U Sports Football Report (Week 9)
The U Sports season is coming to an end and in the OUA there was one week left to play as Week 9 marked the last chance for teams get their spot in the playoffs.
There were already a few teams heading into the final week looking ahead to the next few weeks where they begin the pursuit of the Yates Cup.
The Western Mustangs had taken over early this year as they were once again the best team in the province.
They didn’t have much to play for as they had already taken the OUA’s top spot and were ready to take their last game and then wait for an opponent in the semi-finals.
Ottawa and Carleton were already in the playoffs as well but both were looking to get that second bye in the conference.
The Gee Gees came out on top with a win while Carleton had the week off being forced to wait and see what happened.
With Carleton inactive, the McMaster Marauders were able to move ahead and take the third place spot after beating Windsor.
Both Carleton and McMaster will now host the quarter-finals next week as the Marauders needed their win to clinch a spot and with that win, they will now look to pursue another Yates Cup.
The more difficult battle was going to be further down as a number of teams were looking at the last game as a need-to-win.
To win would give them control of their own destiny rather than waiting on other games to finish to show them where they would land.
Waterloo and Guelph were going to face each other to get that control over their own destiny with the winning guaranteeing their spot in the playoffs.
It was a tight game but the Gryphons came out on top and took the fifth spot in the conference leaving Waterloo to hang on to the final playoff spot.
They would be forced to watch and see what the other teams would do if they were going to avoid disappointment like they did a year ago.
The Warriors were on the edge of making the playoffs a year ago but just missed out and now they were hoping for other teams to take losses in order to stay in the playoffs.
They got their wish as Laurier took a big loss to the Western Mustangs and were forced out of the playoffs a year after playing for the Yates Cup.
The Warriors were able to clinch their spot and will now prepare for the second season along with the other five teams continuing on next week.
While Western and Ottawa wait the Marauders will take on Waterloo in a rematch of a game from two weeks ago.
In that game, the Warriors were able to take the win over the Marauders with a 34-16 score leaving the Marauders with something to prove.
Meanwhile, the Carleton Ravens will host the Guelph Gryphons for the first time this year with both bringing the potential to take a win and make a deep run.
As the OUA prepares for the playoffs the rest of the country is heading into their final week of the season.
There was plenty on the line in every conference this week with only the top spots figured out in the majority of conferences.
This week saw that change as the AUS saw their playoff picture clear up with the final two spots clinched.
Both Acadia and StFX were able to get wins this week putting them ahead of Mount Allison and clinching the final spots.
With Saint Mary’s already at the top the X-Men and Axemen will look to clinch second place and get home-field for the semi-final where they will play each other.
In the RSEQ allot is still left in the air as Montreal and Laval had little to play for while McGill and Concordia played each other to try to get closer to clinching.
McGill was able to get the win and moved into the third just ahead of McGill but neither will clinch.
They are only two points away from Sherbrooke leaving plenty to play for in the final week of the season.
In the West, the Calgary Dinos were the only team with a spot in the playoffs but after this week they were joined by Saskatchewan and UBC.
Both were able to clinch their spots in the playoffs leaving one spot open for the final week of the season.
Manitoba will need to beat UBC in order to solidify their spot in the playoffs while Alberta will need to beat Calgary and hope for a Manitoba loss.
The OUA will begin the pursuit of the national playoffs while the rest of the conferences look to get one step closer with the playoffs right around the corner.
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