Football: Fans Committee picks the Bowl Games and National Champion

As the Bowl Games approach this weekend the fans are trying their best to contain themselves. So to kill off some time while they wait for the games the Fans Committee is forecasting the final 3 games of the season.

The Fans Committee previously made selections for all of the conference playoff games and did so to near perfection with 11 of the 13 games picked correctly. Each conference representative was selected by the Fans as well which is rather impressive considering that a couple games came right down to the wire.

But without further ado here are the teams who the Fans believe will take home the hardware in 2009:

UTECK BOWL
Calgary @ Saint Mary's WINNER Calgary

This game already has enough written about it, no need to go indepth about everything circulating around this one. However even in spite of all the distractions the fans do believe that Calgary will overcome and emerge victorious on Saturday. Both teams received votes of confidence in the poll however the majority were placed in favour of the visiting Dinos.

The Huskies downed the X-Men in the Loney Bowl for the right to host the Dinos. Calgary had a much harder route, winning a hard fought game on the road 39-38 with Saskatchewan botching a potential game winning field goal in the dying seconds of the game.

As good as this game will be on the field - and it promises to be quite the exciting contest - the backstory may prove this becomes a classic regardless of the outcome.

MITCHELL BOWL
Laval @ Queen's WINNER Laval

The Rouge et Or are one game away from hosting a Vanier Cup on home turf where they are virtually invincible. The Golden Gaels have finally lived up to their billing, surviving a Yates Cup that will not soon be forgotten and earning the right to host the Mitchell Bowl.

The Fans believe that Laval will succeed, however the numbers in this poll, while still convincing, were closer than the tally for the Uteck poll. There are questions surrounding both of these teams and some believe Queen's has what it takes to knock the crown off Laval's head and spoil their party plans. The Rouge et Or are 1-3 on the road in Bowl Games and that is a point receiving attention from some people.

However the R&O are still the clear favourites. Laval made short work of Montreal in the Dunsmore Cup, exacting revenge for the loss earlier in the season by a tune of . Queen's as previously mentioned held on to win an instant classic Yates Cup over Western.

VANIER CUP
Calgary vs. Laval WINNER Laval

The Fans believe everyone is in for a rematch of the 2008 Uteck Bowl. However I'm fairly certain that many are hoping for a better outcome than the game that was played between these two teams last year (well, at least the non-Laval fans are anyways).

All 4 teams received at least one vote of confidence for the Vanier Cup championship in the poll however Laval ran away with the final tally. They more than doubled up the next closest team receiving National Championship selections (Queen's). Winning the Mitchell Bowl on the road will allow the R&O to defend their title from the comfort of their own home, where they have not lost a postseason game in years.

It's not an overly surprising result, although selecting both road teams to win the Bowl Games might be a little unexpected. To see the defending champions and perennial favourites in CIS Football chosen once again as favourites to win it all is almost commonplace now.

The Fans place their faith behind the Laval Rouge et Or to come away as 2009 Vanier Cup Champions, which would secure their sixth National Championship as a program.
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7 comments:

  1. My take is that Laval will win with ease (at least by 3 TD's) the other game will be a classic for all the reasons mentioned but I think SMU will come out the winners as I think their defence will have a huge game and I don't think Calgary's defence is as good as X's. Everyone is forgetting about Jack Creighton he has a rocket loncher for and arm and a lot of heart to go with it!

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  2. Regrettably, the Committee is likely correct about the Laval/Queen's game despite my wish for an OUA team in the finals/Vanier.

    The OUA teams in general are too permissive on defense through regular season and playoffs to date. Laval will likely attack early on both the run and subsequently the pass. Queen's may surprise a bit on the special teams although I am sure that Laval is aware of some of the gadget plays they have used in the last few years. In general, all of the OUA teams and their coaching seem to tolerate on field mental errors and blown assignments. Perhaps a schooling by a very low error Laval team will change this for the elite teams like Western, Queen's and Laurier for next year.

    The cruel punishment to Laval could be, with some added pressure in a game if it were close, is the failure to advance to a home game for Vanier.

    Although I have expressed in this missive and previous ones, my homer nature for the OUA, it is my hope the Mitchell Bowl is at least reasonably close.

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  3. There's no doubt this will unfold as the fan committee predicts. Therein lies the real problem with the CIS - it's a one-team league.

    This isn't going to change until the QUFL adds more Francophone programs; as it now stands Laval has almost unfettered access to the best CEGEP football talent in Quebec, save for a few top-notch Vieux-Montreal players who choose the Carabins. (In other words, they compete with ONE other program for top recruits.)

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  4. Alex Tourigny11/20/2009 10:29 pm

    Hmmm you're wrong. Sherbrooke is a francophone university. So 3 francophone programs + 3 anglos (McGill, Concordia, Bishop's).

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  5. Alex Tourigny11/20/2009 10:36 pm

    And don't tell me Sherbrooke isn't good. J-P Shoiry is a great QB and we're talking about a program that once recruited Samuel Giguère (ex Colts practice squad WR).

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  6. well, guess all the naysayers need to take a step back. Laval, while an outstanding team, seem to have the reputation of an NFL team, and that is hard to live up to. I want to recognize the guy that called out OUA defenses in general. This is a league with many fantastic quarterbacks. Queen's has a defense that, aside from Michael Faulds, neutralized every one of those offenses. I was keeping fairly quiet this week about the chances for Queen's but it's hard for any team to come into another champion's barn and win. CHA GHAH! CHA GHAH! CHA GHAH!

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  7. correction, that's "CHA GHEILL"

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