Reliant Stadium hosting Rice vs. Texas in 2010

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 8, 2009) Reliant Stadium will play host to the 2010 Rice vs. Texas football game, SMG-Reliant Park and Lone Star Sports & Entertainment announced today. The teams will square off on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. Kickoff time has not been determined at this time.

"Reliant Stadium provided a tremendous setting for one of the great moments in Rice Football history last December with our victory in the Texas Bowl, and we are thrilled to know that it will host the opener of our 2010 season against the University of Texas," Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte said. "I expect the atmosphere for that game will be unlike any opener in recent memory. Football fans throughout the region should circle that date on their calendars and make their plans now to join us for a tremendous college football event."

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Dec. 18 at all TicketMaster outlets and online at TicketMaster.com.

"Reliant Stadium provides the ultimate fan experience," SMG-Reliant Park general manager Mark Miller said. "With the history of these two great teams, we'd love to see these student-athletes have the opportunity of playing to a sold out crowd of screaming fans."

The game will mark the third time the former Southwest Conference foes have faced one another at Reliant Stadium, with Texas winning 52-7 in 2006 and 48-7 in 2003. Texas holds a 69-21-1 advantage in the series, which dates back to 1914. Rice last defeated Texas on Oct. 16, 1994, upsetting the Longhorns 19-17 on a rainy Sunday night at Rice Stadium in front of a national television audience.

Rice will return to Reliant Stadium for the first time since the 2008 Texas Bowl, when the Owls beat Western Michigan 38-14 to cap off the school's first 10-win season since 1949. For Texas, it will mark a return to the stadium where the Longhorns claimed the 2005 Big XII Championship en route to the national title.

"We are excited to help bring this great old Southwest Conference rivalry back to Reliant Stadium," Lone Star Sports & Entertainment president Jamey Rootes said. "Games like this, along with the Big 12 Championship game and the tremendous success of the Texas Bowl over the last three years, have established Reliant Stadium as one of the premier venues in college football."