1949 Rice Owls football team

1949 Rice Owls football
1949 Rice Owls football
SWC champion; Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 27–13 vs. North Carolina
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 5
Record	10–1 (6–0 SWC)
Head coach	Jess Neely (10th season);
Home stadium	Rice Field
	Seasons ← 1948 1950 →

1949 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Rice $	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Baylor	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
TCU	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	1
Texas	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
SMU	2	–	3	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Texas A&M	0	–	5	–	1	1	–	8	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1949 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University during the 1949 college football season.^[1] The Owls were led by 10th-year head coach Jess Neely and played their home games at Rice Field in Houston, Texas. The team competed as a member of the Southwest Conference, winning the conference with an unbeaten record of 6–0. They ended the regular season with an overall record of 9–1, and were ranked fifth in the final AP Poll. Rice was invited to the 1950 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated Southern Conference champion North Carolina.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 24	Clemson*		Rice Field Houston, TX	W 33–7		^[2]
October 1	at LSU*		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 7–14	30,000	^[3]
October 8	New Mexico*		Rice Field Houston, TX	W 55–0
October 15	at No. 10 SMU		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 41–27	72,000	^[4]
October 22	at No. 10 Texas	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	W 17–15	60,000	^[5]
October 29	Texas Tech*	No. 5	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 28–0	18,000
November 5	Arkansas	No. 8	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 14–0
November 12	Texas A&M	No. 7	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 13–0
November 19	at TCU	No. 6	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 20–14
November 26	No. 9 Baylor	No. 7	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 21–7	32,000
January 2	vs. No. 16 North Carolina*	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 27–13	72,347
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	—	9	5	8	7	6	7	5

^ "1949 Rice Owls Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
^ "Rice Swats Clemson 33-7". The Victoria Advocate. September 25, 1949. p. 8A – via Newspapers.com.
^ "LSU upsets touted Rice eleven, 14–7". The El Paso Times. October 2, 1949. Retrieved February 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Lorin McMullen (October 16, 1947). "Owls' Third-Quarter Spurt Crumbles Ponies, 41-27". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. II-1 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rice beats Texas in final seconds with field goal". The Shreveport Times. October 23, 1949. Retrieved April 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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