Provo • BYU has scheduled a pair of football series with Central Florida and Rice University, Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe announced Tuesday.
The Knights, who play in the American Athletic Conference and have emerged as a Group of Five powerhouse in recent years, will host the Cougars at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando on Nov. 11, 2023, and will travel to LaVell Edwards Stadium Aug. 31, 2024. BYU has split the two previous games with UCF, winning 24-17 at home in 2011 and dropping a road game 31-24 in 2014.
The home-and-home series with Rice, which plays in Conference USA, is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2023, in Provo and Sept. 27, 2025, at Rice Stadium in Houston. The Cougars have a two-game history with the Owls. BYU routed Rice 49-0 in Provo in 1996 — when the two schools were in the WAC together — and finished with a 14-1 record and No. 5 ranking. Then Rice won the rematch the following year, 27-14, in Houston.
UCF has won six conference championships since joining the FBS in 1996 and finished the 2017 season undefeated. The Knights have won two major bowls, the 2014 Fiesta Bowl and the 2018 Peach Bowl, in their 10 postseason bowl appearances.
Rice has won eight conference titles and has made 12 bowl appearances, which include the Sugar Bowl. The Owls have also won at the Orange Bowl and have three victories at the Cotton Bowl.
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