For the second time in three seasons, Rice and Texas State are converging in the DFW metroplex for Bowl Season.
The Owls and Bobcats will play in the 2025 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth,
TX on Friday, Jan. 2. This is the second meeting between the programs in history. Just two years prior at the First Responder Bowl in Dallas, Texas State defeated Rice 45-21 for the Bobcats’ first-ever bowl win.
Rice (5-7, 2-6 American) qualified for bowl eligibility due to unforeseen circumstances. Two Big 12 teams, Iowa State and Kansas State, withdrew their bowl invitations and were accordingly assessed $500,000 fines for their decisions. The Cyclones and Wildcats were the first teams to decline bowl bids due to reasons other than COVID-19 (several teams) or a lack of available players due to the portal (2024 Marshall). Thus, the Owls — along with Mississippi State — stepped in as the 5-7 teams to occupy the vacancies created by the two Midwest Big 12 programs.
This isn’t the first time Rice qualified for the postseason at 5-7. In 2023, there were not enough teams to fill all bowl slots, so the Owls were the first 5-7 team on deck due to a high Academic Progress Rate (APR).
Rice is bowling for the third time in four years, receiving a postseason trip in year one of the Scott Abell era. Abell implemented a spread option offense in his debut year with the Owls and managed to finish 3-1 in non-conference play with the scheme, defeating two bowl eligible teams in Louisiana and UConn. Rice eyes its first bowl win in 11 years, when it dominated Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. The Owls will have to wait until 2026, however, to secure their first winning season since 2014.
Texas State (6-6, 3-5 Sun Belt) is bowling for the third time in program history, punching a ticket in all three seasons under head coach G.J. Kinne. The Bobcats are 2-0 in bowl games, winning the 2023 First Responder Bowl over Rice and the 2024 First Responder Bowl over North Texas. This marks Texas State’s third-straight bowl appearance in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In order to make it here, the Bobcats needed to win each of their last three contests. Kinne and Co. did so in dominant fashion, handling Southern Miss, ULM, and South Alabama all by at least 17 points in November.
Rice and Texas State kick off at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT on Friday, Jan. 2 from Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth — TCU’s home stadium. It is the first of four matchups on the final slate of non-CFP games this season.
