CIS Top 10 (1): Reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval opens season at No. 1

OTTAWA (CIS) – For the second consecutive season and the eighth time in 10 years, the Laval Rouge et Or top the first national ranking of the CIS football season.

The Rouge et Or, who last November repeated as Vanier Cup champions and have now won a record eight CIS titles in program history, were a unanimous choice at No. 1 in the first poll of 2014, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 300 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel.

Following in order in the inaugural Top 10 are the second-ranked Calgary Dinos (260 points), No. 3 Western Mustangs (250), No. 4 Montreal Carabins (164), No. 5 McMaster Marauders (144), No. 6 Manitoba Bisons (140), No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds (80), No. 8 Guelph Gryphons (60), No. 9 Queen’s Gaels (56) and No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies (56).

In a rematch of last year’s Vanier Cup final, Laval hosted Calgary in pre-season action last Saturday in Quebec City and once again came out on top, this time by a 35-23 score in front of 10,210 fans at TELUS-UL Stadium. The Rouge et Or face a serious test on Saturday night when they open their RSEQ schedule at home against archrival Montreal, which they edged 14-11 in last fall’s Dunsmore Cup final.

The Dinos also open conference play at home, on Friday, against Alberta.

The regular season got under way on Labour Day in the OUA with McMaster coming back to edge Guelph 34-27 in overtime, Queen’s defeating Windsor 39-30, Ottawa dominating York 51-7, Laurier cruising to a 53-17 victory over Toronto, and Carleton outscoring Waterloo 33-14 for its first win since returning to CIS football a year ago.

Reigning OUA champion Western enjoyed a bye week and kicks off its Yates Cup title defence Saturday at York.

Defending AUS titlist Mount Allison opens at home against Acadia, also on Saturday.

NOTES: Laval has claimed a CIS-record 11 straight conference titles and has won 65 straight games at home overall since 2004, another CIS mark… Calgary has captured a record six consecutive Canada West banners… The 50th TELUS Vanier Cup Tour kicks off on Saturday with stops in Montreal in the afternoon (Bishop’s at Concordia) and Quebec City at night (Montreal at Laval)… For all the information on the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup (including ticket info) visit www.vaniercup.com

FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#1)

   Pts (1st place) Last week
1. Laval (0-0)   300 (30)  –
2. Calgary (0-0)  260  –
3. Western (0-0) 250  –
4. Montreal (0-0)  164  –
5. McMaster (1-0)  144  –
6. Manitoba (0-0)  140  –
7. UBC (0-0)  80  –
8. Guelph (0-1)   60  –
9. Queen’s (1-0) 56 *  –
10. Saskatchewan (0-0) 56  –

* Queen’s edges Saskatchewan for ninth place thanks to a higher number of higher-place votes.

Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (36), Sherbrooke (26), Mount Allison (20), Laurier (16), Bishop’s (14), Ottawa (12), Regina (6), Windsor (2), Carleton (1).

2014 PRE-SEASON RESULTS

August 23
McGill 35, Toronto 33 (at Toronto)

August 24
Concordia 25, Queen’s 18 (at Queen’s)
Carleton 53, York 11 (at Carleton)
Montreal 38, Guelph 10 (at Montreal)

August 29
Regina 40, Alberta 28 (at Regina)

August 30
Laval 35, Calgary 23 (at Laval)
Sherbrooke 21, Bishop’s 8 (at Sherbrooke)
Mount Allison 18, StFX 8 (at Mount Allison)
Acadia 34, Saint Mary’s 5 (at Acadia)

2014 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE & RESULTS: WEEKS 1 & 2 (all times local)

NOTE: Click HERE for the complete 2014 regular season schedule

September 1
Queen’s 39, Windsor 30 (at Windsor)
Carleton 33, Waterloo 14 (at Waterloo)
Ottawa 51, York 7 (at Ottawa)
McMaster 34, Guelph 27 OT (at McMaster)
Laurier 53, Toronto 17 (at Toronto)

September 5
17:30  Alberta at Calgary (CanadaWest.TV)
19:00 StFX at Saint Mary’s (AUStv.ca)
19:00  Manitoba at Saskatchewan (Shaw TV & CanadaWest.TV)
19:00 UBC at Regina (CanadaWest.TV)

September 6
13:00 Toronto at Guelph (OUA.TV)
13:00 Ottawa at Queen’s (OUA.TV)
13:00 McMaster at Waterloo (OUA.TV)
13:00 Western at York (OUA.TV)
13:00 Laurier at Windsor (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00 Bishop’s at Concordia (Radio-Canada & ici.radio-canada.ca & StretchTV)
14:00 Acadia at Mount Allison (Eastlink TV & AUStv.ca)
16:00 McGill at Sherbrooke
19:00 Montreal at Laval (ici.radio-canada.ca Quebec)

About Football Reporters of Canada

Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) represents journalists and broadcasters in every region of the country covering CIS Football. Since 1958, Football Reporters of Canada has been an organization of media members who have covered the Canadian Football League, serving to select the league’s outstanding players, coach-of-the-year and all-star teams through voting conducted by its members. In 2009, the FRC amalgamated with the University Football Reporters of Canada (UFRC) to give the organization greater scope in its affiliation with amateur and college football. FRC also works with the CFL and CIS to establish guidelines and working conditions for the men and women who report on the game. Selected members of FRC also help to choose builders, players and media members for induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Photo credits:

Hugo Richard – Mathieu Belanger

Laval Vanier Cup – Yan Doublet