Best Case/Worst Case in 2017: Rice Owls

All of our Best Case/Worst Case scenarios:Texas / Texas A&M / Texas Tech / TCU / Baylor / Houston / UTSA / SMU / UTEP / Rice / North Texas / Texas State Will this season be a dream or a nightmare for your favorite FBS program in the state of Texas? In this series, we take a look at the best and worst case scenarios for all 12 teams. Rice 2016 record: 3-9Best Case It’s been tough sledding for Rice since the program won its first Conference USA championship back in 2013. A steady decline continued last year, as the Owls fell to 3-9 and missed a bowl game for the second consecutive season. Improvement appears to be on the horizon, as coach David Bailiff currently has the third best 2018 recruiting class in C-USA according to 247Sports. A lot could change from now to National Signing Day, but the Owls will first focus on showing signs of improvement after winning just two games against FBS schools (UTEP and Charlotte) in 2016. In a perfect world, the Owls will reap the benefits of having an experienced offensive line. All five starters return in addition to some experienced backups, so the Owls will be their strongest in the trenches offensively. Jackson Tyner, J.T. Granato or Sam Glaesmann will make life easier on Bailiff by pulling away from the competition and grabbing hold of the starting quarterback job, with a young but promising corps of receivers ready to step up in the passing game. Injuries are held to a minimum, as Samuel Stewart (479 yards, 3 TDs) and Austin Walter (343 yards, 4 TDs) take some pressure off the first-year starting quarterback by producing in the running game behind the strong offensive line. The Owls get another big year from linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee, who led C-USA in tackles per game last season, in order to improve upon last year’s average of more than 37 points per game allowed. Rice forces more turnovers, most notably in the secondary, taking a big step forward on the defensive side of the ball. Best-case scenario, the Owls knock off UTEP in the second game of the season before going on to beat Florida International and Army. Rice then knocks off UAB and gets one more win in the middle of C-USA play before ending the season with an upset win over North Texas to avenge last year’s 2OT defeat. Six wins, including two over in-state rivals, and bowl eligibility would be a monumental step in the right direction after a three-win campaign, but the Owls need a lot to go their way for that to happen. Worst Case Last season went just about as bad as it could have for the Owls, as injuries piled up and nothing seemed to go their way. In this worst-case scenario, Rice again struggles with injuries and fails to show improvement defensively. The three-man quarterback competition continues well into the season, creating inconsistency as Bailiff is left without a clear-cut starter. The Owls end up even worse off than 2016, finishing 1-11 with a win over Florida International as the only positive game early in the season. Losses to all four Texas schools on the roster causes the coaching staff to lose any momentum it had on the recruiting trail before the season began, leaving a lot of question marks surrounding the future of the program.

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