Editing Rice University (section)

==Athletics==
{{Main|Rice Owls}}
[[File:Rice University Stadium.jpg|thumb|upright|Rice Stadium]]
Rice plays in [[NCAA Division I]] athletics and has been a member of the [[American Athletic Conference]] since 2023. A founding member of the [[Southwest Conference]] until its dissolution in 1996, Rice was later a member of the [[Western Athletic Conference]] before joining Conference USA in 2005.<ref name="WSJ1">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109535777163619827|title=Another Money-Losing Season|last=Merrick|first=Amy|date=20 September 2004|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|access-date=15 February 2013|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108180244/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109535777163619827|url-status=live}}</ref> Rice is the second-smallest school, measured by undergraduate enrollment, competing in NCAA [[Football Bowl Subdivision|Division I FBS]] [[American football|football]], only ahead of [[University of Tulsa|Tulsa]].<ref name="WSJ1"/>

The [[Rice Owls baseball|Rice baseball team]] won the [[2003 College World Series]], defeating [[Stanford University|Stanford]], giving Rice its only national championship in a team sport. The victory made Rice University the smallest school in 51 years to win a national championship at the highest collegiate level of the sport. The Rice baseball team has played on campus at [[Reckling Park]] since the 2000 season. {{As of|2010}}, the baseball team has won 14 consecutive conference championships in three different conferences: the final championship of the defunct [[Southwest Conference]], all nine championships while a member of the [[Western Athletic Conference]], and five more championships in its first five years as a member of [[Conference USA]]. Additionally, Rice's baseball team has finished third in both the [[2006 College World Series|2006]] and [[2007 College World Series]] tournaments. Rice now has made six trips to Omaha for the CWS. In 2004, Rice became the first school ever to have three players selected in the first eight picks of the [[MLB draft]] when [[Philip Humber]], [[Jeff Niemann]], and [[Wade Townsend]] were selected third, fourth, and eighth, respectively. In 2007, [[Joe Savery]] was selected as the 19th overall pick.
[[File:College football - Rice Owls vs Texas Longhorns.jpg|right|thumb|The Owls in a game against the [[Texas Longhorns]]]]

In 2004–05, Rice sent its women's volleyball, soccer, and basketball teams to their respective NCAA tournaments. The women's swim team has consistently brought at least one member of their team to the NCAA championships since 2013. In 2005–06, the women's soccer, basketball, and tennis teams advanced, with five individuals competing in track and field. In 2006–07, the Rice women's basketball team made the NCAA tournament, while again five Rice track and field athletes received individual NCAA berths. In 2008, the women's volleyball team again made the NCAA tournament. 
In 2011 the Women's Swim team won their first conference championship in the history of the university. This was an impressive feat considering they won without having a diving team. The team repeated their C-USA success in 2013 and 2014. 
In 2017, the women's basketball team, led by second-year head coach Tina Langley, won the [[Women's Basketball Invitational]], defeating [[University of North Carolina at Greensboro|UNC-Greensboro]] 74–62 in the championship game at Tudor Fieldhouse. 
Though not a varsity sport, Rice's ultimate frisbee women's team, named Torque, won consecutive Division III national championships in 2014 and 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usaultimate.org/news/2015-d-iii-college-championships--womens-day-two-recap/|title=News|website=www.usaultimate.org|access-date=11 June 2017|archive-date=September 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912161206/http://www.usaultimate.org/news/2015-d-iii-college-championships--womens-day-two-recap/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2006, the [[Rice Owls football|football team]] qualified for its first bowl game since 1961, ending the second-longest bowl drought in the country at the time. On December 22, 2006, Rice played in the [[New Orleans Bowl]] in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]] against the [[Sun Belt Conference]] champion, Troy. The Owls lost 41–17. The bowl appearance came after Rice had a 14-game losing streak from 2004 to 2005 and went 1–10 in 2005. The streak followed an internally authorized 2003 McKinsey report that stated football alone was responsible for a $4 million deficit in 2002. Tensions remained high between the athletic department and faculty, as a few professors who chose to voice their opinion were in favor of abandoning the football program. The program success in 2006, the "Rice Renaissance," proved to be a revival of the Owl football program, quelling those tensions. [[David Bailiff]] took over the program in 2007 and has remained head coach. [[Jarett Dillard]] set an NCAA record in 2006 by catching a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games and took a 15-game overall streak into the 2007 season.
 
In 2008, the football team posted a 9–3 regular season, capping off the year with a 38–14 victory over Western Michigan University in the Texas Bowl. The win over Western Michigan marked the Owls' first bowl win in 45 years.

Rice Stadium also serves as the performance venue for the university's [[Marching Owl Band]], or "MOB." Despite its name, the MOB is a [[scatter band]] that focuses on performing humorous skits and routines rather than traditional formation marching.

[[Rice Owls men's basketball]] won 10 conference titles in the former Southwest Conference (1918, 1935*, 1940, 1942*, 1943*, 1944*, 1945, 1949*, 1954*, 1970; * denotes shared title). Most recently, guard Morris Almond was drafted in the first round of the [[2007 NBA draft]] by the [[Utah Jazz]]. Rice named former [[Cal Bears]] head coach [[Ben Braun]] as head basketball coach to succeed Willis Wilson, fired after Rice finished the 2007–2008 season with a winless (0–16) conference record and overall record of 3–27.

Rice's mascot is [[Sammy the Owl]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rice Traditions |url=https://www.rice.edu/rice-traditions |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=Rice University |language=en |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329164553/https://www.rice.edu/rice-traditions |url-status=live }}</ref> In previous decades, the university kept several live owls on campus in front of [[Lovett College]], but this practice has been discontinued, due to public concern regarding [[animal welfare]].

Rice also has a 12-member coed cheerleading squad and a coed dance team, both of which perform at football and basketball games throughout the year.