I was just thinking about the other thread about CUSA baseball, and the change in the composition of the conference, and I wanted to get a reading on who Rice's biggest CUSA rivals are.
Honestly, this baseball season has me excited about Rice's future in CUSA going forward, leading the conference with FAU. I think the strength of your two programs - not to mention your twin mascots - make FAU a great rival for Rice.
So, #1 on my list for Rice (in your best sport) is FAU. Here is the rest of my list for biggest Rice rivals. What is your list?
#1) FAU - Owls. Baseball kings of CUSA.
#2) UNT - Has that Houston vs North Texas vibe. Apogee Stadium offers a great venue for Rice fans to enjoy on the road.
#3) UAB - Both VERY respected research institutions. Together since CUSA 2.0. Watson Brown brought some of that Rice flavor to UAB.
#4) MARSHALL - 2013 CUSA Football Championship opponent. I think that may be a competitive football rivalry that carries CUSA through future decades.
#5) UTSA - This is the rivalry to keep an eye on. In my opinion, this will probably be Rice's biggest foil in the West. I believe Bailiff will use this association to recruit the San Antonio area very heavily going forward. Conversely, UTSA will likely be the biggest fanbase to fill out Rice stadium in the future. There is so much to like about an athletics alliance between these two schools.

I'm thinking there could be a couple new trophy games within those 5.
Perhaps an Owl themed trophy for Rice-FAU, and a silver spur for Rice-UTSA.

I have lots of respect towards whomever Rice places the current week or the next week. As far as rivals, cough, my vote is none of the above.

I kind of like Marshall as rival, if CUSA ever went to a format where there is a permanent crossover game. I'd like to develop a good basketball rivalry with UTEP or LA Tech. Neither UTSA nor UNT really appeals to me much. I think some of it has to do with name recognition. People "know" Marshall Football, and "know" UTEP basketball.

Bo - I appreciate the earnest rivalry initiatives that you've been posting here on The Parliament lately. But I think you're missing the mark on what a rivalry really is.

The heart of a rivalry is more than merely wanting to win. Every player, coach and fan wants their team to win every contest. For sure. But if you're in a rivalry, your victory seems to mean much more than just a W. it means bragging rights with neighbors, friends and colleagues; perhaps even significant status and monetary benefits (in conference, polls, attendance etc.) Many benefits seem intangible. But one thing's certain: rivalries are not manufactured on a whim or convenience. They come from visceral, grass-roots desire.

Rivalries can, and usually do, take many years/decades to develop. They typically involve neighbors ... either within a state (Texas & A&M, Alabama & Auburn) or between neighboring states (Ohio State & Michigan). For colleges, they may also involve like-minded institutions, even if they don't play each other in sports (e.g., MIT & Cal Tech).

So now put yourself in our position. Imagine that you've experienced Rice's athletic trajectory and sports rivalries: For more than 80 years we were in the nationally relevant and influential Southwest Conference. In every sport, we competed against Texas and A&M ... and fellow private schools TCU, SMU & Baylor. Many families and probably every block in Texas had students/alums from more than one SWC university. Then in the late 1990s, Texas decided it wanted more money and left (with A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor) for the Big 8 (+4 = 12). We had to scramble to end up in a 16-team, 4-pod WAC. Before any potential trans-timezone rivalries could develop, the Mountain West folks thought they'd be better off without the newcomers, and we found ourselves in a thinned-out, geographically dipolar WAC (including Fresno State, San Jose State, Nevada-Reno). That arrangement didn't make sense on so many levels, so we are now in Conference USA, which I and many others think is a much better conference, geographically/economically, given the current conditions.

But rivalries? Our C-USA rivalries that were building were with Tulsa, Tulane and fellow SWC alums SMU and Houston (a natural rival, since we're in the same city, though we had no interest in playing them for most of the time we were in the SWC). Where are they now? The American Athletic Conference. So much for their perceived value of their rivalries with us! These schools are not immediately replaced in our rivalry psyche by the likes of FAU (despite the common mascot), North Texas or UTSA.

A key factor is that except for a diffuse semblance of geographic proximity, we have little, if anything, in common with the current C-USA schools. In time, some rivalries may develop. But it will be difficult, because we're probably not going to see our co-workers arguing about the outcomes of our games, colleagues at professional meetings crowing about (or avoiding mention of) our last contests. Even in Houston, how many neighbors on a block will be hauling out their Rice and North Texas flags onto their homes, cars and pickup trucks to proclaim their passion for winning our next game?

We can wish all we want for a true rivalry to develop, but we've got a very small (and often non-sports-oriented) intrinsic fan base. And, frankly, the students/alums of most of these large C-USA schools seem to be pretty weak in supporting their sports teams, too, especially considering their large enrollment and alumni numbers. (USM and Marshall seem to me to be the exceptions; it's probably no coincidence that they're located in towns relatively far from big-city distractions/alternatives.)

As you might imagine, we'd rather be competing with teams with whom a true rivalry would seem to have more than mere conferential convenience behind it.

So, thanks for your interest in catalyzing some possible C-USA rivalries for us. But please don't take it personally if it takes a long time -- a very long time -- for your match to light our rivalry coals.

(05-18-2015 07:14 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  I have lots of respect towards whomever Rice places the current week or the next week. As far as rivals, cough, my vote is none of the above.

+1. I don't want to be here so long we actually seriously think about trophy games with this bunch. Back to the big kid's table, please.

I'd think at this point we have a little rivalry with the Texas schools...especially UTSA and UNT. If for no other reason they are fairly close geographically. Then, I'd say Marshall... given the 2 2013 games... And last year's game.
But it's more of a "heightened interest" series of games than real rivalries.
UH is a rivalry. IMOH

1. Louisiana Tech
2. North Texas
3. UTSA

(05-18-2015 08:16 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 07:14 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  I have lots of respect towards whomever Rice places the current week or the next week. As far as rivals, cough, my vote is none of the above.

+1. I don't want to be here so long we actually seriously think about trophy games with this bunch. Back to the big kid's table, please.

SNOBS

Rivals require a shared applicant base. Thats how true rivalries develop when people choose between schools and then it becomes a tradition. If the applicant bases are far apart, there is little in common and thus hard for a rivalry to develop.

In C-USA, I can't think of a single serious rivalry in any of the 3 major sports. Our biggest rivals by sport are IMHO:
Football - UH - The Bayou Bucket and it's not close.
Basketball - None - we haven't been any good for so long that we're just not relevant. Here one *could* make an argument for rivalries to develop with UTEP, LA TECH, UNT, and/or ODU. I certainly hope next year we are good enough to challenge those teams. Well I included UNT because we have knocked each other out of the CUSA Tournament the last couple of years.
Baseball - UH - The Silver Glove series, with a #2 rival of UT(since we have competed hard with them during the OG's tenure and both programs are national powers)

(05-19-2015 01:25 AM)Afflicted Wrote:  No one here can tell me they don't anticipate our home football game against LTU, especially after what they did to us last year. No one here can tell that they didn't hate North Texas after they beat us in football two years ago. And why is everyone here so excited about the renewal of the Bayou Bucket if UH isn't a rival? We even have a developing rivalry with Marshall in football.

I can. And so can a lot of people. I'll show up because I want to watch Rice play, but cant say I care about LT or UNT. Meh

(05-19-2015 01:25 AM)Afflicted Wrote:  A lot of you guys here are just a bunch of arrogant elitist. You need to quit walking around with your noses in the air and climb off that high horse. You guys aren't better than anyone because you went to Rice and Rice doesn't deserve to be in a P5 just because it was in the SWC. Get over it.

The SWC dissolved when I was 7. No memory whatsover of it. So that has nothing to do with anything.

Rivalries have meaning, and create memories. I remember the guy Rice hammered in Lubbock all these years later, Rad Weaver. Heck, we spent the Summer saying, " I am out of here like a Rad Weaver fastball." In contrast, I can't recall the major league sized first baseman from this weekend's name (and I just finished re watching the game on my DVR).

I would say that UH is by miles and miles the closest thing we have to a "rival" today.

I wouldn't see anyone in CUSA as a rival today, or even anything remotely approaching one. It takes time to develop a true rivalry, and we haven't been in CUSA long enough for that to happen. My guess is that CUSA, if it survives, will spend a few decades as a waypoint on the way up or down in college athletics relevance. In that environment, true rivalries are unlikely to develop.

To me a rival is someone that you would give up two wins elsewhere to get one win over them. I don't feel that way about UH, but some do. I don't feel that way about anyone in CUSA, nor do I even have any perceptible stirrings in that direction.

(05-18-2015 10:23 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  1. Louisiana Tech
2. North Texas
3. UTSA

I agree with this order. I think the back and forth nature between us and La Tech the last few years has helped drive up my interest in those games.

And i figure, we may as well accept the reality that we are where we are, so no reason to act like we can't have rivals. But don't get me wrong, I would much rather be playing people we consider real rivals (UH, UT, A&M, etc) every year.

(05-19-2015 07:55 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  To me a rival is someone that you would give up two wins elsewhere to get one win over them. I don't feel that way about UH, but some do. I don't feel that way about anyone in CUSA, nor do I even have any perceptible stirrings in that direction.

I never would give up wins. To me, the definition is this:

If you were to go 1-11, which team would you choose to be the 1?

For me, "the" rival in 2015 is still Texas.

Among CUSA opponents, probably LTU.

Braggin' rights are important in a rivalry.

Which schools see us as a rival?

(05-19-2015 08:30 AM)JSA Wrote:  How many schools see us as their biggest rival?

My guess would be none.

Schools that would put us in their Top 3? Maybe UNT, UTSA and UH.

(05-19-2015 08:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  I never would give up wins. To me, the definition is this:

If you were to go 1-11, which team would you choose to be the 1?

I would go a step further and define a true rivalry as one where each of two teams/fan bases answer that question with the other.

(05-19-2015 08:58 AM)Seventyniner Wrote:  

(05-19-2015 08:27 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  I never would give up wins. To me, the definition is this:

If you were to go 1-11, which team would you choose to be the 1?

I would go a step further and define a true rivalry as one where each of two teams/fan bases answer that question with the other.

So I wonder who is A$M's rival now? And UT's.