Top 10 Fail: Sager bombs, again

Here goes nothing:
  1. Laval (4-0)— For the record, the Rouge et Or defence, counting the exhibition game, went 291:44 before allowing its first TD. The skein of impregnability was broken by Bishop's Jordan Heather on his first CIS play, a 73-yard TD pass in Laval's 55-7 win on Sunday.

  2. Western (4-0) — It is arguable the Mustangs beat Guelph going away if not for handing nine points to Guelph early with two special teams mistakes (an opening-kickoff fumble and a botched long snap). Special teams cost Western in its only regular-loss of 2008 at around the same point of 2008 (and it was a grass game), but they fixed that by post-season.

  3. Calgary (3-1) — Scary offence.

  4. Montreal (3-1) — Can't wait to play Laval with a healthy Marc O. Brouillette.

  5. Saskatchewan (2-1)The Quad has a post up decrying how the "old standby of perception over results" affects the AP Top 25 poll south of the border. Houston from Conference USA beat the Big 12's Oklahoma State, but is ranked three spots lower, for instance.

    That might be at play with putting Saskatchewan this high after another meh showing. It's the old Canada West > OUA.

  6. Queen's (4-0) — No touchdowns against in 12 quarters and Dan Brannagan has passed for more than 1,100 yards in only nine quarters. Of course, like good friend Tyler King points out, there's trace amounts of bumph in all OUA stats due to the variance in competition.

  7. St. FX (3-0) — Rookie coach Gary Waterman's team has won by five, six and two points without getting great production from its running game, which was solid the past couple seasons with James Green.

  8. Saint Mary's (2-1) — Just scratching the surface after a narrow escape at home vs. Sherbrooke.

  9. Guelph (2-2) — The Gryphons could be 4-0 with better contain on punt coverage (they gave up a 51-yard runback to Western's Ryan Tremblay in the fourth quarter Saturday, which helped the 'Stangs switch the field position).

    Guelph played Western tougher than Laurier (3-1) did, if you're looking for a cherry-picked justification for leaving out the Golden Hawks.

  10. Alberta (2-2) — Twelve- and 20-point wins the past two weeks count as impressive victories. The Golden Bears could still end up 4-4 since Calgary and Saskatchewan (in Saskatoon) are their home-and-home foes.
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5 comments:

  1. I'd say that Sask is ranked too high, nthey haven't really looked all that strong this season. Obviously there's numerous reasons for this (such as injury) however it wouldn't be that farfetched if they were 0-3 this season (Calgary risked it and lost in OT, and Regina kept them VERY close). Queen's has looked better, but that's just my opinion...

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  2. Nate, how can you look yourself in the mirror, and rank no fewer than 3 teams with a loss above both Queen's AND FX????

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  3. Strength of schedule. Those teams had losses to teams which were or are going to be ranked (Montréal to Laval, Saskatchewan to Alberta, Calgary to Saskatchewan).

    St. FX is solid, but it was a sub-.500 team and it has not beaten anyone by more than a TD yet. It is only three games in, so I need more of a sample size before I move them up.

    Last week, users ept saying "anyone who knows CIS football" knows Canada West has stronger teams and Queen's is the product of a soft early-season schedule (they won't play west of Toronto, actually west of Kingston, until this weekend). Which is it?

    Besides, me putting Queen's in the top five runs the risk of having the other writers being called "Western-haters" and "pervs."

    (Call someone a perv in my line of work, and you'll be in court, but hey. They can say whatever they want about me specifically, but please do not paint Rob, Andrew, Evan, David, Jared, Justin and Mike with that brush.)

    So guess what, I'll just keep Queen's in No. 6 for this week. Remember, it is just an opinion poll.

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  4. 1- Laval - Obvious
    2- Calgary - Best team in a strong Can West
    3- Western - Best team in weak OUA
    4- Montreal - 2nd best team in the Q
    5- St. Frances X - Still think SMU will beat them when it counts
    6- Saint Mary's - Always a scary team, maybe just warming up?
    7 - Saskatchewan - Inconsistant
    8 - Queens - Have not played anyone worthy and in the OUA
    9 - Guelph - This is an up and coming team gave Western a good run!
    10 - Alberta - Quietly sneaking up.

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  5. Queen's has not played anyone worthy, but someone who it played and defeated it is ranked right behind them?

    Since the sample sizes are small, you can take last season into account to a small extent. Queen's scored 52 points on Guelph this season and put up 41 or more vs. Guelph, Western and Laurier last season.

    Also, please, spell the school's name correctly.

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