(11-03-2021 07:17 AM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(11-02-2021 11:12 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  I'm glad to hear this. I went to University of Houston in the early 80's, always liked Rice, both in the SWC and C-USA.

My concern is this: Rice has the biggest football budget in C-USA as things stand... and not very much to show for it. Someone at the top, either in the school administration or at the bigger booster level, needs to make a commitment to better football and follow through on it.

Agree, and that “someone” ideally would be our next school president (not yet selected) who will be coming in next summer.

Good news if you’re rooting for Rice to do well is that we are, at least, asking questions about football in the interview process.

It needs to be more than just one someone, but to use your alma mater as an example, the Khator/Fertita combo of leadership and funding has obviously moved the needle for UH.

Sounds weird to say, but we have enough well-to-do alumni that with the right vision and leadership the donors will come out of the woodwork.

You know, that fine elegantly carved oak woodwork to which Loki and I have naturally grown accustomed.

Mahogany. He meant mahogany. Sorry for the lapse into bourgeois territory.

(11-02-2021 07:38 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Not trying to be cynical, but its taken you this long (read joining CUSA in the mid 00s) to even attempt this kind of fundraising effort towards the athletic program and its success?

Why the emphasis now?

I'd be willing to hear about past successes of the program in any sport but the only thing that comes to mind was that College World Series victory quite a while ago... And you did have a few decent seasons in CUSA a while back in football, but nothing really over the last decade that I recall.

That said, go for it, everyone improving themselves is good for everyone in the conference.

The NC in baseball was 2003 and we won the regular season or tournament in baseball for about 20 years straight, ending just a few years ago. We won CUSA in football in 2013... but yes for most of the last decade our football has been mediocre at best and often horrible. We've also won all sorts of conference titles in 'Olympic' sports. Something like 20 over the last 6 years or so.

Reckling was built iirc in 2000 with numerous millions spent since then on additional improvements.
Tudor Fieldhouse 'rebuilt' the inside of our gym in 2007-8 for about $30mm. I think another 5 has been added since then
The Patterson Center was built in 2016 I think for about 40mm
The GRB Rice Tennis Center was built in 2014 for about $10mm
The Waltrip Indoor Facility was in 2020 for about $7mm
About $4mm was spent on the track and soccer stadium in 2016
and the Gibbs Rec Center which was built in 2009 also includes the pool for the swim team.

Rice Stadium (other than End Zone Facilities) has been mostly ignored since the 1950's. Not that we've spent nothing... new turf numerous times and other such things, but little has been done to it since then.

Why? Mostly ADA issues. It's literally a historic building and was built to 1950's standards. The sight-lines are among the best anywhere, but the slopes, seating widths, power and plumbing capabilities limit what you can do without requiring a complete refit of the entire stadium because of ADA. Essentially you can't fix just a FEW ADA issues. You can either keep it original and historic OR you can fix literally everything. It's not quite that bad, but its close. I understand about $25mm of the $100mm is going to purely 'fan' experience type things at HRS... with another $15mm on things like the press box and the south complex. I don't know exactly what the remaining $60mm will go towards... and that may depend on whom gives what with what stipulations... but HRS will get the lion's share of the money. I believe most (but certainly not all) of what has already been raised was specifically for HRS.

Oh, and HRS means 'Historic Rice Stadium'. It's a nice way of referring to the very functional but still not at all 'updated' facility.

(11-03-2021 11:38 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-02-2021 07:38 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Not trying to be cynical, but its taken you this long (read joining CUSA in the mid 00s) to even attempt this kind of fundraising effort towards the athletic program and its success?

Why the emphasis now?

I'd be willing to hear about past successes of the program in any sport but the only thing that comes to mind was that College World Series victory quite a while ago... And you did have a few decent seasons in CUSA a while back in football, but nothing really over the last decade that I recall.

That said, go for it, everyone improving themselves is good for everyone in the conference.

The NC in baseball was 2003 and we won the regular season or tournament in baseball for about 20 years straight, ending just a few years ago. We won CUSA in football in 2013... but yes for most of the last decade our football has been mediocre at best and often horrible. We've also won all sorts of conference titles in 'Olympic' sports. Something like 20 over the last 6 years or so.

Reckling was built iirc in 2000 with numerous millions spent since then on additional improvements.
Tudor Fieldhouse 'rebuilt' the inside of our gym in 2007-8 for about $30mm. I think another 5 has been added since then
The Patterson Center was built in 2016 I think for about 40mm
The GRB Rice Tennis Center was built in 2014 for about $10mm
The Waltrip Indoor Facility was in 2020 for about $7mm
About $4mm was spent on the track and soccer stadium in 2016
and the Gibbs Rec Center which was built in 2009 also includes the pool for the swim team.

Rice Stadium (other than End Zone Facilities) has been mostly ignored since the 1950's. Not that we've spent nothing... new turf numerous times and other such things, but little has been done to it since then.

Why? Mostly ADA issues. It's literally a historic building and was built to 1950's standards. The sight-lines are among the best anywhere, but the slopes, seating widths, power and plumbing capabilities limit what you can do without requiring a complete refit of the entire stadium because of ADA. Essentially you can't fix just a FEW ADA issues. You can either keep it original and historic OR you can fix literally everything. It's not quite that bad, but its close. I understand about $25mm of the $100mm is going to purely 'fan' experience type things at HRS... with another $15mm on things like the press box and the south complex. I don't know exactly what the remaining $60mm will go towards... and that may depend on whom gives what with what stipulations... but HRS will get the lion's share of the money. I believe most (but certainly not all) of what has already been raised was specifically for HRS.

Oh, and HRS means 'Historic Rice Stadium'. It's a nice way of referring to the very functional but still not at all 'updated' facility.

Thanks for a good run down of major projects.

Tulsa now gets to call our stadium Historic Skelly Field, which sounds right after a little over a decade of calling it H.A. Chapman Stadium based on our changes in the late noughts and donations. Before that it was Skelly Field and then Skelly Stadium. I know naming rights are important but I prefer the new official policy we have. It is Historic Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Should naming change it will keep the HSF designation at what ever the stadium is named.

Rice has some well heeled alumni. Dare to say probably some of the richest in Texas. They have already secured 1.2 of the 2 billion their trying to raise, this ought to tell you something. They (rich alum) just don't care about athletic's. Maybe a new President with a new vision with buy in by the money people will do the trick

(11-03-2021 11:46 AM)BIgCatonProwl Wrote:  Rice has some well heeled alumni. Dare to say probably some of the richest in Texas. They have already secured 1.2 of the 2 billion their trying to raise, this ought to tell you something. They (rich alum) just don't care about athletic's. Maybe a new President with a new vision with buy in by the money people will do the trick

Impressive. Only other school Ive ever heard of pulling that kind of haul is Notre Dame. They needed $2 billion and did it with fewer than a dozen calls.

From the beginning I said to watch out for Rice. Most on this board laughed. Now, they are in the AAC and raising $100 million. If they truly commit, Rice will be at the top of this conference in no time.

Rice really needs a coach who knows how to build or rebuild a school. Honestly, they should go after SMU DC and former USF head coach Jim Leavitt. He would have your defense stout as hell within 3 years and if you can find him a good OC, Rice could be a monster.

(11-02-2021 07:38 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  Not trying to be cynical, but its taken you this long (read joining CUSA in the mid 00s) to even attempt this kind of fundraising effort towards the athletic program and its success?

Why the emphasis now?

I think that Rice (especially the administration and AD) realizes that this is now truly 'do or die' for Rice in NCAA Div 1.

Rice kicked the can down the road when the SWC went south; they were left by the side of the road in the WAC shakeup. Rice in those times has invested *just* enough money and capital into D1 sports to make it 'heartbeat' viable.

But, with this new shakeup, I think that the upper levels finally do view this chapter as a live or die event.

I do know the current 2 bln campaign has been 'in the works' for the 'stealth' part of its existence for about 2 years --- so it seems that the 100 million was contemplated at that time.

The writing was on the wall when the current B12 grant of rights expires in a very short time -- I am glad that the powers that be at Rice saw that event as the catalyst for a shakeup at at a conference definition (perhaps existence) level. And, accordingly put on some 'big boy pants' to include a 100 mm take in that effort.

(11-03-2021 08:19 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(11-03-2021 07:17 AM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(11-02-2021 11:12 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  I'm glad to hear this. I went to University of Houston in the early 80's, always liked Rice, both in the SWC and C-USA.

My concern is this: Rice has the biggest football budget in C-USA as things stand... and not very much to show for it. Someone at the top, either in the school administration or at the bigger booster level, needs to make a commitment to better football and follow through on it.

Agree, and that “someone” ideally would be our next school president (not yet selected) who will be coming in next summer.

Good news if you’re rooting for Rice to do well is that we are, at least, asking questions about football in the interview process.

It needs to be more than just one someone, but to use your alma mater as an example, the Khator/Fertita combo of leadership and funding has obviously moved the needle for UH.

Sounds weird to say, but we have enough well-to-do alumni that with the right vision and leadership the donors will come out of the woodwork.

You know, that fine elegantly carved oak woodwork to which Loki and I have naturally grown accustomed.

Mahogany. He meant mahogany. Sorry for the lapse into bourgeois territory.

One word: 'plastics'.

I heard from somewhere there is an awesome future in them.

(11-03-2021 08:19 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(11-03-2021 07:17 AM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(11-02-2021 11:12 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  I'm glad to hear this. I went to University of Houston in the early 80's, always liked Rice, both in the SWC and C-USA.

My concern is this: Rice has the biggest football budget in C-USA as things stand... and not very much to show for it. Someone at the top, either in the school administration or at the bigger booster level, needs to make a commitment to better football and follow through on it.

Agree, and that “someone” ideally would be our next school president (not yet selected) who will be coming in next summer.

Good news if you’re rooting for Rice to do well is that we are, at least, asking questions about football in the interview process.

It needs to be more than just one someone, but to use your alma mater as an example, the Khator/Fertita combo of leadership and funding has obviously moved the needle for UH.

Sounds weird to say, but we have enough well-to-do alumni that with the right vision and leadership the donors will come out of the woodwork.

You know, that fine elegantly carved oak woodwork to which Loki and I have naturally grown accustomed.

Mahogany. He meant mahogany. Sorry for the lapse into bourgeois territory.

Brazilian Rosewood.

What y'all really need most is anywhere from one to half a dozen deep pocket alums who decide that athletics is important to the university's image and marketing, as well as to the student experience. Between what they give and what they can raise when they put the arm on some of their friends the issue gets handled pretty quickly. I know those guys don't grow on trees, but that was what brought UAB back, and most of them were not even UAB alums.

We just walked away from Historic Legion Field and we're not looking back, but Rice has a very nice stadium to overhaul. Best of luck to you with it.

Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

(11-09-2021 08:51 AM)BattleCougarRed_88 Wrote:  Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

Makes a lot of sense…

(11-09-2021 08:54 AM)pablowow Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:51 AM)BattleCougarRed_88 Wrote:  Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

Makes a lot of sense…

Yes... A&M iirc beat us to it.... plus, they aren't especially highly regarded so it wouldn't give the initial bump we were looking for. We instead offered $1byn plus all debt assumption for Baylor College of Medicine... and although it shares the name, most of the board is NOT Baylor people. The sale requires unanimous consent though and the Baylor members blocked it.

The better idea might be to start our own and find a niche like IP or something and try and dominate that area as we did our business school with entrepreneurship

(11-01-2021 02:49 PM)mtmedlin Wrote:  With UTSA taking their big step and keeping their coach, if Rice can put this money to good use, we could have a VERY strong contingent of Texas schools. Really hope through all of this that SMU can hold onto their coach.

This all seems like wishful thinking at this point - - "pie in the sky."

I haven't seen any compelling evidence that the AAC will have a VERY strong contingent of Texas schools. None of the current or future Texas AAC schools, other than Houston, is very strong this year, and even Houston hasn't been that impressive, considering that they lost to (5-4) Texas Tech, in Houston, by 15 points and only managed to beat (2-7) USF by 12 points over the weekend.

All I see at this point are two very weak G5 programs (UNT and Rice) and two fairly (not very) strong football schools - - SMU and UTSA. UTSA has a chance to finish the season in the top 25, but they seem over-ranked, and I doubt that they would beat any of the other top 25 teams on a neutral field.

SMU is fairly strong, but not VERY STRONG this year. They lost to (5-4) Memphis, only beat (2-7) La Tech by 2 points and only beat (2-7) Navy by 7.

Is UTSA for real? It looks that way now, and much like SMU, they're a fairly strong team, but their most impressive wins to date have been:

32-28 (by 4 pts) @ (5-4) Memphis (predicted to finish 7-5)
37-30 (by 7 pts) @ (4-6) Illinois (predicted to finish 5-7)
44-23 (by 21 pts) @ (6-3) UTEP (predicted to finish 7-5)
52-46 (by 6 pts) @ (5-4) WKU (predicted to finish 7-5)

Although they're 9-0, they only have 3 wins vs. teams with winning records, so I'm not convinced that they're going to be the next Boise St. or App State.

.

They certainly have a good CUSA team, but they've played a light schedule and I would expect them to lose by 2 or 3 touchdowns to a 7 or 8 win P5 team in a bowl game.

Take Illinois, for example. They lost home games to (4-5) Rutgers by 6 pts, to (5-4) Maryland by 3 pts, and to (6-3) Wisconsin by 24 pts, and they were blown out by (6-3) Virginia). They've only beaten two teams with winning records.

Or take WKU, which UTSA beat by 6 points. WKU isn't bad this year, but they lost to (2-7) Indiana, and haven't beaten an FBS team with a winning record all season

Or take Memphis, which UTSA beat by 4 points. Memphis has lost to #94 Tulsa and #122 Temple, and they've only beaten two teams with winning records, both on their home field, by an average of 25 points.

.

This is UTSA's 10th season as an FBS program. They lost more games than they won over their first nine seasons, averaging only 5.33 wins per season. To date, they have only qualified for two bowl games, and they lost both of them.

This has been their best season yet. Whether they have greater upside potential or not isn't clear yet.

That doesn't mean that they have a bad or mediocre program, but simply that they've still got some work to do to prove that they can, for example, beat a P5 team with a winning record.

.

There's very little evidence to suggest that Rice and North Texas are any more likely than schools such as Charlotte or FIU to become either "fairly" strong or "very strong," much less VERY strong. Rice has done practically nothing for decades, and North Texas has only had three winning seasons in the past decade. They've played in a few bowl games, including two that they played in despite winning fewer than 6 games, and they've lost all but one of them - - back in 2013.

.

I tend to root for underdogs, and would like to see them get somewhere, but all I really see right now are hopes and dreams, or "mirages" of what "might" be very strong programs 2 or 3 years from now. Just pie in the sky.

.

So, will the AAC West be a strong football division, with teams such as Tulane, Tulsa, SMU, Navy, UTSA, UNT, and Rice?

Unless Navy re-emerges as a periodic football power - - which it might - - I would expect to see SMU leading the pack most years, followed (in no particular order) by UTSA, Tulsa. and Tulane, with UNT and Rice tending to bring up the rear most years.

I don't expect SMU to stay much beyond 2026, when many are predicting they and Memphis will join the Big 12.

At that point, Navy, UTSA, Tulsa, and Tulane might battle amongst themselves for the division championship, and one of them might occasionally end up in the nation's top 25, but I'm not seeing any evidence, right now, that any more than one of the Texas imports from the CUSA has a shot at becoming anything like a football dynasty or a powerhouse.

(11-01-2021 03:29 PM)Foreverandever Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 03:12 PM)Joprior23 Wrote:  Rice is the best add if they commit financially, and it’s not close.

Yup, just them deciding they are going to be serious about it pushes them past UAB. UTSA, UNT could turn out to be solid bets, FAU a lil below them. Charlotte is kind of the one that seems to just be a middle road add. UAB and Rice (with an athletic commitment) were the super easy adds, they come with academics and history with current members, as well as a geographic fit. UNT and UTSA cut off everybody but UTEP and Texas State from the MW and are probably the best bets of up and coming schools with large metro base and alum numbers.

Wow, what an un-educated comment. You just posted about how Rice is doing so great by trying to raise $100m for athletics, but Charlotte is a "middle of the road" add------Charlotte is in the middle of a $200m fund-raising campaign for athletic facilities. We had raised ~$50m well before Covid even hit.

(11-09-2021 11:59 AM)Milwaukee Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 02:49 PM)mtmedlin Wrote:  With UTSA taking their big step and keeping their coach, if Rice can put this money to good use, we could have a VERY strong contingent of Texas schools. Really hope through all of this that SMU can hold onto their coach.

This all seems like wishful thinking at this point - - "pie in the sky."

I haven't seen any compelling evidence that the AAC will have a VERY strong contingent of Texas schools. None of the current or future Texas AAC schools, other than Houston, is very strong this year, and even Houston hasn't been that impressive, considering that they lost to (5-4) Texas Tech, in Houston, by 15 points and only managed to beat (2-7) USF by 12 points over the weekend.

All I see at this point are two very weak G5 programs (UNT and Rice) and two fairly (not very) strong football schools - - SMU and UTSA. UTSA has a chance to finish the season in the top 25, but they seem over-ranked, and I doubt that they would beat any of the other top 25 teams on a neutral field.

1. Pretty certain you are splitting hairs with all of this.

2. SMU and UTSA should both be top 25. That's strong. No matter what adjective you want to put in front of it.

3. North Texas has everything it needs to be successful except for a good coach... which my post was addressing. They could easily go from where they are to super competitive.

4. Rice has the resources to kick all our asses if they want. Period.

Points 1-4 do indeed equal to a possible very strong Texas contingent. Even if only two remain at the top 25 level, thats still strong... very strong.

(11-09-2021 01:14 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 03:29 PM)Foreverandever Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 03:12 PM)Joprior23 Wrote:  Rice is the best add if they commit financially, and it’s not close.

Yup, just them deciding they are going to be serious about it pushes them past UAB. UTSA, UNT could turn out to be solid bets, FAU a lil below them. Charlotte is kind of the one that seems to just be a middle road add. UAB and Rice (with an athletic commitment) were the super easy adds, they come with academics and history with current members, as well as a geographic fit. UNT and UTSA cut off everybody but UTEP and Texas State from the MW and are probably the best bets of up and coming schools with large metro base and alum numbers.

Wow, what an un-educated comment. You just posted about how Rice is doing so great by trying to raise $100m for athletics, but Charlotte is a "middle of the road" add------Charlotte is in the middle of a $200m fund-raising campaign for athletic facilities. We had raised ~$50m well before Covid even hit.

I want you to look up how many pros in the four major sports are from Charlotte, then look at Houston. I want you to compare your current facilities to Rice. Then I want you to realize your 200m fund raising is great, but Rice is putting up 2B total and 100m of that is athletics. Charlotte is maxing out with its 200m and trying to catch up, in a smaller city, with less depth in talent, while Rice just kind of decided to pay attention. There is the difference

(11-09-2021 02:47 PM)Foreverandever Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 01:14 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 03:29 PM)Foreverandever Wrote:  

(11-01-2021 03:12 PM)Joprior23 Wrote:  Rice is the best add if they commit financially, and it’s not close.

Yup, just them deciding they are going to be serious about it pushes them past UAB. UTSA, UNT could turn out to be solid bets, FAU a lil below them. Charlotte is kind of the one that seems to just be a middle road add. UAB and Rice (with an athletic commitment) were the super easy adds, they come with academics and history with current members, as well as a geographic fit. UNT and UTSA cut off everybody but UTEP and Texas State from the MW and are probably the best bets of up and coming schools with large metro base and alum numbers.

Wow, what an un-educated comment. You just posted about how Rice is doing so great by trying to raise $100m for athletics, but Charlotte is a "middle of the road" add------Charlotte is in the middle of a $200m fund-raising campaign for athletic facilities. We had raised ~$50m well before Covid even hit.

I want you to look up how many pros in the four major sports are from Charlotte, then look at Houston. I want you to compare your current facilities to Rice. Then I want you to realize your 200m fund raising is great, but Rice is putting up 2B total and 100m of that is athletics. Charlotte is maxing out with its 200m and trying to catch up, in a smaller city, with less depth in talent, while Rice just kind of decided to pay attention. There is the difference

clt is glad Rice is coming with us, but Charlotte isn't exactly poor by any means.

(11-09-2021 11:10 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:54 AM)pablowow Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:51 AM)BattleCougarRed_88 Wrote:  Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

Makes a lot of sense…

Yes... A&M iirc beat us to it.... plus, they aren't especially highly regarded so it wouldn't give the initial bump we were looking for. We instead offered $1byn plus all debt assumption for Baylor College of Medicine... and although it shares the name, most of the board is NOT Baylor people. The sale requires unanimous consent though and the Baylor members blocked it.

The better idea might be to start our own and find a niche like IP or something and try and dominate that area as we did our business school with entrepreneurship

A&M had an agreement with STCL to offer an A&M Law degree back in the day, but it was killed by the legislature and then A&M worked a deal with them for enrollment for A&M students that managed to escape the wrath of the legislature

A&M later on ended up buying Texas Wesleyan College of Law for $50 million and was going to rent their building, but then ended up paying more to buy the building as well

The Rice deal with Baylor College of Medicine was killed by Rice....at the time BCM had built a fancy new building, but when the stock market crashed they were short on cash and had to finish the shell of the building and some of the interior and then stop so they could shore up their endowment and raise more cash

Rice was concerned about the debt, the hit to the endowment, and the annual operating cost.....after Rice killed the deal the BCM raised cash and shored up their endowment while talking with BU, but decided to remain independent of BU as well

Law schools are dead ends right now I doubt Rice has any interest in STCL now even if they did in the past

I am the π in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind

(11-09-2021 11:10 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:54 AM)pablowow Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:51 AM)BattleCougarRed_88 Wrote:  Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

Makes a lot of sense…

Yes... A&M iirc beat us to it.... plus, they aren't especially highly regarded so it wouldn't give the initial bump we were looking for. We instead offered $1byn plus all debt assumption for Baylor College of Medicine... and although it shares the name, most of the board is NOT Baylor people. The sale requires unanimous consent though and the Baylor members blocked it.

The better idea might be to start our own and find a niche like IP or something and try and dominate that area as we did our business school with entrepreneurship

A few points:

1. Texas A&M has since split with STCL.

2. When Rice first 'built out' the Jones School of Business, it was not very highly 'rated'. It took 25+ years to build the Jones School into an upper level institution.

3. There is almost no way that the Houston area can support three law schools.

I had a chance on a few separate occasions to interact with two people who had been Rice trustees in a very private setting. One expressed the opinion (like yours above) that STCL was akin to buying a used car. The other (a different time and without the other present) expressed the opinion that for them it was more like buying a beater of a house, and renovating it up to meet the neighborhood expectations.

Speaking of the venue, when in the heck are you gonna come visit, Ham? (wink)

(11-09-2021 11:38 PM)TodgeRodge Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 11:10 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:54 AM)pablowow Wrote:  

(11-09-2021 08:51 AM)BattleCougarRed_88 Wrote:  Just curious; has Rice ever entertained the thought of buying South Texas College of Law and make them part of their university to solve the dilemma of them not having a law school or create their own school of law?

Makes a lot of sense…

Yes... A&M iirc beat us to it.... plus, they aren't especially highly regarded so it wouldn't give the initial bump we were looking for. We instead offered $1byn plus all debt assumption for Baylor College of Medicine... and although it shares the name, most of the board is NOT Baylor people. The sale requires unanimous consent though and the Baylor members blocked it.

The better idea might be to start our own and find a niche like IP or something and try and dominate that area as we did our business school with entrepreneurship

A&M had an agreement with STCL to offer an A&M Law degree back in the day, but it was killed by the legislature and then A&M worked a deal with them for enrollment for A&M students that managed to escape the wrath of the legislature

A&M later on ended up buying Texas Wesleyan College of Law for $50 million and was going to rent their building, but then ended up paying more to buy the building as well

The Rice deal with Baylor College of Medicine was killed by Rice....at the time BCM had built a fancy new building, but when the stock market crashed they were short on cash and had to finish the shell of the building and some of the interior and then stop so they could shore up their endowment and raise more cash

Rice was concerned about the debt, the hit to the endowment, and the annual operating cost.....after Rice killed the deal the BCM raised cash and shored up their endowment while talking with BU, but decided to remain independent of BU as well

Law schools are dead ends right now I doubt Rice has any interest in STCL now even if they did in the past

Rice certainly had hesitancy, but the offer was extended. The BCM Board, more precisely the Baylor members of the Board of BCM, voted down the deal presented.

Rice did not attempt to redo the deal presented to try and sway them.