CIS Football Report (Week 8)
The CIS season is getting down to the final week as conferences continue to figure everything out. Week 8 in the CIS saw the end to many playoff races as two conferences left no room and another conference finished its season. The fourth conference is the AUS though and they are still going strong. The Acadia Axemen have put themselves in the first place spot and will earn a bye through the first round. The Mount Allison Mounties surprised everyone coming back from a bad season to take a playoff spot. That left one more spot for two teams as Saint Mary’s and StFX fight it out in the last week for the last playoff spot. This battle is going down to the wire as teams still do not know if they will be playing into November. Meanwhile in the CanWest and the RSEQ Conferences are all finished with one week left. In the CanWest conference Calgary, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all locked up their playoff spots leaving the UBC Thunderbirds and the Alberta Golden Bears on the outside. The only battle left for the CanWest is between Manitoba and Saskatchewan who look to determine their own fate about who they face, either Regina or Calgary. In the RSEQ Laval, Montreal, Sherbrooke, and Bishop’s will all continue playing this year all clinching a playoff spot. With McGill and Concordia standing on the outside the battle that is left is for first place. The Laval Rouge et Or are not who they used to be and Montreal has been the one to expose them. With a 1-1 record against Laval this year the Montreal Carabins are still in the fight for first place with some help. They will need Laval to lose in the last week and will need to win their game if the Carabins hope to lock up home field for the entire playoffs. With most playoff races done despite having one game left the OUA is ready to go right now. The biggest conference in the CIS allows more teams into the playoffs and therefore to match up with the National playoffs the playoffs start one week before everyone else. In the OUA this year the defending Champions were back as McMaster had an amazing season behind Kyle Quinlan and his record-setting season that put him alone at the top of the McMaster TD list. They were strong again and earned the top spot as well as a bye alongside the Guelph Gryphons beat out the Golden Gaels for the second bye. Queen’s, Western, Windsor, and Laurier all took a spot in the playoffs as well in one of the strongest conferences and one of the toughest seasons. On the outside once again were the Toronto Varsity Blues, York Lions, and Waterloo Warriors while the Ottawa Gee Gees had a surprisingly bad year and were left outside. As the playoffs start next week the battle for the oldest trophy in Canadian football, The Yates Cup, looks to be a good one. McMaster beat everyone this year and is clearly a favorite to repeat as OUA champions but anything could happen in football. The Guelph Gryphons only lost one game all year to the Marauders and are hoping for some revenge in the finals. Queen’s looked great all year but losses to Guelph and McMaster put them outside of a bye although they remain a favorite. The Western Mustangs are once again in the mix like they are every year and under Don Marshall nobody can count them out. Windsor was the biggest surprise this year as they were able to beat some very good teams on their way to a playoff spot and hope to continue the surprises throughout the playoffs. Laurier just got in to the playoffs thanks to some help but they are in and any team in the playoffs has a shot as they hope to make a surprising run to the Yates Cup. The OUA playoffs are only a week away while the rest of the CIs begins to prepare for the run to the Vanier Cup. With only one week left for most teams and the OUA already there the best time of the year in the CIS gets underway with plenty to watch for. Almost all teams know where they stand and the top teams look to continue their dominance while the others look to surprise on what promises to be another great month of playoff football in the CIS.
CIS Top 10:
1. McMaster Marauders (1)
2. Laval Rouge et Or (3)
3. Calgary Dinos (2)
4. Montreal Carabins (4)
5. Guelph Gryphons (5)
6. Queen’s Golden Gaels (6)
7. Regina Rams (8)
8. Western Mustangs (7)
9. Acadia Axemen (9)
10. Manitoba Bison (10)
CIS Standings:
CanWest:
1. y-Calgary Dinos (12)
2. x-Regina Rams (10)
3. x-Saskatchewan Huskies (8)
4. x-Manitoba Bison (8)
5. UBC Thunderbirds (4)
6. Alberta Golden Bears (0)
OUA:
1. y-McMaster Marauders (16)
2. b-Guelph Gryphons (14)
3. x-Queen’s Golden Gaels (12)
4. x-Western Mustangs (10)
5. x-Windsor Lancers (6)
6. x-Laurier Golden Hawks (6)
7. York Lions (4)
8. Ottawa Gee Gees (4)
9. Toronto Varsity Blues (4)
10. Waterloo Warriors (4)
RSEQ:
1. x-Laval Rouge et Or (14)
2. x-Montreal Carabins (14)
3. x-Sherbrooke Vert et Or (10)
4. x-Bishop’s Gaiters (6)
5. McGill Redmen (4)
6. Concordia Stingers (2)
AUS:
1. y-Acadia Axemen (12)
2. x-Mount Allison Mounties (6)
3. Saint Mary’s Huskies (4)
4. StFX X-Men (4)
x- Clinched Playoff Spot
y- Clinched Conference
b- Clinched First round bye
Key Scores:
#8 Regina Rams 12 – 9 Calgary Dinos #2
– The Dinos looked like they would be walking through the rest of the season as they seemed to be ready to win the CanWest conference and because of that they may have looked past the Rams who surprised everyone handing the Dinos their first loss
Mount Allison Mounties 29 – 16 StFX X-Men
– In a tight battle for the last two playoff spots in the AUS the Mounties have come on strong at the end of the season as a win against the X-Men put them in a position to win a chance at hosting a playoff game
#4 Montreal Carabins 44 – 0 McGill Redmen
– The playoff picture has essentially been figured out in the RSEQ but the battle for first place continues and with Montreal’s series with Laval tied at 1-1 the points will matter as the Carabins look to get first place
#6 Queen’s Golden Gaels 35 – 7 Toronto Varsity Blues
– The Blues were still looking for that chance to break a long playoff drought but the Golden Gaels were heading to the playoffs and looking for some momentum as they ended any hopes of a Toronto playoff appearance
Next Week:
StFX X-Men vs. Saint Mary’s Huskies (October 27th; 2:00 pm ADT)
– The AUS playoffs are still open and with the Mounties sitting ahead of both teams this game could be the difference between these teams making the playoffs and missing the playoffs with only the winning team moving into the postseason
#4 Montreal Carabins vs. Bishop’s Gaiters (October 27th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The fight for the top spot in the RSEQ will come down to two games this week as Montreal will need to beat the Gaiters and hope for Laval to lose to Concordia if they hope to guarantee hone field advantage throughout the playoffs
OUA Quarter-Finals:
Windsor Lancers vs. #8 Western Mustangs (October 27th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The OUA playoffs begin as the surprising Lancers take on the old guard in the Mustangs who will be looking to get back to the finals once again this year while the Lancers look to continue their momentum from the regular season to make a run
Laurier Golden Hawks vs. #6 Queen’s Golden Gaels (October 27th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Gaels have been a power house all season and are looking for a repeat of the 2010 season when they won the Vanier Cup but the Golden Hawks are looking to end their good season with their own run at the Yates Cup
The Sport Addiction 