No, being a TX resident for Rice actually makes things harder. They want geographic diversity. Although you are an attractive candidate, they have lots of other students from TX they could choose.
The Questbridge rank order system is one of the best things in college admissions. It stacks the odds in YOUR favor since you get to choose which schools to put on your list. All other things like binding ED1, SCEA, EA, ED2, spring admissions, Z list and waitlist all serve to tilt the advantage to the college admissions offices.