CIS football 2012 season kicks off in one week

Conference action gets under way in Saskatoon on Friday, Aug. 31 with the Saskatchewan Huskies hosting the Alberta Golden Bears.

Ten more matchups are scheduled on opening weekend in the Canada West, OUA and RSEQ conferences, including the McMaster Marauders kicking off the defence of their first-ever Vanier Cup title with a home tilt against Guelph on Labour Day Monday (Sept. 3). The AUS regular season is set to start the following weekend.

Led by all-Canadian quarterback Kyle Quinlan, who will once again be at the helm of the high-scoring McMaster offence this fall, the Marauders edged perennial powerhouse Laval 41-38 in overtime last November in Vancouver to capture the first national crown in program history. Arguably the most exciting Vanier Cup final ever, the championship game attracted 24,935 fans at B.C. Place Stadium and peaked at more than one million combined viewers on TSN and RDS.

McMaster and Laval, which face off in pre-season action this Sunday (Aug. 26) in Quebec City, could very well cross paths again on Nov. 23 in Toronto for a Vanier Cup rematch. This year’s national semifinals – both scheduled for Nov. 17 – pit the Canada West champions against the OUA champs in the Mitchell Bowl in Ontario, and the AUS first-place finishers versus the RSEQ titlists in the Uteck Bowl in Quebec.

Team previews of all 26 CIS football programs as well as profiles of 26 star players are available on the CIS website at www.cis-sic.ca.

Information on the 48^th Vanier Cup (including ticket info) can be found at: www.vaniercup.ca.
Once again this year, members of Football Reporters of Canada will vote for the national Top 10 ranking which will be released every Tuesday, starting with a pre-season poll on Aug. 28. The CIS football players of the week – also selected by a panel of FRC members – will be announced each Wednesday, starting on Sept. 5.
Below is a schedule for Weeks 1 and 2 of the regular season, including TV and web streaming information. A playoff schedule can also be found below. The complete 2012 schedule is posted at www.cis-sic.ca.

2012 CIS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: WEEKS 1 & 2 (all times local)

August 31  
19:00   Alberta at Saskatchewan

September 1  
13:00   Bishop’s at Concordia (SSNCanada.ca)
14:00   Manitoba at UBC (CanadaWest.tv)
17:00   Regina at Calgary (Shaw TV/ CanadaWest.tv)
19:00   Montreal at Sherbrooke

September 2  
14:00   McGill at Laval (Radio-Canada)

September 3  
13:00   Ottawa at Windsor (TVCogeco)
13:00   Laurier at Toronto (SSNCanada.ca)
13:00   Western at Waterloo (SSNCanada.ca)
13:00   Guelph at McMaster (Cable 14)
14:00   York at Queen’s (TVCogeco – tape delayed)

September 7  
17:30   Alberta at Calgary (CanadaWest.tv)
19:00   StFX at Mount Allison (sportscanada.tv)
19:00   Sherbrooke at McGill (SSNCanada.ca)
19:00   Concordia at Montreal
19:00   UBC at Regina (Shaw TV / CanadaWest.tv)

September 8  
13:00   McMaster at Waterloo (SSNCanada.ca)
13:00   Toronto at Western (Rogers TV / SSNCanada.ca)
13:00   Laval at Bishop’s (Radio-Canada / SSNCanada.ca)
13:00   Ottawa at York (SSNCanada.ca)
14:00   Saint Mary’s at Acadia (EastLink TV / acadiaathletics.ca)  
14:00   Saskatchewan at Manitoba (Shaw TV Manitoba)   
19:00   Guelph at Windsor (TVCogeco)
20:00   Queen’s at Laurier (theScore / thescore.com)

2012 CIS FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE (all times local)

October 27
13:00   OUA quarter-final 6 vs. 3
13:00   OUA quarter-final 5 vs. 4

November 2
TBD Canada West semifinal #1 *

November 3
13:00   AUS semifinal 3 vs. 2
13:00   RSEQ semifinal 3 vs. 2
13:00   RSEQ semifinal 4 vs. 1
13:00   OUA semifinal #1
16:30   OUA semifinal #2
TBD Canada West semifinal #2 *
* Canada West semis: Still TBD whether games will be played on Friday/Saturday, or both on Saturday. 

November 10
13:00   AUS final: Loney Bowl (EastLink)
13:00   OUA final: Yates Cup (theScore)
13:00   Canada West final: Hardy Cup (TSN)
13:15   RSEQ final: Dunsmore Cup (Radio-Canada)

November 17
13:00   Uteck Bowl: AUS at RSEQ (TSN & RDS)
16:00   Mitchell Bowl: Canada West at OUA (TSN & RDS)

November 23
19:30   Vanier Cup: Rogers Centre, Toronto (TSN & RDS)