CIS Hoops.ca

A group of ardent CIS basketball fans, led by the energetic Howard Bloom, is attempting to put together a deal to have at least some of the games at the Final 8 available via web casting. For those who cannot make it to Halifax (if you haven't been and are thinking of going, the experience is well worth the trip), let's hope that Howard & Co. can put something together. As mentioned previously, I will be courtside for all the key games and plan to provide up-to-the-minute coverage as we've been doing for selected games this seaon - we are negotiating with an as-yet-unnamed CIS expert who hopefully will provide us with poignant commentary as the games progress. As well, the Final 8 web site has a link to the entire tournament schedule and will publish LIVE STATS! for each game. For those who haven't followed a game via live stats!, it is as detailed an account of the game you can get without actually being there. The AUS did it successfully this past weekend at their tournament and a number of teams across Canada have had live stats available on-line throughout the season. Here is the link to the Final 8 LIVE STATS! (visit the page and then click on LIVE STATS beside the game you want to follow) CIS FINAL 8 LIVE STATS! PAGE

The 2nd seeded UBC Thunderbirds, Canada West champions, make their third consecutive visit to the CIS Nationals and will face the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Friday at 6 PM Atlantic (2 PM Pacific). The T-Birds were defeated in the quarter-finals of the Final 10 last season, falling to Cape Breton and last met the Gee-Gees at home last season (2005-06), dropping a 79-77 decision. UBC will leave for Halifax on Monday. UBC Site Preview

James Mirtle's weekly article in the Globe and Mail previewing the CIS Final 8. The article talks to the perceived parity at this season's event Chasing the Ravens

David Larkins, a reporter from the Brandon Sun and ardent CIS men's basketball supporter, will also be blogging from the Nationals. He has written a couple of strong pieces on the seedings, an opinion on the recent Bob Duff article in the Windsor Star plus his predictions for the quarter-finals in his most recent blog entry David Larkins CIS Final 8 Thoughts

Wayne Kondro from the Ottawa Citizen recaps Saturday night's selections and the process in this article that appears this morning in multiple Canwest newspapers (subscription needed). The article talks to the seedings that places 3 "pre-tournament favorites" Carleton, UBC and Ottawa on the same side of the draw. CIS President Marg McGregor is quoted as saying that the seedings were "no-brainers". Gee-Gees, Ravens on power side of draw

For those Rogers Television viewers in the Ottawa area, Tony House, former Manitoba Bison from the mid-1980's, hosts a television show called "The Big Bad Sports Show" from 7 PM to 8 PM each week. This week's show will feature defending Mike Moser Memorial Award winner Ozvaldo Jeanty as the main guest and the topic of discussion will be the post-season university basketball tournaments going on throughout North America.

The Ottawa Sun chimes in with some CIS men's basketball coverage offering a story on the wild card selection and seedings for the tournament Gee-Gees Wild About CIS bid

Monty Mosher from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald provides an AUS perspective from the wild card and seedings process in this morning's edition Ottawa Snags Final 8 wild card

Chris Kallan from the Halifax Daily News provides his thoughts on the draw including solid previews of the two quarter-final games involving the AUS teams in the draw Huskies, Axemen Draw Tough CIS teams

A nice article by Joel Jacobsen of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on George Hallett, one of the many volunteers at the CIS Nationals in Halifax who helps make the event run smoothly and effectively

Here is a piece with the Concordia perspective including some history of prior games between the Stingers and their first-round opponent, St. Mary's Huskies, that appears on the Stingers official web site Stingers Earn #1 Seed Also, an article by Randy Phillips from the Montreal Gazette Stingers top seed at CIS Final

Here is a link to the AUS Final 8 web site Final 8 web site