As a voter on the CIS top 10 football poll I’m tasked with ranking Canada’s elite university programs on a weekly basis. My personal criteria is deciding who would win a neutral-site game based on the teams’ current body of work alone. Here’s the ballot I submitted this week.
1. Calgary (LW: 1)
With the Dinos’ 44–15 win over Saskatchewan, Calgary clinches first overall in the Can West and home field throughout the playoffs. They still have two games left to play.
2. Western (LW: 2)
Another game, another Mustangs win, another offensive assault. For the fourth time the Mustangs have scored over 60 points. In their seven victories they’ve scored under 50 just once. This week it was the rushing attack carrying the load as they scored nine rushing TDs and five rushers who averaged over 10 yards a carry.
3. Montreal (LW: 5)
Just when you thought you’d figured out the RSEQ the Carabins confuse everything and everyone. The playoff tiebreaker scenarios now require an actuarial scientist to figure out. Montreal could now finish first with home-field advantage. Then again, depending on how things break, they could also start the playoffs on the road. This much we know: The defending Vanier Cup champs’ 22–16 win over previously undefeated Laval is the best an RSEQ team has looked this year.
4. Laval (LW: 3)
Fans of the Rouge et Or have no need to panic. They still are in the driver’s seat in the RSEQ with just one loss. They still will have home -ield advantage if they take care of business this weekend versus Sherbrooke. Never has a game versus Sherbrooke meant so much for Glen Constantin. The have-nots are starting to catch up to the haves.
5. Sherbrooke (LW: 4)
Sherbrooke lost to Laval in overtime at home in the second week of the RSEQ schedule so an upset this week versus Laval isn’t out of the question. Sherbrooke has never beaten Laval and Montreal in the same year. Even if they do they aren’t even guaranteed a home playoff game. That’s how brutal taking on not one but two powerhouses in a six-team conference is.
6. Guelph (LW: 6)
The score line of 47–21 versus Windsor was to be expected but the box score tells a different story. Giving up 321 yards on the ground is uncharacteristic for a Guelph team that has boasted one of the best run defences in the OUA in the Stu Lang era. The nation’s third-ranked rushing attack in Carleton is next up on the schedule for the Gryphons.
7. McMaster (LW: 7)
Quietly McMaster has rattled off four straight wins heading into their showdown with Western to end the year. Even with an upset win McMaster will need some help to get a first-round bye in the playoffs. Even a home playoff game is not yet a certainty as they are in a dogfight with Queen’s and Carleton, their two OUA non-combatants.
8. Manitoba (LW: 8)
The Bisons don’t make thing easy for themselves. Four of the their six games have been decided by six points or less. After being down 15 to Regina. the Bisons stormed back and won thanks to a clutch 41-yard field goal by Ryan Jones with under a minute remaining.
9. UBC (LW: 9)
Well, the debate is over: UBC is for real. Their 54–10 rout of Alberta clinched their spot in the Can West playoffs, as they can finish no lower than fourth in the conference. What’s more, Blake Nill is on pace to flip the team’s record from 2-6 to 6-2 in just one year at the helm.
10. Concordia (LW: not ranked)
The Stingers jump in to my top 10 with a dominant 63–0 performance against Bishop’s. Concordia has two games left and they won’t have to leave the city to play them. The Stingers are tied at .500 with McGill and if they beat the Redmen on the road this weekend they can clinch a playoff spot and might not have anything to play for in the last week of the season versus Montreal.
Honourable mentions: Saskatchewan (LW: 10), Carleton (LW: honourable mention)
Dropped out: Alberta (LW: honourable mention)