UFRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#11 – FINAL): Laval tops final rankings of 2009

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or top the final UFRC – CIS football rankings of the 2009 season.

Laval is ranked No. 1 for the third straight week, for the ninth time in 11 polls this fall, and for the 47th time in 50 polls dating back to the start of the 2005 campaign.

The defending CIS champions received 52 of the available 55 first-place votes and 1,726 points in the final Top 10.

The first six positions remain unchanged this week with the No. 2-Calgary Dinos (7-1), who earned the remaining three first-place nods, No. 3-Saskatchewan Huskies (7-1), No. 4-Queen’s Gaels (7-1), No. 5-Western Ontario Mustangs (7-2) and No. 6-Saint Mary’s Huskies (7-1) following Laval in order.

The No. 7-Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (6-2), No. 8-Montreal Carabins (5-3) and No. 9-McMaster Marauders (7-2) all move up one spot, while the previously unranked St. Francis Xavier X-Men (6-2) round out the leaderboard at No. 10.

With the regular season and the first round of the OUA playoffs in the books, only 15 teams remain in contention for the two available berths in the Desjardins Vanier Cup final set for Saturday, Nov. 28, in Quebec City.

In the QUFL, Saturday’s conference semi-finals will see Concordia (3-5) visit No. 1-Laval and No. 8-Montreal host Bishop’s (4-4). Radio-Canada has the Stingers-Rouge et Or duel at 12:30 p.m.

Laval, which wrapped up league play this past weekend with a 50-0 shutout of McGill, crushed Concordia 51-0 in their season opener back on Sept. 6, in Quebec City. The Rouge et Or currently ride a CIS-record streak of 34 consecutive overall victories on home turf.

Montreal, which earned second place in Quebec with a 14-9 win over Sherbrooke, lost its lone meeting of the season against Bishop’s, a 21-16 setback on the road on Oct. 24.

In the Canada West, both No. 2-Calgary and No. 3-Saskatchewan finished conference play with a bang last weekend with the Dinos crushing Alberta 40-5 in Edmonton and the Huskies outscoring Regina 42-17 on the road. Saskatchewan edged Calgary for first place thanks to a head-to-head overtime victory in Week 1.

An interesting turn of events has the exact same match-ups for Saturday’s CWUAA semi-finals, only this time the Dinos and Huskies will have home-field advantage against the Golden Bears (4-4) and Rams (3-5), respectively. The Alberta-Calgary duel is televised on Shaw at 1 p.m. Mountain Time.

Calgary and Saskatchewan are both 2-0 in 2009 versus their semi-final opponents. The Dinos had defeated Alberta for the first time 34-31 at home on Sept. 12, while the Huskies’ first victory over Regina was a 10-9 thriller in Saskatoon, on Sept. 11.

Regina sneaked into the post-season picture on Tuesday when the CWUAA announced Manitoba, third in the standings at the end of conference play, had to forfeit three wins due to the use of an ineligible player earlier this fall.

In Ontario, the playoffs got under way with No. 5-Western dominating Guelph 37-18 and No. 9-McMaster upsetting then No. 7-ranked Ottawa 27-15 in quarterfinal action.

Saturday’s OUA semi-finals will see No. 4-Queen’s host McMaster and No. 7-Laurier host Western. Both games are on The Score, with Gaels vs. Marauders starting at 1 p.m. and the Hawks-Mustangs showdown following at 4:30 p.m.

Queen’s edged McMaster 8-7 in Kingston on Sept. 12. That same day, Western outscored Laurier 30-7 in London.

In the Atlantic conference, No. 6-Saint Mary’s defeated Acadia 21-7 in its season finale and advanced straight to the Loney Bowl final, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, in Halifax. The Huskies await the winners of the AUS semi-final between Acadia (2-6) and No. 10-StFX (6-2), Saturday at 1 p.m. Atlantic Time on EastLink.

UFRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#11)

Pts (1st place) – Last week

1. Laval (7-1) – 1726 (52) – 1
2. Calgary (7-1) – 1529 (3) – 2
3. Saskatchewan (7-1) – 1282 – 3
4. Queen’s (7-1) – 1231 – 4
5. Western Ontario – (7-2) 943 – 5
6. Saint Mary’s (7-1) – 920 – 6
7. Wilfrid Laurier (6-2) – 841 – 8
8. Montreal (5-3) – 390 – 9
9. McMaster (7-2) – 388 – 10
10. StFX (6-2) – 69 NR

Other teams receiving votes: Ottawa (66), Bishop’s (34), Manitoba (18), Sherbrooke (11).

CIS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (all times LOCAL)

Saturday, Nov. 7 (conference semi-finals)
12:30 QUFL: Concordia (3-5) at No. 1-Laval (7-1), Radio-Canada (TV & webcast)
12:30 QUFL: Bishop’s (4-4) at No. 8-Montreal (5-3)
13:00 AUS: Acadia (2-6) at No. 10-StFX (6-2), EastLink (TV & webcast) / SSN Canada (webcast)
13:00 OUA: No. 5-Western (7-2) at No. 7-Laurier (6-2), The Score
13:00 CWUAA: Regina (3-5) at No. 3-Saskatchewan (7-1)
13:00 CWUAA: Alberta (4-4) at No. 2-Calgary (7-1), Shaw TV
16:30 OUA: No. 9-McMaster (7-2) at No. 4-Queen’s (7-1), The Score

Saturday, Nov. 14 (conference finals)
12:30 QUFL Dunsmore Cup, Radio-Canada (TV & webcast)
13:00 AUS Loney Bowl, EastLink (TV & webcast)
13:00 OUA Yates Cup, The Score
TBA CWUAA Hardy Cup, Shaw TV

Saturday, Nov. 21 (CIS national semi-finals)
TBA Uteck Bowl: CWUAA at AUS, TSN & Radio-Canada
TBA Mitchell Bowl: QUFL at OUA, TSN & Radio-Canada

Saturday, Nov. 28 (CIS final)
12:00 Vanier Cup, PEPS Stadium, Université Laval, Quebec City, TSN & Radio-Canada

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