Bracketology! The 'How UBC can do OUA a solid' edition



In our latest hoop-o-thetical, coach Kevin Hanson's UBC Thunderbirds are like Homer Simpson in that episode where takes a drag on his sisters-in-laws' cigarettes to get them out of a jam for smoking in a government building.

Explain how. Well, Homer does not much like Patty and Selma, just as those in the west don't like Ontario, or its university men's basketball dominance. Yet Homer did something to help himself, over his reservations at helping the gruesome twosome. To totally strain the self-indulgent analogy, UBC will make their case for a high seed at home for the CIS Final 8 if they defeat the Thompson Rivers WolfPack and the Manitoba/Calgary winner at the men's b-ball Canada West Final Four.

Calgary not being a conference champion might open the door toThat could also make the argument the OUA's big three of Carleton, Ryerson and Ottawa all being top six seeds come next week in Vancouver. Just saying, it could. Ours is not to make predictions, per se, but to be prepared. (Mark Wacyk, as always, has the OUA Wilson Cup covered from all angles.)

There is no crystal ball; consider this more of a 'creating a crazy scenario and watching it all go down.'

So UBC wins Canada West. Calgary or Manitoba is Canada West 1, and the conference's bronze-game winner is Canada West 2 since the Thunderbirds are a host.


How could the picture look?


  1. OUA 1 — Saturday's Wilson Cup winner, either Carleton, Ottawa or Ryerson;
  2. OUA 2 — Saturday's Wilson Cup runner-up; 
  3. Host team — UBC, which had 227 points in the most recent Top Ten;
  4. At large — Saturday's OUA bronze-game winner if, indeed, it's one of the Big Three;
  5. RSEQ champion — If No. 7 McGill wins their conference;
  6. Dalhousie — No. 10-ranked Tigers go in the 5-hole if McGill stumbles;
  7. CW 1 — The Calgary-Manitoba winner and conference runner-up;
  8. CW 2 — The Canada West bronze-game winner, so either Calgary or Manitoba. Or perhaps No. 11-ranked Thompson Rivers could still surprise us.
Agendas, there a few at the time of March. This seeding likely keeps the 'Birds around until Semifinal Saturday, which will help with the surely robust ticket sales for the event that is coming back to a Vancouver whetted with anticipation due to its four-decade absence. Of OUA's big three, two will have a loser-plays-for-bronze steel cage match in the semifinal. The winner than has refresh for Championship Sunday.

The Thunderbirds get their high seed, OUA gets its entitlement of high seeds but two of them have to re-stage the playoffs, which gives the survivor a tougher trek toward the national title.

And, of course, you know what it says about the person who is laying out this scenario:





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