OTTAWA – For the fourth time in program history, the Laval Rouge et Or went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the CIS football weekly poll. But for the first time this season, the reigning two-time Vanier Cup champions were not a unanimous choice for No. 1 in the final top 10 of the campaign.
After receiving all 30 first-place votes and the maximum 300 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel for nine straight Tuesdays, the Rouge et Or (7-1) had to settle for 18 first-place nods and 288 points in the last national poll of 2014, with the remaining votes for No. 1 going to their archrivals from the RSEQ conference, the second-seeded Montreal Carabins (7-1), who merited 274 points to reach their best ranking of the fall.
The McMaster Marauders (7-1) are also on the rise this week, moving up one spot to No. 3, while the Calgary Dinos (6-2) drop two positions to No. 4 after spending the entire season in second place.
The rest of the top 10 remains unchanged with the No. 5 Guelph Gryphons (7-1), No. 6 Mount Allison Mounties (8-0), No. 7 Western Mustangs (6-2 / 1-0 playoffs), No. 8 Saskatchewan Huskies (6-2), No. 9 Sherbrooke Vert & Or (5-3) and No. 10 Ottawa Gee-Gees (5-3 / 1-0) following in order.
It was an eventful last day of the regular season on Saturday in the RSEQ and Canada West.
At Montreal, the Carabins made a statement heading into the playoffs with a 13-9 win over the Rouge et Or, putting an end to Laval’s CIS-record streak of 25 consecutive overall victories. The remarkable sequence had started following another loss on Montreal’s home turf, a 17-12 defeat back on Oct. 9, 2012.
Despite the setback, the Vanier champs hold home-field advantage throughout the Quebec playoffs thanks to their 27-point win (40-13) in the first head-to-head meeting of the campaign between the two teams, on Sept. 6 in Quebec City.
In Saturday’s RSEQ semifinals, Laval hosts Concordia (5-3), while Montreal stays home to take on No. 9 Sherbrooke.
At Winnipeg, Calgary was upset 50-31 by Manitoba (4-4) in a game that meant everything for the Bisons, who were fighting for their playoff lives, while the Dinos had already clinched first place in the Canada West standings.
Manitoba visits Saskatchewan on Friday night in the first CWUAA semifinal, while Calgary entertains Regina (3-5) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the playoffs got underway in the Maritimes and Ontario this past weekend.
In the lone AUS semifinal, StFX edged Acadia 18-17. The X-Men will now travel to Sackville, N.B., on Saturday to face the only remaining undefeated team in the country, Mount Allison, in the Loney Bowl conference final
In the OUA quarterfinals, logic was respected in London, where Western downed Laurier 25-10, while in Windsor, Ottawa outscored the higher-seeded Lancers 46-29.
Ottawa visits McMaster and Western travels to Guelph in Saturday’s OUA semis.
A complete TV and webcast schedule is included below.
NOTES: Laval had previously swept the national weekly polls in 2005, 2007 and 2008… Laval and Montreal had previously occupied the top two spots in the CIS rankings on only two occasions, in 2009, when the Carabins were No. 1 and the Rouge et Or No. 2 in the Oct. 6 and Oct. 13 polls… The 50thTELUS Vanier Cup Tour goes back to the University of Montreal campus for the second straight week on Saturday for the Vert & Or vs. Carabins showdown… For all the information on the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup (including ticket info) visit vaniercup.com.
FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#10)
Pts (1st place) Last week
- Laval (7-1) 288 (18) 1
- Montreal (7-1) 274 (12) 3
- McMaster (7-1) 231 4
- Calgary (6-2) 216 2
- Guelph (7-1) 184 5
- Mt. Allison (8-0) 156 6
- Western (6-2 / 1-0) 109 7
- Saskatchewan (6-2) 99 8
- Sherbrooke (5-3) 50 9
- Ottawa (5-3 / 1-0) 24 10
Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (23), Concordia (1).
WEEK 10 RESULTS
November 1 (AUS semifinal & OUA quarter-finals)
StFX 18, Acadia 17 (at StFX)
Western 25, Laurier 10 (at Western)
Ottawa 46, Windsor 29 (at Windsor)
November 1 (regular season)
Montreal 13, Laval 9 (at Montreal)
Concordia 30, McGill 28 (at Concordia)
Sherbrooke 35, Bishop’s 14 (at Bishop’s)
Manitoba 50, Calgary 31 (at Manitoba)
Regina 35, Alberta 31 (at Regina)
Saskatchewan 38, UBC 18 (at UBC)
WEEK 11 SCHEDULE (all times local)
November 7 (CW semifinal)
19:00 Manitoba (4-4) at No. 8 Saskatchewan (6-2) (Shaw TV & CanadaWest.TV)
November 8 (AUS final & conference semifinals)
13:00 Concordia (5-3) at No. 1 Laval (7-1) (ici.radio-canada.ca Quebec)
13:00 No. 9 Sherbrooke (5-3) at No. 2 Montreal (7-1) (Radio-Canada TV & ici.radio-canada.ca)
13:00 No. 10 Ottawa (6-3) at No. 3 McMaster (7-1) (Cable 14 & OUA.TV)
13:00 No. 7 Western (7-2) at No. 5 Guelph (7-1) (OUA.TV)
14:00 StFX (5-4) at No. 7 Mount Allison (8-0) (Eastlink TV & AUStv.ca)
15:00 Regina (3-5) at No. 4 Calgary (6-2) (Shaw TV & CanadaWest.TV)
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.
About the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup
Canadian Interuniversity Sport will celebrate the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup throughout its 2014 football season. For the first time in history, the championship game will be staged in Montreal – at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium – on Saturday, November 29, at 1 p.m. ET, live on Sportsnet and Radio-Canada.
Official TELUS Vanier Cup website (including ticket information) www.vaniercup.com
Photo credits: James Hajjar
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