1949 Rice Owls football team

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Ranking
AP	No. 5

1949 Southwest Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Rice $	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Baylor	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
TCU	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
Texas	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
SMU	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Texas A&M	0	–	5	–	1			1	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1949 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University during the 1949 college football season. The Owls were led by 10th-year head coach Jess Neely and played their home games at Rice Field in Houston, Texas. The team competed as a member of the Southwest Conference, winning the conference with an unbeaten record of 6–0. They ended the regular season with an overall record of 9–1, and were ranked fifth in the final AP Poll. Rice was invited to the 1950 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated Southern Conference champion North Carolina.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 24	Clemson*		Rice Field Houston, TX	W 33–7
October 1	at LSU*		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 7–14
October 8	New Mexico*		Rice Field Houston, TX	W 55–0
October 15	at No. 10 SMU		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	W 41–27
October 22	at No. 10 Texas	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	W 17–15
October 29	Texas Tech*	No. 5	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 28–0
November 5	Arkansas	No. 8	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 14–0
November 12	Texas A&M	No. 7	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 13–0
November 19	at TCU	No. 6	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 20–14
November 26	No. 9 Baylor	No. 7	Rice Field Houston, TX	W 21–7
January 2	vs. No. 16 North Carolina*	No. 5	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	W 27–13
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game