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In one corner, there was the alluring prospect of free beer.
In the other was the reality of watching a struggling mid-major football team lose to a heavily favored in-state rival.
No, the real battle at Saturday's North Texas-Rice football game wasn't on the field, where the Mean Green cruised to a 56-24 road win over the Owls, but at the box office, where only 24,598 of 47,000 tickets were sold ahead of Thanksgiving break.
Rice students of drinking age were given wristbands, making them eligible for as many three plastic cups of Busch. And for anyone hoping to quickly chug three beers for maximum effect, organizers added the stipulation that only one cup of Busch was available per visit.
'It's one beer per student per trip to the stand, so they can't come up and get a handful of them,' Rice deputy athletic director for external affairs and revenue Kevin Dwan told The Athletic before losing to the 22nd-ranked team in the country. 'We've increased some of the presence with our Rice University Police Department just to help us monitor and keep everyone safe, and we have that every game.'
Underdog Dynasty's Steve Helwick reported that the school came prepared with 1,800 beers and closed up shop after the third quarter. In the end, just 1,246 free beers were distributed, per Helwick. The Daily Mail's exclusive photos show fans enjoying themselves, albeit in smaller numbers than the school had probably hoped.
Rice is known less for beer and football than bioengineering, medicine and computer science
Just 24,598 of 47,000 tickets were sold as many students were traveling for Thanksgiving
Rice students of drinking age were given wristbands, making them eligible for three beers
And according to The Athletic, the free beer promotion was one of several efforts to increase attendance for its biggest game of the year. Fans were also offered t-shirts, $15 food vouchers and free ice cream.
'We're playing on national TV, we're playing for bowl eligibility, we're playing a top-25 team in North Texas, and it's the weekend before Thanksgiving, so a lot of our students are off campus already and heading home,' Dwan said. 'And we just want to do what we can to encourage them to stick around and come out to the game.'
The limited beer quantity may have been helpful for Owls fans hoping to forget Mean Green quarterback Drew Mestemaker's 469-yard effort.
Not only did he complete 19 of 23 passes, but added three touchdowns against Rice (5-6, 2-5).
'Drew was phenomenal at going through the reads,' North Texas (10-1, 6-1) coach Eric Morris said. 'We protected him well and were able to hit some shots down the field.'
Meanwhile, North Texas' Wyatt Young set an American Conference record with 295 yards receiving and two scores.
'It's a surreal feeling,' Young said. 'I'm blessed to be in this position, obviously, but today, me and Drew were just clicking.'
Rice wide receiver Drayden Dickmann, left, is hit in the back on the tackle attempt by North Texas cornerback David Fisher, right, during the second half on Saturday in Houston
A Rice student smiles as he receives a free Busch Light during Saturday's loss in Houston
Rice is a highly ranked school of about 5,000 undergrad students in the Houston area
Owls fans cheer at a half-filled Rice Stadium in Houston as North Texas cruises to an easy win
Rice students line up for free cups of Busch Light in Houston on Saturday night
Rice actually held a 14-7 lead after a quarter before things went awry for the Owls.
'When they scored to make it 14-all, you really felt kind of, I don't know if it was tension on our sideline or we lost that energy that we had so much in the first quarter,' Rice coach Scott Abell said.
'Some of that is we have to grow up. They punched back, so how do you respond after you get punched back? We didn't respond very well.'
Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the nation's 17th-best university, Rice is a school of a about 5,000 undergrad students, many of whom find work in biomedical engineering, computer science, or medicine.
But despite some initial fears from the public, Saturday's game was a dramatically difference scene from the infamous 10-cent beer night at Cleveland Stadium on June 4, 1974.
Fans of the Indians stand on top of the Texas Rangers' dugout during a game on June 4, 1974 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Texas was awarded a win by forfeit on 10-cent beer night
Members of the Texas Rangers take down a drunken fan who ran onto the field during a game against the Cleveland Indians on June 4, 1974 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Umpires walk off the field in Cleveland in 1974 after the beer promotion went horribly wrong
Drunk Cleveland Indians fans are seen lined up on their team's dugout on 10-cent beer night
It was on that infamous night that inebriated baseball fans re-ignited the feud between the hometown Indians and visiting Texas Rangers that began with a bench-clearing brawl one week earlier.
When a 19-year-old fan ran onto the field in a botched attempt to steal Rangers star Jeff Burrough's hat, fiery Texas manager Bill Martin called on his team to storm the field, which prompted spectators to throw debris from the stands.
Soon fans reportedly armed with bottles jumped onto the field.
Cleveland manager Ken Aspromonte urged his players to help the rival Rangers escape the angry crowd before both teams fled to their respective clubhouses locking the doors behind them.
The game was ultimately forfeited by Cleveland, but only nine fans were arrested.
A student at the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law at the time, late NBC News icon Tim Russert later claimed to be in attendance that night: 'I went with $2 in my pocket. You do the math.'
