[7] The Owls play at an on-campus football facility, Rice Stadium, which was the site of Super Bowl VIII and a speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962 in which he challenged the nation to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade.

After improvements in 2006, the stadium is currently configured to seat 47,000 for football but can be readily reconfigured to its original capacity of 70,000,[8] more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased.

By the early 1960s, the program found it difficult to compete against schools that were ten times its size or more—and in some cases, had more freshmen than Rice had undergraduates.

At the end of the 2008 season wide receiver Jarett Dillard was named a 2nd Team All-American by the Football Writers Association, the first Rice Owl selected in 50 years.

He has also been named an All-American by Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com (where he was joined by fellow owls Chase Clement and James Casey), and Walter Camp.

In 2005–06, the women's soccer, basketball, and tennis teams advanced to NCAA tournaments, and five individuals competed at the national championships in outdoor track and field.

[10] In 2013, 2014, 2015 the Owls sent multiple swimmers to the NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships hosted in Indianapolis.

Rice have been led since 2007 by Head Coach Mario Botha, who formerly played professional rugby in South Africa.

[17] In addition to football, 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 which focuses on performing humorous skits and routines rather than traditional formation marching.

In previous decades, the university kept several live owls on campus in front of Lovett College, but this practice has been discontinued.

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