U Sports Football Report (Week 7)
With only a month left in the regular season for most of the conferences, teams are finding their way to the top of the conference and into the playoffs.
The races are always interesting in a number of conferences depending on where the battle is going on.
Like has been the theme the entire season there are some dominant teams who are marching towards their spots fairly easily.
The battle for these conferences was supposed to be somewhat more interesting this year with a number of teams looking like legitimate challengers.
The Western Mustangs were supposed to get a challenge from the Laurier Golden Hawks but the Hawks have struggled this season.
Although the Mustangs are not guaranteed a spot they are a team walking through the rest of the conference.
They are seemingly unchallenged so far this year as they should take first overall and wait for the other teams in the semi-finals.
In the west, the Calgary Dinos were supposed to see a challenge from the UBC Thunderbirds but like the Golden Hawks, the T-Birds have struggled.
It has left the Dinos with a bit of a free path to the CanWest title as they are taking over once again and solidifying their spot.
Neither the Mustangs nor the Dinos have clinched the division yet as there are still teams doing well like Ottawa and Saskatchewan who could unseat them still.
With the way, both teams are playing though it doesn’t seem likely that anyone upsets those dominant teams.
In the east, there was never supposed to be a dominant team as they remain one of the few conferences with a little more unpredictability.
They are the conference with teams that could win at any point and a conference that hasn’t seen a dominant run in a long time.
The last team to take that dominant run seems to be back this year as the Saint Mary’s Huskies have clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 6-0 record.
They seem to be the clear favourites to win the conference and they will continue through the season hoping to take that conference with a great season.
These were all supposed to be far better fights to get to the top of the conferences in what was meant to be a season with a slightly more competitive race.
As of right now that competitive race is nowhere to be seen as the dominant teams coming into the season remain dominant this season.
Those battles haven’t come to fruition and as the playoffs approach it seems like they might have an easy walk to the national playoffs.
There was always going to be one battle that was a little better as the RSEQ has seen a legitimate fight for the conference over the last few years.
Unlike the more recent rise of the Thunderbirds and the Golden Hawks, the Montreal Carabins have been fighting and winning in the RSEQ against the most dominant team in U Sports.
The RSEQ has come down to a fight between Laval and Montreal for the last five years and in those last five years, the Carabins have taken two titles.
This year in a season that was supposed to be defined by these battles and none of them have come the way they were supposed to.
The RSEQ battle was going to be different though as this has become the most consistent rivalry in the country right now.
They are always fighting against each other to take the top spot but the first meeting between the two made it seem like this season was going to be an off year.
The Rouge et Or took the first win in a game that wasn’t as close as most people are used to beating Montreal 12-7.
That win gave Laval the leg up in the fight for the top but in Week 7 they were going to face off again in Montreal’s last chance to take a win from their rivals.
This week’s game was much closer and looked like the old games between the two teams bringing some hope that the Carabins could make things interesting.
They would do just that taking the game to overtime but the Carabins weren’t able to get the win and make the fight for the top spot an easy one to predict.
Although both have a good chance of facing each other again for the Dunsmore Cup the quest for the top spot in the conference seems to be over with Laval going 2-0 this year.
The battles that were supposed to come are just about done with teams beginning to take playoff spots and preparing for a run to the national playoffs.
A season that was supposed to be more interesting than usual is turning out to be a season where even the best battle hasn’t come the way it was expected.
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