1981 Rice Owls football team

The 1981 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Southwest Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach Ray Alborn, the team compiled a 4–7 record.^[1][2]

1981 Rice Owls football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	4–7 (3–5 SWC)
Head coach	Ray Alborn (4th season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 SMU $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Texas	6	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Houston	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Rice	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Baylor	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
TCU	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	7	–	2
Texas Tech	0	–	7	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	at No. 8 Texas	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	L 3–31	68,497	[3]
September 19	at Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	L 10–42	57,112	[4]
September 26	at LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 14–28	71,869	[5]
October 3	Tulane*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 20–16	17,000	[6]
October 10	TCU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 41–28	15,000	[7]
October 17	at Texas Tech	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	W 30–23	40,073	[8]
October 24	Texas A&M	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 26–51	52,000	[9]
October 31	No. 20 Arkansas	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 7–41	12,000	[10]
November 7	at No. 10 SMU	Texas Stadium Irving, TX (rivalry)	L 12–33	28,750	[11]
November 14	at Baylor	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 17–14	30,000	[12]
November 28	Houston	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 3–40	25,000	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game