If you are rich and do not need to worry about how much aid will be offered, then Rice ED is absolutely the right decision. Applying ED means you can’t compare financial aid packages across universities but you aren’t worried about that because resources aren’t an issue. You’re simply asking which school has the higher ranking, and Rice at #17 beats UF at #34.
For more normal family situations, though, it would be pretty unusual to give up a free ride at #34 in order to roll the dice on financial aid at #17. It would be more understandable if you were looking at Princeton (#1) or Harvard (#2) rather than Rice because you might reasonably think a top-of-the-world undergraduate education would be worth the extra expense. Or if you are a Texan and your free ride is at UT (#48) instead of UF (#34), you might see #17 as a big enough jump to be worth giving up a free ride.