CIS Football Report (Week 7)
With the CanWest and RSEQ conferences off this week the OUA and AUS continued their pursuit of the playoffs.
In the AUS the two games didn’t change a lot as the X-Men stayed on top of the conference while the Mounties and the Axemen continue to fight for the last spot with a few more weeks to go.
Meanwhile, in Ontario, the playoff picture was cleared up pretty significantly through this week of the season.
The With only two weeks left in OUA season there are now a lot fewer playoff spots left in the conference.
That was largely because of the rare occurrence in Week 7 where every favoured team took home a win to help clinch a playoff spot.
In university sports, it is rare for a week to go by where all of the favoured teams win as it is a level of sports that is rarely predictable.
The In college or university sports the talent throughout the country is spread out across a lot of teams.
Not every team is made up of the best of the best as the best players in the country choose different schools throughout the country.
It can leave gaps in even the best teams that their opponents ty to expose. More often than not the best teams have those holes and are not at their best all of the time.
There are the few teams throughout the country that can go an entire year without losing a game but not everyone gets there.
Usually, there are some very good teams that drop one or two games that they should never have lost.
It seems to happen every week as the logical outcome of every game is not always the one that comes up.
This week in the OUA season saw match-ups that on the surface seemed pretty easy to pick because the top teams were all facing the bottom teams.
It was a week where everything seemed pretty simple and a week where the top teams were set to take wins and move into the playoffs with two weeks left to play.
For most people who are fans of the CIS and university sports, in general, it was also a week that could change as everyone knows that the bottom teams have often found a way to in big games.
Weeks like this were made for upsets and if there was an upset it would have made the last two weeks a lot more interesting.
That hope of a great week that changed the conference for the last two weeks did not come through though as the OUA saw the expected happen.
All of the top teams in the country took home wins and with those wins almost all of the playoffs posts available were gone.
The top 5 teams in the conference clinched their spots with two weeks left as the last weeks turn into something entirely different for all of them.
Instead of fighting for the playoffs all will fight for the chance to earn a bye in the first round and move to the second round automatically.
That is a possibility for every team from first to fifth as every team is not tied with 10 points and the last two weeks will determine everyone’s standing and what their playoffs will look like.
They could finish anywhere from last to first in the playoff race making the last two weeks somewhat less stressful but still very important.
Meanwhile, the last playoff spot is still up for grabs as four teams are all tied for sixth place making the last two weeks very interesting.
As the OUA finishes off their season and the AUS enters the final few weeks of their season the CanWest and RSEQ enter the final stretch.
The playoffs are right around the corner as every team looks towards their conference titles and eventually the national playoffs with a ticket to Hamilton and the Vanier Cup on the line.
Key Scores:
Laurier Golden Hawks 54-3 Toronto Varsity Blues
– The Hawks continued their strong season as they took a big win over Toronto and clinched a playoff spot with one of the two top spots in the conference still a strong possibility for one of the most surprising teams in the country
Saint Mary’s Huskies 29-21 Mount Allison Mounties
– The Huskies were looking for their chance to get closer to the playoffs with a big win that would separate them from the pack and they go it against the Mounties who continued to struggle to get a win
StFX X-Men 42-21 Acadia Axemen
– The X-Men were looking to solidify their spot on the top of the conference and they got the win to do that as they took an easy win over the Axemen and moved further into first place with the last few weeks looming
McMaster Marauders 36-6 Queen’s Gaels
– The Gaels entered the week hoping to move further ahead of their four-way tie for the last playoff spot but they couldn’t get by the Marauders who took the win and clinched a playoff spot
Next Week:
Guelph Gryphons vs. Laurier Golden Hawks (Friday, October 14th; 11:00 am EDT)
– Everyone in the OUA is now fighting for the top two spots in the conference to earn a first-round bye as the Gryphons and Hawks face-off with the winner getting a much better shot at one of those two spots
Manitoba Bisons vs. Calgary Dinos (Friday, October 14th; 7:00 pm MDT
– As the CanWest conference gets underway once again the playoffs hunt gets into full swing with the Dinos looking to take over and the Bisons trying to get closer to earning a playoff spot as they sit in fourth place
Mount Allison Mounties vs. Acadia Axemen (Saturday, October 15th; 2:00 pm ADT)
– The Axemen and Mounties look like they are heading for a battle to take the last playoff spot in the AUS conference making this game very important as the winner of the game could take that last spot
Montreal Carabins vs. Laval Rouge et Or (Saturday, October 15th; 2:00 pm EDT)
– It is one of the best rivalries in the country and both teams face-off again with the Rouge et Or trying to end the winning streak of the Carabins to make the battle for first much tougher in the last few weeks of the season
The Sport Addiction 