Top 10 fail: Big dogs (as in Huskies) move up
- Laval Rouge et Or (6-1) — Up where they belong.
- Calgary Dinos (6-1) — Will have to go on the road for the Canada West final, most likely.
- Saskatchewan Huskies (6-1) — Peaking at the right time.
- Saint Mary's Huskies (6-1) — Have beaten two good QUFL teams and thumped St. FX last Friday.
- Queen's Golden Gaels (7-1) — The Laurier game was meaningless for them, but the eastern and western Huskies are rolling.
- Western Mustangs (6-2) — Two losses by eight points.
- Ottawa Gee-Gees (6-2) — The field was slick vs. Windsor, that's their story and they're sticking to it.
- Montréal Carabins (4-3) — Good debate whether they are closer to No. 1 in the QUFL or No. 4.
- Laurier Golden Hawks (6-2) — Oh, what if QB Evan Pawliuk had got into the end zone on that two-point conversion vs. Ottawa three weeks ago? If the Hawks had won that game and everything else had stayed the same, Laurier gets first, McMaster gets a home game and The Score is panting for a Western-Queen's semifinal.
- Sherbrooke Vert et Or (3-4) — Have held serve vs. the country's toughest schedule and still need a win to make the playoffs.
Hey Neate - Dinos are still 6-1, playing Alberta in Edmonton Saturday...
ReplyDeleteYes, yes they are. Good catch.
ReplyDeleteSaskatchewan defeated Calfary earlier and they don't run up the score to pad their stats the way the Dinos do. I would put them at #2 and the Dinos at #3.
ReplyDeleteHow do you figure the Dinos run up the score when they have pulled Glavic and some starters in 5/7 games they have played, usually early in the 4th and in one case by halftime?
ReplyDeleteThe Queens loss in Waterloo could be anything but a "meaningless" game if they struggle early on in their semi. If any team needed a rousing end to the season it was the Gaels because of their recent playoff failures.
ReplyDeletePositions 1-6 I totally agree with and really both Queen's and Western should have been moved below both the Huskies teams a week a go! The CIS rankings now have 5 YES 5 OUA teams in it. I'm pretty sure that once the OUA team is out they will still be ranking OUA teams ahead of the all the other divisions!
ReplyDelete@Anon 5:06
ReplyDeleteHow many OUA teams would you prefer there were?
Which teams would you replace them with?
No OUA teams at all!
ReplyDelete1. Laval (6-1)
2. Calgary (6-1)
3. Saskatchewan (6-1)
4. Saint Mary's (6-1)
5. Montreal (4-3)
6. Sherbrooke (3-4)
7. Manitoba (4-3)
8. Bishop's (3-4)
9. St. FX (5-2)
10. Regina (3-4)
We only had to put in 4 teams with losing records.
And therein lies the problem.
ReplyDeleteThe 5 (gasp) OUA teams break down as follows:
Queen's - #1 team in the conference, excellent offence, excellent defence, phenomenal Kicker/Returner.
Western - Great offence, good defence, good special teams. Faulds/Riva/Svec is a scary trio.
Ottawa - Pretty good offence, decent defence, good special teams. Sinopoli is becoming the next great CIS QB and his WRs are all excellent. This team can score at will when they're on point.
Laurier - Inconsistent offence, Great Defence, Phenomenal special teams. They don't let you score at all, and the yards their offence can't gain are provided by Dillon Heap. Had it not been for injuries they may have had a much more impressive season.
McMaster - Good offence, Very good defence, Decent special teams. The Kozina/Nemet combo might be the best (top 3 for certain) two-headed rushing attack in the country and would cause problems for any defence.
It's one thing to call OUA bias on the Top 10, but it's another to completely discount the merits of these teams. McMaster is by far the most debatable team in there and they possess a lethal run game, and a defence which is very solid considering the oldest person in the secondary is a sophomore. I won't dispute the talent of teams being left out as there are some very good squads, but if you want to include losing records in the Top 10 teams of the country, it's going to seem like a really slow year.