OTTAWA – The start of the 2013 CIS football regular season is only two days away. A grand total of 124 games will be played across the country over the next three months, culminating with the TELUS Vanier Cup on November 23 at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium in Quebec City.
League play gets under way on Sunday with five contests in the OUA conference. The Canada West and RSEQ regular schedules kick off the following weekend, while AUS teams join the action on Sept. 6-7.
A number of pre-season matches are also scheduled over the next week, including reigning national champion Laval hosting the five-time defending Canada West champ Calgary Dinos in Quebec City, on Saturday. The Rouge et Or set an all-time record last November when they defeated McMaster 37-14 in Toronto to capture the seventh Vanier Cup title in program history, one more than Western. The CIS championship game was played in front of Vanier Cup-record crowd of 37,098 at Rogers Centre and attracted an average television audience of 910,000, also an all-time mark.
Leading up to the 49th Vanier Cup final on Nov. 23, this year’s national semifinals – both set for Nov. 16 – will see the RSEQ and AUS champions battle in the Maritimes (Uteck Bowl), while the OUA champs visit the Canada West titlists (Mitchell Bowl).
Once again this year, members of Football Reporters of Canada (Canadafootballchat.com is a member) will vote for the weekly national Top 10 ranking, which will be released every Tuesday starting on Aug. 27. The CIS football players of the week – also selected by a panel of FRC members – will be announced each Wednesday, starting on Aug. 28.
NOTES: After playing nine regular season games for the past three campaigns (one more than in the other conferences), RSEQ teams return to an eight-game schedule this fall… The Carleton Ravens return to CIS football – in the OUA – for the first time since 1998, when they were part of the now defunct OQIFC.
2013 CIS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: WEEKS 1 & 2 (all times local)
NOTE: Regular season in the AUS starts on September 6-7.
August 25
13:00 Queen’s at York
13:00 Laurier at Guelph (live webcast)
13:00 Waterloo at Windsor (live webcast)
13:00 Western at Toronto (live webcast)
16:00 Ottawa at McMaster (Cable 14 Hamilton & live webcast)
August 30
19:00 Alberta at Manitoba
19:00 Regina at Saskatchewan (Shaw TV & live webcast)
August 31
13:00 Montreal at Concordia (Radio-Canada & live webcast)
14:00 Calgary at UBC
19:00 McGill at Laval (live webcast)
September 1
14:00 Sherbrooke at Bishop’s (live webcast)
September 2
13:00 Carleton at Western (Rogers TV London & live webcast)
13:00 Windsor at Guelph (live webcast)
13:00 Ottawa at Waterloo (live webcast)
13:00 McMaster at Queen’s (live webcast)
19:30 Toronto at Laurier (live webcast)
2013 CIS FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE (all times local)
October 26
13:00 OUA quarter-final 6 vs. 3 (TV & webcast TBD)
13:00 OUA quarter-final 5 vs. 4 (TV & webcast TBD)
November 1
TBD Canada West semifinal 4 vs. 1 (Shaw TV & live webcast)
November 2
13:00 RSEQ semifinal 4 vs. 1 (Radio-Canada TBD & live webcast)
13:00 RSEQ semifinal 3 vs. 2 (Radio-Canada TBD & live webcast)
13:00 OUA semifinal #1 (TV & webcast TBD)
14:00 AUS semifinal 3 vs. 2 (Eastlink TV & live webcast)
16:30 OUA semifinal #2 (TV & webcast TBD)
TBD Canada West semifinal 3 vs. 2 (Shaw TV & live webcast)
November 9
13:00 RSEQ final: Dunsmore Cup (Radio-Canada & live webcast)
13:00 OUA final: Yates Cup (TV & webcast TBD)
14:00 AUS final: Loney Bowl (Eastlink TV & live webcast)
TBD Canada West final: Hardy Cup (Shaw TV & live webcast)
November 16
TBD Uteck Bowl: RSEQ at AUS (Sportsnet 360 & Radio-Canada)
TBD Mitchell Bowl: OUA at Canada West (Sportsnet 360 & Radio-Canada)
November 23
13:00 TELUS Vanier Cup: at Laval University, Quebec City (Sportsnet 360 & Radio-Canada)
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