2021 Week 2 Preview: Houston Cougars @ Rice Owls

Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports Game Notes

Time and Date: Saturday, September 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET

Network: CBS Sports Network

Location: Rice Stadium — Houston, TX

Spread: Houston (-8)

ESPN FPI: Houston has 71.4% chance to win

All-time series: Houston leads series, 31-11

Last meeting: Houston 45, Rice 27 — September 1, 2018

Bucket list item

This isn’t an ordinary non-conference game. There’s never anything ordinary about a football game when a trophy is on the line or when the opponents hail from the same city. Rice and Houston have battled for the Bayou Bucket since 1971 when the sister schools were pitted as rivals in the Southwest Conference. Fifty years later and conferences apart, the rivalry…