Both are quite close in most of the rankings, some rank Rice above CU Boulder(US News) while others rank Cu Boulder better (Repec).
CU Boulder Pros - It is really good place to live. Bigger department hence more and diverse faculty especially in IO and Development where my interests lie.
Cons: Guaranteed funding only with 3.5 GPA which might get tough at times. Can't think of anything else
Rice Pros- The program is attempting to get into top ones and have already hired a few good profs from Penn. Small cohort size and hence possibility of better attention from profs.
Cons: To many profs in finance, environment and too few on IO and Development. Houston gets hot at time. Very few academic placements in past.
So guys based on this and more information that you might have what will be better. I can really see the potential of Rice but the lack of profs and placements scares me. Rice seems to be risky with high payoff if it works whereas Boulder just seems to be a safe bet.