Okay about the “option”, but you get the point.
Rice is the actor who added the “option” just to stick it in our ear…
Well, I vote we “option” out of playing them ever at their place.
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Our top rival? Ourselves.
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I definitely think Rice is a rival and a series that should be played yearly in all sports. It is an additional home game for both schools, but benefits Houston more given the size of the fanbase. Also, it is almost always a win for Houston and is a more respectable opponent than most of the other regional G5 teams. I think SMU v Houston is a rivalry, but tame at this point. I think most fans of both schools dislike each other, the Dallas v Houston angle helps, and recently both schools have had a resurgence in football and basketball. Just because it doesn’t compare to Auburn v Alabama and Michigan Ohio State doesn’t mean it’s not a rivalry. Tulsa is the most played opponent but is more of a nuisance than a rival.
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Look at this board today. Despite what people will say, it is obvious that Texas is still our most hated rival.
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This. 
Most hated but they don’t qualify as a rival.
I’m an older Coog, annually creeping more and more to the end of that 50-64 age group, and I like Rice and hope they do well. My grandfather was a big fan and used to go see them play in the 50s, and my dad took us to Rice Stadium in the 70s when they were playing Arkansas or A&M or some SWC team and UH wasn’t in town. Also saw the ‘73 Notre Dame national championship team with Dave Caspar at Rice. But we don’t play them enough for them to be a rival.
We need a rival. Automatically hated. Victory over them salvages a season.
Don’t truly have one.
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The website in the OP lists things like this. The most lopsided rivalry is how Boston College thinks Notre Dame is a rival. 74% of the BC fans think of ND as a rival while 1.5% of ND fans think the same. OU and OSU was surprising as well as Michigan and Michigan State.
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No, those aren’t their exact thoughts. Their thoughts are “Who can we play who is FBS but not much of a threat to beat us?”.
I still believe our biggest rivals are the negative nancy members on our board . . . . .
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UH is not on their radar. I know some people don’t want to hear that.
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Geez we have no rivals, especially after the SWC threw us out the back door. We used to get really high when we played Texas or Aggy, but except for a couple of years they never returned the favor…
It is what it is…Rice is the closest thing to a rival we have but we really don’t play them regular enough to prove it.
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Rice was our main rival when I was on campus. Professors who had minimal interest in sports would throw pot shots at Rice during game week. The off campus bookstore sold Ruck Fice t-shirts. It was more than just an athletic rivalry, it was an institutional and cultural rivalry that extended to athletics. It helped that they were in the same conference at the time, but we schedule them regularly enough for them still to be considered rivals.
I do wish we had a better rival, but it is what it is. Rice sucks at the revenue sports and have minimal fan support. I’m guessing that they do consider us as their top rival, though, and the MOB seems to get extra feisty when they play us.
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I agree. When I was on campus, the students liked going to this game and cared enough to win it. It’s hard to be rivals when you don’t play though. So, I feel like that rivalry is dwindling and is the reason Texas and A&M are not our rivals. At least not anymore. My opinion.
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They may be our most hated past opponent, or school in general; but in order to be a rival you have to actually play each other which isn’t the case and won’t be the case in the future.
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How many times have we seen Houston v Texas in football in the last 25 years? Just 3 from 200-2002 with UT winning big in all 3. Granted it was UH’s low point with Dana Dimel, but still not very memorable. How many times have we seen Houston v Texas in basketball in the last 25 years? I remember Clyde Drexler opening his coaching career against Texas as part of a 4 games series played from 1997-2000 and the CBI game in 2013. I know baseball has had a more regular series the last several years, but you have to play in order to continue the rivalry. Hate from one side doesn’t really constitute a rivalry.
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Cougar baseball has not played UT in series during last several yrs.
I do consider texas or atm rivals and I am an old SWC guy. Right now it is SMU, Tulsa, Memphis and Tulane.
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Same, it was pretty fun beating them back then. I don’t feel that at all anymore.
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