1940 Rice Owls football team

American college football season

1940 Rice Owls football

Conference| Southwest Conference
Record| 7–3 (4–2 SWC)
Head coach|

* Jess Neely (1st season)

Home stadium| Rice Field

Seasons

<- 1939

1941 ->

1940 Southwest Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

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Team | W |  | L |  | T |  |  | W |  | L |  | T
No. 6 Texas A&M $  | 5  | - | 1  | - | 0 |  |  | 9  | - | 1  | - | 0
No. 16 SMU | 5  | - | 1  | - | 0 |  |  | 8  | - | 1  | - | 1
Texas | 4  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 8  | - | 2  | - | 0
Rice | 4  | - | 2  | - | 0 |  |  | 7  | - | 3  | - | 0
TCU | 2  | - | 4  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 7  | - | 0
Arkansas | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 4  | - | 6  | - | 0
Baylor | 0  | - | 6  | - | 0 |  |  | 4  | - | 6  | - | 0

* $ - Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1940 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1940 college football season. In its first season under head coach Jess Neely, the team compiled a 7–3 record (4–2 against SWC opponents) and outscored opponents by a total of 131 to 78.[1][2]

Rice was ranked at No. 21 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.[3]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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October 5| Centenary*|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX

| W 25–0| | [4]
October 12| LSU*|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX

| W 23–0| 23,000| [5]
October 19| at Tulane*|

* Tulane Stadium
* New Orleans, LA

| L 6–15| 34,000| [6]
October 26|  No. 12 Texas|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX (rivalry)

| W 13–0| | [7]
November 2| Texas A&I*|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX

| W 9–6| |
November 9| at Arkansas|

* Bailey Stadium
* Fayetteville, AR

| W 14–7| |
November 16| at No. 3 Texas A&M|

* Kyle Field
* College Station, TX

| L 0–25| |
November 23| TCU|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX

| W 14–6| |
November 30| Baylor|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX

| W 21–12| |
December 7|  No. 16 SMU|

* Rice Field
* Houston, TX (rivalry)

| L 6–7| |

* *Non-conference game
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1940 Rice Owls Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
2. ^ "Rice Owls 2017 Football Fact Book" (PDF). Rice University. 2017. p. 190.
3. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 - via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Rice passing whips Centenary 25 to 0". The Shreveport Times. October 6, 1940. Retrieved July 20, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "Owls register impressive win over LSU, 23–0". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. October 13, 1940. Retrieved September 30, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Tulane turns back Rice, 15–6, in ragged exhibition". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 20, 1940. Retrieved April 10, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "Owls kick dope bucket into air with 13–0 win over Texas". Waco Tribune-Herald. October 27, 1940. Retrieved April 28, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.

* v
* t
* e

Rice Owls football

Venues|

* West End Park (1912, 1914–1915)
* Rice Field (1913–1949)
* Rice Stadium (1950–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Houston
* SMU
* Texas

Culture & lore|

* Sammy the Owl
* "Rice Fight"
* Marching Owl Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

This college football 1940s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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* v
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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number