vs Stanford: 67 · L2017 wk 2 vs UTEP: 58 · W2017 wk 3 vs Houston: 60 · L2017 wk 4 vs Florida International: 64 · L2017 wk 5 vs Pittsburgh: 58 · L2017 wk 6 vs Army: 64 · L2017 wk 8 vs UTSA: 58 · L2017 wk 9 vs Louisiana Tech: 62 · L2017 wk 10 vs UAB: 63 · L2017 wk 11 vs Southern Miss: 63 · L2017 wk 12 vs Old Dominion: 56 · L2017 wk 13 vs North Texas: 63 · L2018 wk 1 vs Houston: 11 · L2018 wk 2 vs Hawai'i: 12 · L2018 wk 4 vs Southern Miss: 25 · L2018 wk 5 vs Wake Forest: 11 · L2018 wk 6 vs UTSA: 24 · L2018 wk 7 vs UAB: 23 · L2018 wk 8 vs Florida International: 23 · L2018 wk 9 vs North Texas: 9 · L2018 wk 10 vs UTEP: 11 · L2018 wk 11 vs Louisiana Tech: 9 · L2018 wk 12 vs LSU: 9 · L2018 wk 13 vs Old Dominion: 19 · W2019 wk 2 vs Wake Forest: 55 · L2019 wk 3 vs Texas: 55 · L2019 wk 4 vs Baylor: 53 · L2019 wk 5 vs Louisiana Tech: 57 · L2019 wk 6 vs UAB: 56 · L2019 wk 8 vs UTSA: 56 · L2019 wk 9 vs Southern Miss: 57 · L2019 wk 10 vs Marshall: 58 · L2019 wk 12 vs Middle Tennessee: 58 · W2019 wk 13 vs North Texas: 55 · W2019 wk 14 vs UTEP: 55 · W2020 wk 9 vs Southern Miss: 60 · W2020 wk 12 vs North Texas: 60 · L2020 wk 14 vs Marshall: 61 · W2020 wk 15 vs UAB: 60 · L2021 wk 2 vs Houston: 61 · L2021 wk 3 vs Texas: 57 · L2021 wk 4 vs Texas Southern: 59 · W2021 wk 5 vs Southern Miss: 59 · W2021 wk 7 vs UTSA: 52 · L2021 wk 8 vs UAB: 54 · W2021 wk 9 vs North Texas: 53 · L2021 wk 10 vs Charlotte: 56 · L2021 wk 11 vs Western Kentucky: 53 · L2021 wk 12 vs UTEP: 55 · L2021 wk 13 vs Louisiana Tech: 54 · W2022 wk 2 vs McNeese: 63 · W2022 wk 3 vs Louisiana: 60 · W2022 wk 4 vs Houston: 61 · L2022 wk 5 vs UAB: 61 · W2022 wk 7 vs Florida Atlantic: 61 · L2022 wk 8 vs Louisiana Tech: 63 · W2022 wk 9 vs Charlotte: 61 · L2022 wk 10 vs UTEP: 61 · W2022 wk 11 vs Western Kentucky: 62 · L2022 wk 12 vs UTSA: 59 · L2022 wk 13 vs North Texas: 61 · L2022 wk 1 vs Southern Miss: 58 · L2023 wk 2 vs Houston: 55 · W2023 wk 3 vs Texas Southern: 56 · W2023 wk 4 vs South Florida: 54 · L2023 wk 5 vs East Carolina: 55 · W2023 wk 6 vs UConn: 55 · L2023 wk 8 vs Tulsa: 56 · W2023 wk 9 vs Tulane: 58 · L2023 wk 10 vs SMU: 58 · L2023 wk 11 vs UTSA: 56 · L2023 wk 12 vs Charlotte: 55 · W2023 wk 13 vs Florida Atlantic: 55 · W2023 wk 1 vs Texas State: 54 · L2024 wk 2 vs Texas Southern: 61 · W2024 wk 3 vs Houston: 62 · L2024 wk 4 vs Army: 61 · L2024 wk 5 vs Charlotte: 61 · L2024 wk 7 vs UTSA: 59 · W2024 wk 8 vs Tulane: 60 · L2024 wk 9 vs UConn: 61 · L2024 wk 10 vs Navy: 57 · W2024 wk 11 vs Memphis: 61 · L2024 wk 13 vs UAB: 60 · L2024 wk 14 vs South Florida: 62 · W2025 wk 2 vs Houston: 0 · L2025 wk 3 vs Prairie View A&M: 0 · W2025 wk 4 vs Charlotte: 10 · W2025 wk 5 vs Navy: 10 · L2025 wk 6 vs Florida Atlantic: 9 · L2025 wk 7 vs UTSA: 8 · L2025 wk 9 vs UConn: 9 · W2025 wk 10 vs Memphis: 10 · L2025 wk 11 vs UAB: 8 · W2025 wk 13 vs North Texas: 9 · L2025 wk 14 vs South Florida: 10 · L2025 wk 1 vs Texas State: 7 · L2026 wk 2 vs Notre Dame: 56 · L2026 wk 3 vs Western Michigan: 56 · L2026 wk 4 vs Fresno State: 54 · L2026 wk 5 vs UTSA: 56 · L2026 wk 6 vs East Carolina: 55 · L2026 wk 7 vs Tulsa: 56 · next gametypical 62

Every game since 2016, one continuous line; thin rules separate seasons and the chip is where each season finished. Navy dot = win, red = loss. Big drops usually mean a new staff, a new quarterback or a rebuilt line.

Trend · Gelthis season, after each game
typical 62wk 2 vs Notre Dame · L · on-field 65 · fan mood 61642wk 3 vs Western Michigan · L · on-field 69 · fan mood 58653wk 4 vs Fresno State · L · on-field 70 · fan mood 56654wk 5 vs UTSA · L · on-field 71 · fan mood 49635wk 6 vs East Carolina · L · on-field 68 · fan mood 50616

How the team is working right now, rebuilt after each game from only the games so far: on-field fit (results vs preseason expectation, lineup settling, execution) and that week's fan & media mood. Coach security is part of today's Gel number but isn't rebuilt week by week yet. Navy frame = win, red = loss.

Continuity facts
Head coach
Year 2
at this school
Offensive coordinator
Year 2
at this school
Defensive coordinator
Year 2
at this school
HC & OC together
2 seasons
working together
QB with his OC
1 seasons
same play-caller
QB & receivers
3.0 games
started together, average
Offensive line pairs
5.4 games
started together, average
Returning starters
27%
from last season
Starter experience
9 starts
career average
Internal facts
Pressers read
soon
this season, coaches and players
Coach tone
soon
vs his own normal
"We" vs "I"
soon
share of team language
Owning mistakes
soon
vs pointing outward
Same story
soon
coaches and players agree
After losses
soon
how fast tone recovers
Leaders named
soon
players teammates point to
Newcomers
soon
transfers talked about as part of it
Openness
soon
forthcoming vs guarded
Measured from press conferences and interviews, program by program.
Climate facts
Athletic director
Tommy McClelland
year 4
Football spending
$19.6M
2024-25 federal report
Spending trend
+55%
over three years
Department revenue
$70M
all sports
Recruiting spend
$0.64M
men's teams
Home crowds
—
of capacity
Staff turnover
0%
on-field staff new this season
Fan mood
soon
fans and local media
Coach & AD
soon
on the same page
Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Offense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Brown
Walker
Jackson
Mosey
Clark
Zinter
Needham
Valent
Bledsoe
Principe
Michaelis
QBJacurri Brown66214246665
WRBraylen Walker615214247765
WRBarry Jackson Jr.22212122222
WRMax Mosey11111111111
WRJordan Clark44214244443
TEPreston Zinter22112222221
OLLuke Needham44214255443
OLPatrick Valent6721425161075
OLNate Bledsoe6721424101065
OLCole Principe662142476105
OLJustin Michaelis55213135555

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Defense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Aribisala
Brown
Mutombo
Chavez
Botts
Combs
Harnetiaux
Benjamin
Akui
Condoll
Clarke
DLMatthew Aribisala11111111111
DLAJ Brown16466566664
DLJoseph Mutombo141199344442
DLJo Chavez1691110566664
DLDillan Botts1691017566664
LBStone Combs15355555554
LBAustin Harnetiaux16466566664
DBJamir Benjamin16466566664
DBKoa Akui16466566664
DBKyren Condoll16466566664
DBSeth Clarke14244444444

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Chemistry is Scorebook's own rating of how well a program fits together, on the same all-time 0-99 scale as our other ratings (compared with every FBS team since 2016; 62 is typical, 20-50 signals something is wrong, and single digits are reserved for true collapses; each season is compared with its own era). This early version blends continuity (who has played and coached together, and for how long; it counts most) with the climate around the program; how the program talks joins as it is measured. Within continuity, quarterback-centered pairings count most because they held up when we tested them against results. How our ratings work →