Las Vegas Bowl team history: Houston in Bayou Bucket Classic

Leading up to the Las Vegas Bowl between Houston and San Diego State, the Review-Journal will provide glimpses into each school’s football history. We’ll take a look at each school once per day until game day on Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Bayou Bucket Classic

Date: 1971-present

The phrase “familiarity breeds contempt” is certainly applicable to Houston and Rice football. The schools, located three miles apart, have had a heated rivalry for 45 years starting in 1971.

In 1974, the series was given an official name, the “Bayou Bucket Classic,” as a reference to Houston’s nickname as the “Bayou City.”

The teams played annually from 1971 to 1995 when they were members of the Southwest Conference. The game in 1995, an 18-17 Houston win, was the final game in the history of SWC football.

The annual rivalry was renewed in 1999 and gained steam in 2005 when Rice joined Conference USA, which Houston had been a part of since 1996. The Cougars left the league in 2013 for the American Athletic Conference, putting the crosstown rivalry on hiatus yet again.

The two haven’t played since 2013, though they have two home-and-home series scheduled for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, and again for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Houston leads the all-time series 29-11.

Ben Gotz can be reached at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.