“Why does Rice play Texas?” are five words from one of the most famous American speeches. Presented at Rice Stadium in 1962, President John F. Kennedy utilized this football allusion immediately before uttering the most famous line of this speech: “We choose to go to the moon.”
The 37th president later expanded on this comparison, stating, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills...”
As Kennedy alluded to 41 years prior, the Texas Longhorns are a difficult matchup for Rice, and the Longhorns have posed a greater challenge than any other opponent in recent memory.