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Rice football schedule 2026

12 regular-season games, 6 at home and 6 away, from Sep 5 to Nov 28. 8 in the American Conference. Next up: at home against Houston Christian on Sep 5.

September 2026 4 games

Date Opponent Time
Sep 5 vs Houston Christian
Sep 12 at Notre Dame
Sep 19 vs Western Michigan
Sep 26 at Fresno State

October 2026 4 games

Date Opponent Time
Oct 3 vs UTSA TBC
Oct 10 at East Carolina TBC
Oct 17 vs Tulsa TBC
Oct 24 at Florida Atlantic TBC

November 2026 4 games

Date Opponent Time
Nov 7 at North Texas TBC
Nov 14 vs Tulane TBC
Nov 19 at Temple
Nov 28 vs Army TBC

Home games at Rice Stadium. College football data by CollegeFootballData.com, updated nightly.

Rice's 2026 season

Rice plays 12 regular-season games in 2026, 6 at home at Rice Stadium and 6 away, opening on Sep 5 and finishing on Nov 28. 8 of them are American Conference games and 4 are not — which is the shape of a college season: a short non-conference run, most of it early, and then two months inside the conference. The longest run at home is 1 games, from Sep 5 to Sep 5; the longest run on the road is 2, from Oct 24 to Nov 7.

The non-conference games are against Houston Christian on Sep 5, Notre Dame on Sep 12, Western Michigan on Sep 19, Fresno State on Sep 26. Those opponents are not in the American Conference, so they do not appear as rows on the conference grid — a cell naming one carries a dotted underline there to say so. They are part of this team's season all the same, which is why they are on the grid at all rather than left as blank weeks.

Kick-off times are shown in your own timezone rather than US Eastern time — detected automatically, and overridable in the “Times in” control above. A Saturday-evening game in the United States is the small hours of Sunday morning across Europe, and a game that crosses midnight carries a +1 so it cannot be mistaken for the same evening. 7 of these games have no confirmed kick-off time yet and show a “?” rather than a guess. To see how Rice's season compares with the rest of the conference — who has the harder stretch, and whose non-conference run is heaviest — the full American Conference grid puts all 14 teams side by side.

Frequently asked questions

When does Rice play next?

Rice's next game is at home against Houston Christian on Sep 5. The list below shows every remaining game, with kick-off times in your own timezone.

How many games does Rice play in 2026?

12 regular-season games: 6 at home at Rice Stadium and 6 away, from Sep 5 to Nov 28. 8 are against American Conference opponents and 4 are not. Conference championship games, bowls and the College Football Playoff are not included.

Who does Rice play outside the American Conference in 2026?

4 games: Houston Christian on Sep 5, Notre Dame on Sep 12, Western Michigan on Sep 19, Fresno State on Sep 26. Those opponents are not in the American Conference, so they have no row of their own on the conference grid — they are marked there with a dotted underline, and named in full on this page.

Why do some of Rice's games have no kick-off time?

Because the networks have not chosen it yet. 7 of 12 games have a date but no confirmed time; college football kick-offs are fixed a week or two ahead, and a game can still move to a different day. Those carry a "?" instead of a time, because a placeholder you could not tell from a real time would be worse than none.

What time do Rice's games start in my timezone?

Every confirmed kick-off on this page is converted to the timezone your browser reports, with a manual override in the "Times in" control. College football is published in US Eastern time, so a Saturday-evening game there starts in the small hours of Sunday across Europe, and those carry a +1 mark.

Other American Conference teams

Army Charlotte East Carolina Florida Atlantic Memphis Navy North Texas South Florida Temple Tulane Tulsa UAB UTSA