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The Rice Owls have had 36 winning seasons since 1914. They once lost 18 games in a row. They have wandered from conference to conference since the death of the SWC, and despite being in a huge city that loves football, they have precious few fans. They are the only college football program to struggle so much that when JFK used them to justify going to the moon, everyone understood the reference. For decades, this picture has barely changed.

Why is football so hard at Rice? To get to the bottom of it, Alex and Richard interview two experts: Matthew Bartlett and Carter Spires of The Roost, the internet’s top destination for Rice sports news and commentary. Among other things, the group discusses:

* How a Rice game day looks

* The program’s many downs and occasional ups, like its record-setting 2008 team that won 10 games

* JFK’s famous speech that doubled as a minor dig at the team

* How Rice fits into, or sets itself apart from, the city of Houston

* Why a school that figured out baseball has never cracked football

* The difficulties of recruiting to a school that cares about school

* The school’s decision to get a bit more serious about football latey

* The best possible case for Rice football in the next 10 years

* VERDICT TIME: Stay in the AAC, drop to FCS, or stop playing football?

This is the second episode in an SZD series, “Why You’re Always Bad." For the first subscriber episode, on Kent State, scroll down in this podcast feed.

Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode. To hear the whole thing and get a bunch more subscriber-only episodes, join us on a free trial.

Thanks to the crew from The Roost for joining our show.

Producer: Anthony Vito