Rice Owls 2012 College Football Preview, Schedule - Lost Lettermen

Left photo: Troy Taormina/US Presswire

Lost Lettermen is counting down and ranking all 124 FBS college football teams from best to worst by comparing each to a well-known song. We will examine one team per day through the summer in the lead up to the 2012 season. Today’s team: The Rice Owls.

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Overview:

2011 Record: 4-8
Head Coach: David Bailiff
Returning Starters: 10 (5 offense, 5 defense)
Key Players: QB Taylor McHargue, LB Cameron Nwosu

Schedule:

8/30: vs. UCLA
9/8: @ Kansas
9/15: @ Louisiana Tech
9/22: vs. Marshall
9/29: vs. Houston
10/6: @ Memphis
10/13: vs. UTSA
10/20: @ Tulsa
10/27: vs. Southern Miss
11/3: @ Tulane
11/17: vs. SMU
11/24: @ UTEP

Skinny:

After a 10-win season in 2008, Bailiff has won a combined 10 contests in the last three seasons. That tells you all you need to know about the direction of the football program. After a Week Two victory over Purdue, the only victories the Owls could manage last fall were against C-USA bottom feeders Memphis, UTEP and Tulane; Rice was also humiliated in a 73-34 loss to Houston in which Case Keenum threw an FBS record nine touchdown passes. It had many people scratching their heads when Rice decided to bring Bailiff back for his sixth season. With only 10 starters back and no good option at quarterback, the outlook doesn’t look any better for this fall.

The best way to describe Bailiff is the song “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child, a product of Houston like Rice. Like the song, somehow Bailiff just keeps ticking on the Owls sideline. As the group croons, “I’m a survivor, I’m not goin’ give up, I’m not goin’ stop, I’m goin’ work harder.” Bailiff certainly better put long hours into the offseason because another four-win season will be the end of his tenure at the school.

FBS 124 Countdown

#124: UTSA is … Rebecca Black’s “Friday”

#123: UMass is … Clay Aiken’s “Invisible”

#122: South Alabama is … Rednex’s “Cotton Eye Joe”

#121: Texas State is … Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?”

#120: New Mexico is … Double Take’s “Hot Problems”

#119: Florida Atlantic is … Rammstein’s “Du Hast”

#118: Memphis is … Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”

#117: Akron is … LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”

#116: UNLV is … Wayne Newton’s “Remember When”

#115: UAB is … Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”

#114: MTSU is … Jessica Mauboy’s ‘What Happened to Us?’

#113: Tulane is … The Game’s “My Life”

#112: Idaho is … Billy Ray Cyrus’ ‘Achy Breaky Heart’

#111: Buffalo is … Bruno Mars’ “Don’t Give Up”

#110: UL Monroe is … Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ugly”