1976 Rice Owls football team

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The 1976 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Southwest Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Homer Rice, the team compiled a 3–8 record.^[1]^[2]

1976 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Houston +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 13 Texas Tech +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Texas A&M	6	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Baylor	4	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Texas	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Arkansas	3	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Rice	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
SMU	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
TCU	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	Utah*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 43–22	17,000
September 25	at No. 15 LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 0–31	67,260	^[3]
October 2	Texas	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 15–42	57,000
October 9	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 26–23
October 16	No. 10 Texas Tech	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 13–37	23,500
October 23	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 34–57	47,354
October 30	at No. 14 Arkansas	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 16–41	43,908
November 6	SMU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	W 41–34	18,000
November 13	Baylor	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 6–38	10,000
November 20	at Florida*	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 22–50	53,275	^[4]
November 27	No. 7 Houston	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 20–42	32,212
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1976 Rice Owls football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`80`	Doug Cunningham	Jr
QB	`9`	Tommy Kramer	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`67`	Kevin O’Connell	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

^ "1976 Rice Owls Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
^ "2020 Rice Football Media Guide" (PDF). Rice University. 2020. p. 136. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
^ "Robiskie LSU rip Rice, 31–0". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 26, 1976. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators regain scoring punch". Panama City News-Herald. November 21, 1976. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.