1955 Rice Owls football team

The 1955 Rice Owls football team represented Rice Institute during the 1955 college football season.^[1] The Owls were led by 16th-year head coach Jess Neely and played their home games at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. They competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing in last. Despite starting the year with high expectations, ranked 11th in the preseason AP Poll, the Owls had a disastrous season, finishing winless in conference and 2–7–1 overall. It was Rice's first losing season since 1945.

1955 Rice Owls football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	2–7–1 (0–6 SWC)
Head coach	Jess Neely (16th season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
Seasons ← 1954 1956 →

1955 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 TCU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 17 Texas A&M	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Texas	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Arkansas	3	–	2	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Baylor	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
SMU	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Rice	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 24	Alabama*	No. 13	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 20–0	50,000	[2]
October 1	LSU*	No. 11	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	T 20–20	51,000	[3]
October 8	No. 16 Clemson*		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 21–7	37,500	[4]
October 15	at SMU	No. 15	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	L 0–20	46,000	[5]
October 22	at Texas		Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	L 14–32	46,000	[6]
October 29	at Kentucky*		Stoll Field Lexington, KY	L 16–20	33,000	[7]
November 5	Arkansas		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 0–10	42,000	[8]
November 12	No. 9 Texas A&M		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 12–20	68,000	[9]
November 19	at No. 7 TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	L 0–35	28,000	[10]
November 26	Baylor		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 7–15	33,000	[11]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game