Friday 15 February 2008

Light Friday Schedule in CIS

Apart from three playoff series starting tonight in Canada West, the CIS schedule is light, especially for a Friday night. But all the games have playoff-positioning implications:

AUS
8:00 pm StFX (11-5, 32 pts) at Cape Breton (14-3, 40 pts) A Capers win will all but eliminate X from one of the two byes in the first round of the AUS tournament. The Capers need a win and then at a minimum a split vs. SMU next weekend to ensure they finish second. Game can be seen on Capers TV

Quebec
6:00 pm Laval (11-2) at Concordia (7-5) Le Rouge et Or have already officially clinched top spot in the "Q" since the Stingers can only tie Laval for the best record in the division but with Laval already winning the first 3 games of the season series, Concordia would lose the tiebreaker with Laval if the improbable happened. Laval won 68-61 last week at home against the Stingers. Concordia looks to solidify their hold on second place with a win.
8:00 pm UQAM (5-7) at Bishop's (2-11) It promises to be an emotional night for the Gaiters and their fans this evening in Lennoxville and there is some possibility, albeit remote, that retiring Bishop's head coach Eddie Pomykala and his team can author a storybook ending to the season. If Bishop's can win their final 3 games of the season including a win tonight by 4 or more points and have the Citadins lose their final 4 games, the Gaiters would qualify for the fourth and final playoff spot in the "Q".

OUA
8:00 pm Guelph (10-9) at Lakehead (8-12) The T-Wolves are fighting for their playoff lives with the Laurier Golden Hawks. The teams are currently tied with the Hawks owning the tie-breaker so Lakehead needs at least one win this weekend against Guelph. The Gryphs are suddenly in jeopardy of not hosting a home playoff game with fifth-place Mac getting hot down the stretch and only 1 game back of Guelph. LakeheadRadio game can be seen on Pay-per-view as well

Tonight's Canada West Playoff schedule
Saskatchewan at Alberta, 7 PM MT/9 PM ET Golden Bears radio network.
UCFV at UBC 8 p.m. PT/11 PM ET at War Memorial 101.9 CiTR FM
Simon Fraser at UVic (McKinnon Gym) - 7pm PT/10 PM ET Vikes Broadcast Network

CANADA WEST PLAYOFF PREVIEW

News From Around Canada West by Wayne Thomas.... Bill Wedlake, the Athletic Director at the University of Winnipeg, and one of the really good guys in Canada West, will retire from his position as of April 1. Wedlake and his brother, Ross, were members of a very good University of Manitoba Bisons team in the 1960s, then Bill went on to teach and coach at St. John's HS in Winnipeg. He went to the University of Winnipeg as Men's Basketball coach in 1984, leading the Wesmen to 6 visits to the CIS Nationals. In 2000 Wedlake became the Athletic Director at UW, where he has truly made that school Winnipeg's 'City University' with tremendous growth in corporate partnerships, tournament hosting, and community involvement. As a fan or, even as a visiting team, you were always greeted warmly by Bill Wedlake, who has made his presence known as a gracious host for all UW home events... Our agent 'Yoda' , who publishes CIS Rankings by Ratings, a computer based assessment of national rankings, has done an odds page for Canada West Playoffs ... just in case you want to lay off some bread with the boys in Vegas (which we would never condone or suggest ... heavens!) ...
Team Div. Champs CIS Final 8 Canada West Champs CIS Champs
Brandon 95% 57% - 7 to 4 9 to 4 15 to 1
Calgary 65% 57% - 7 to 4 9 to 4 15 to 1
UBC 80% 44% - 9 to 4 9 to 2 23 to 1
Alberta 30% 35% - 3 to 1 6 to 1 30 to 1
Victoria 12% 3 % - 31 to 1 80 to 1 390 to 1
Saskatchewan 5 % 2 % - 56 to 1 90 to 1 875 to 1
Simon Fraser 5 % 1 % - 82 to 1 200 to 1 1300 to 1
Regina 3 % 1 % - 142 to 1 300 to 1 2500 to 1
Fraser Valley 3 % 1 % - 135 to 1 300 to 1 2500 to 1
Winnipeg 1.5 % .2 % - 421 to 1 1200 to 1 8500 to 1

Yoda's Rankings have the following top 10 at http://www.cascadiatechnology.com/cis/

1. Carleton 6. Calgary
2. Brandon 7. Alberta
3. Windsor 8. Toronto
4. UBC 9. St. FX
5. Acadia 10. Cape Breton

These ratings are 'just math' according to Yoda, and they are updated each Monday. Coach Don Horwood sizing up the Bears - Huskies Semi- Final ... "(The Huskies) are a veteran team who start five 5th years and they were put together to win this season. " Horwood says his strategy will change from last year when the Huskies' Mark Lynch scored 21 pts. in the 3rd and deciding game of the Divisional Final at U of A to lead Saskatchewan to the win. " ... Spagrud is going to put up his points, but (we will not double team him) not allow a player who is averaging five points to beat us."

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