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1998 Rice

5–⁠6 (5–⁠3 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1998, game by game: won vs. SMU 23–17; lost at Purdue 19–21; lost vs. Northwestern 14–23; lost at Texas 21–59; lost at San José State 17–20; won vs. Tulsa 14–10; lost at Wyoming 24–34; won vs. Colorado State 35–23; won at TCU 14–12; won vs. UNLV 38–16; lost at No. 20 Air Force 16–22+22−38Won 23–17 vs. SMU+6SMULost 19–21 at Purdue-2PurdueLost 14–23 vs. Northwestern-9NorthwesternLost 21–59 at Texas-38TexasLost 17–20 at San José State-3San José StateWon 14–10 vs. Tulsa+4TulsaLost 24–34 at Wyoming-10WyomingWon 35–23 vs. Colorado State+12Colorado StateWon 14–12 at TCU+2TCUWon 38–16 vs. UNLV+22UNLVLost 16–22 at No. 20 Air Force-6No. 20 Air Force
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsSMUW 23–⁠1764%
Sep 12atPurdueL 19–⁠2142%
Sep 19vsNorthwesternL 14–⁠2366%
Sep 26atTexasL 21–⁠5946%
Oct 10atSan José StateL 17–⁠2049%
Oct 17vsTulsaW 14–⁠1067%
Oct 24atWyomingL 24–⁠3430%
Oct 31vsColorado StateW 35–⁠2330%
Nov 7atTCUW 14–⁠1256%
Nov 14vsUNLVW 38–⁠1685%
Nov 21at20Air ForceL 16–⁠2220%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Air Force 22–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1998.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 5th in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
235–⁠257
Coach
Ken Hatfield
Elo
1505 −28 this season
SP+ rating
2.6 No. 51 of 112; offense No. 71, defense No. 38
SRS
−0.4 No. 58 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
David Lee
Defensive coordinator
Roger Hinshaw

1998 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Air Force7–⁠112–⁠113
BYU7–⁠19–⁠5
San Diego State7–⁠17–⁠5
Wyoming6–⁠28–⁠3
Colorado State5–⁠38–⁠4
Utah5–⁠37–⁠4
Rice5–⁠35–⁠6
Fresno State5–⁠35–⁠6
TCU4–⁠47–⁠5
SMU4–⁠45–⁠7
San José State3–⁠54–⁠8
UTEP3–⁠53–⁠8
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠7
New Mexico1–⁠73–⁠9
Hawai’i0–⁠80–⁠12
UNLV0–⁠80–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.