UCF Fans Better Know a Stadium: Rice Stadium

The Knights football team will play Rice at Rice Stadium in Houston this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Many of you may not know the in and outs of where the Rice Owls play and what their stadium is like.

Here we employ our series Better Know a Stadium in which we check out Rice Stadium and its attributes.

Rice Stadium has been the home of the Rice University football team since 1950. It is the largest on-campus facility in Conference USA, and this year the stadium is celebrating its 60th season.

In February 2008, Rice upgraded their stadium and installed its FieldTurf Dursapine system, which is identical to the surfaces of West Virginia University and the home of the New England Patriots.

An entirely new scoreboard has been constructed above the north end zone, and new aluminum bleachers have been installed.

Rice Stadium retains some of its uniqueness because it was built for football only. There is no running track around the field's perimeter.

The Owl Club, atop the south end zone, is a virtual historical museum of the great Rice University athletes and teams. The room is also used for civic, academic, and other social events.

At various times, Rice Stadium has served as home stadium for the Bluebonnet Bowl, the University of Houston, the Houston Oilers, and Texas Southern University.

On Jan. 13, 1974, the stadium was the site of Super Bowl VIII, in which the Miami Dolphins defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24-7.

Rice Stadium is only one of three campus facilities still in operation that have hosted a Super Bowl.

The stadium has also hosted some major concerts. Pink Floyd, Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John, and George Strait concerts have drawn large crowds in recent years. More than 10 million fans have watched Rice football at Rice stadium.