The Rice Owls football team will look to take flight against the University of Houston Cougars in the 42nd Bayou Bucket Classic at 6 p.m. Sept. 9.
The battle for the Bayou Bucket will be the first of seven home games for Rice this season, the most home contests for the Owls since 1990 and their first home game as members of the American Athletic Conference.
This year's game will take place 51 years to the day when Rice defeated Houston 14-13 in the second meeting between the schools. Houston had won the initial meeting 23-21 at Rice Stadium in 1971.
Two years later the schools first met to decide the winner of the Bayou Bucket, which was created by the Touchdown Club of Houston.
This year's game will also be the first when both schools are in the first year of membership in a new conference as Rice begins play in the AAC and Houston in the Big 12 Conference. The first five meetings of the series were nonconference contests before Houston began playing football in the Southwest Conference in 1976.
The schools met annually as part of the SWC schedule through 1995. They met again as nonconference foes from 1999-2004 before Rice joined Houston in Conference USA. They met eight consecutive years as C-USA opponents and have met the last five times as nonconference opponents since 2013.
The matchup will be broadcast nationally on the NFL Network, marking Rice's third appearance on the NFL Network and the first appearance for the Bayou Bucket Classic.
For more information on how to tune in, go to NFL.com/nflnetwork.
For more Owls sports coverage, visit riceowls.com.