(01-17-2018 07:43 AM)Mav Wrote:  Rice has the same problem Tulane does, where despite being in a football-crazy part of the country, most of the undergrads aren't from the local area and leave the local area once they graduate. The locals would rather support the nearby public powers (A&M, UH, LSU) meaning the privates don't see as much of a reason to be ambitious. There isn't a reason for either of them to be anywhere other than where they are. In fact, I'd say Tulane's kind of lucky to be in the AAC.

Thing is, I'm not sure Rice views itself as having a 'problem', at least not a big one. Like other elite schools, athletics just isn't nearly as much an aspect of the school's marketing profile as it is at other places. At Houston or ECU, football is viewed as the "front porch" of the university, arguably the best reason the school is known to a broader public, and is believed to be key to attracting students, media attention, and then later alumni donations. Rice would be mortified if that were true of itself.

Sure, Rice has an athletic department with a strategic plan to get into a Power league. Even schools with $5 Billion endowments are always looking for an extra $30 million. But it's just not nearly as big a deal to them as it is to lesser schools.