Bayou Bucket Classic

Bayou Bucket Classic

Houston Cougars Rice Owls
Sport	Football
First meeting	September 11, 1971 Houston 23, Rice 21
Latest meeting	September 1, 2018 Houston 45, Rice 27
Next meeting	2020
Statistics
Meetings total	42
All-time series	Houston: 31–11 (.738)
Largest victory	Houston, 64–0, 1989
Longest win streak	Houston, 6 (1987–1992)
Current win streak	Houston, 5 (2011–present)

45km
30miles

Rice

Houston

  

Locations in Houston

The Bayou Bucket Classic is the name given to the Houston–Rice football rivalry. It is an annual college football game between rivals, the Houston Cougars and the Rice Owls, as a part of the Houston–Rice rivalry. The name of the game is a reference to one of Houston's popular nicknames as the Bayou City. Although a series between the two teams has existed since 1971, an award for the winner of each meeting was not official until 1974. The series signifies a college and crosstown rivalry.

From 1999 to 2001 Southwestern Bell was the title sponsor for the series, and it was branded as the Southwestern Bell Bayou Bucket Classic. From 2002 to 2005, Houston-based Administaff sponsored the series, and it was branded as the Administaff Bayou Bucket Classic. During the 1996 to 1998 football seasons, the series was on hiatus while the teams realigned themselves with other conferences after the demise of the Southwest Conference. The game for the Bayou Bucket in 1995 was the final game in the history of Southwest Conference football.

History

Pre–Bayou Bucket Classic

The game ball from the 1995 Bayou Bucket Classic, the last game in Southwest Conference history

In 1941, Johnny Goyen, then sports editor for The Cougar, and Jack Valenti, president of the sophomore class at the University of Houston, began a petition for an official intercollegiate football team at the university. The next year, the two called a student body meeting to organize another petition. This petition's purpose was to challenge Rice Institute (later known as Rice University) to a football game. The Rice Owls were an established program, having played since 1919 as a member of the Southwest Conference.

During the spring training for the first team, Goyen and Valenti's petition was finally answered, as Houston coach Jewell Wallace arranged a small practice game between Rice and Houston. The meeting was to be at Rice. When the team arrived at the field in their practice uniforms, they realized that the game was much more serious. Officials were there, and the stadium was full of spectators. With an attendance of 11,000, the game ended with Rice easily beating the Houston Cougars. It wouldn't be until 1971 that the Cougars and Owls competed again.

In the Summer of 1953, Hugh Roy Cullen (then chairman of the University of Houston Board of Regents) met with George R. Brown (then president of the Rice University Board of Governors), to sign a new contract for Houston to use Rice Stadium. When asked if there was a discussion about the two universities possibly competing against each other in football, Brown said, "Not since 1950. We discussed it informally then." Cullen said, "They seem to think it would create too much of a rivalry. Our boys out at UH are working boys. They don't have time to fight."

Official play

Although Houston was accepted into the Southwest Conference for non-revenue sports during the 1971 season, the Cougars didn't join for football competition until 1976. Despite this, the first official game between the teams was played in 1971, with Houston winning 23–21. In 1974, the tradition was further solidified by the official naming of the series as the "Bayou Bucket Classic". The 1995 meeting of the teams was the last football game of the Southwest Conference before it was disbanded.

Although on hiatus after the demise of the SWC, the rivalry was renewed in 1999. In 2005, the rivalry gained back significance after the Owls joined Conference USA in which Houston was a charter member. The game was announced to be played at Houston's Reliant Stadium for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The 2014 season marked the first time since 1998 that the two football programs did not compete.

The rivalry has been renewed for two home-and-home series for the 2017 and 2018 football seasons, and again for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The 2009 Bayou Bucket Classic at Robertson Stadium

Game results

Houston victories

Rice victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	1971	Rice Stadium	Houston	23–21
2	1972	Rice Stadium	Rice	14–13
3	1973	Astrodome	No. 18 Houston	24–6
4	1974	Rice Stadium	No. 19 Houston	21–0
5	1975	Astrodome	Rice	24–7
6	1976	Rice Stadium	No. 7 Houston	42–20
7	1977	Rice Stadium	Houston	51–21
8	1978	Astrodome	No. 9 Houston	49–25
9	1979	Rice Stadium	No. 10 Houston	63–0
10	1980	Astrodome	Rice	35–7
11	1981	Rice Stadium	Houston	40–3
12	1982	Astrodome	Houston	28–21
13	1983	Rice Stadium	Houston	45–14
14	1984	Astrodome	Houston	38–26
15	1985	Rice Stadium	Houston	24–20
16	1986	Astrodome	Rice	14–13
17	1987	Rice Stadium	Houston	45–21
18	1988	Astrodome	No. 14 Houston	45–14
19	1989	Rice Stadium	No. 13 Houston	64–0
20	1990	Astrodome	No. 13 Houston	24–22
21	1991	Rice Stadium	Houston	41–21
22	1992	Astrodome	Houston	61–34

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
23	1993	Rice Stadium	Rice	37–7
24	1994	Astrodome	Rice	31–13
25	1995	Rice Stadium	Houston	18–17
26	1999	Robertson Stadium	Houston	28–3
27	2000	Rice Stadium	Rice	30–27
28	2001	Robertson Stadium	Rice	21–14
29	2002	Rice Stadium	Houston	24–10
30	2003	Robertson Stadium	Houston	48–14
31	2004	Reliant Stadium	Rice	10–7
32	2005	Robertson Stadium	Houston	35–18
33	2006	Rice Stadium	Houston	31–30
34	2007	Robertson Stadium	Houston	56–48
35	2008	Rice Stadium	Rice	56–42
36	2009	Robertson Stadium	No. 25 Houston	73–14
37	2010	Rice Stadium	Rice	34–31
38	2011	Robertson Stadium	No. 18 Houston	73–34
39	2012	Reliant Stadium	Houston	35–14
40	2013	Reliant Stadium	Houston	31–26
41	2017	TDECU Stadium	Houston	38–3
42	2018	Rice Stadium	Houston	45–27
Series: Houston leads 31–11

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games