The 2012 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl was a post-season American
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
bowl game held on December 29, 2012, at
Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of
Texas Christian University (TCU) in
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
,
Texas in the United States. The tenth edition of the Armed Forces Bowl began at 10:45 a.m.
CST and aired on
ESPN. It featured the
Rice Owls from
Conference USA
Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
against the
Air Force Falcons from the
Mountain West Conference and was the final game of the
2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The regular season began on August 30, 2012 and ended on Dec ...
for both teams. The Falcons accepted their invitation after earning a 6–5 record in their first eleven games of the season, while the Owls advanced to the game per C-USA's bowl contingency plan after earning a 6-6 record.
This also marked the bowl's return to Amon G. Carter Stadium after a two-year absence because of renovations to the stadium. For
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and 2011 Armed Forces Bowl, 2011, the game was held at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in University Park, Texas, University Park on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU).
Teams
This was the seventh meeting between these two teams. Air Force leads the all-time record 7-2. The last time they played prior to this meeting was in 1998, when both schools were in the Western Athletic Conference (then a 16-team conference, now a non-football conference).
Rice
In a program not particularly known for football success, the Owls' season had an inauspicious start (2-6). Despite being one loss away from postseason ineligibility, Rice rallied to end the regular season at 6-6. Per Conference USA's contingency plan, the Owls were assigned the Armed Forces Bowl.
This will be the Owls' first Armed Forces Bowl.
Air Force
The Falcons' season thus far has been one of struggle; despite losing to both the 2012 Army Black Knights football team, Army Black Knights and 2012 Navy Midshipmen football team, Navy Midshipmen, the Falcons still managed a respectable 5-2 record in the
Mountain West Conference. After defeating the 2012 Hawaii Warriors football team, Hawaii Warriors to bring their season record to 6–5, the Falcons accepted the third invitation of the 2012–13 NCAA football bowl games, 2012–13 NCAA Bowl season to the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl.
This will be the Falcons' fourth Armed Forces bowl; they had previously played in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl, 2007, 2008 Armed Forces Bowl, 2008 and 2009 Armed Forces Bowl, 2009 games against the 2007 California Golden Bears football team, California Golden Bears and twice against the 2008 Houston Cougars football team, Houston 2009 Houston Cougars football team, Cougars, respectively. Although the Falcons lost to the Golden Bears in 2007 and the Cougars in 2008, they would rally to beat the same Cougars in the 2009 game, compiling an overall Armed Forces Bowl record of 1-2.
Game summary
Scoring summary
Statistics
References
{{Rice Owls bowl game navbox
2012–13 NCAA football bowl games, Armed Forces Bowl
Armed Forces Bowl
Air Force Falcons football bowl games
Rice Owls football bowl games
2012 in sports in Texas, Armed Forces Bowl
December 2012 sports events in the United States