For four teams, this week marks the halfway point of the regular season. For five OUA teams, halfway was last week. Either way, we’re getting in the home stretch of the OUA regular season. This week, only one game is likely to have direct playoff implications. Western travels up the 401 to try to ruin Guelph Homecoming with the winner gaining the advantage in the battle for the first round playoff bye. Meanwhile, Queen’s, Laurier, and Windsor all do battle this week looking to edge ahead in the battle for the last playoff spots.

#5 Western Mustangs (3-1) at #10 Guelph Gryphons (3-0)

And this is your OUA game of the week. Western currently sits in second in the OUA standings and Guelph is the only team that has a realistic chance of knocking Western out of a first-round bye. A Guelph win here would give them the tiebreaker over UWO and it would take help from Windsor or Laurier (assuming Gryphon losses to Ottawa and McMaster) to put the Mustangs back in second. Both teams are coming off ugly wins last week with the refs and Queen’s gifting a win to Guelph on national TV last week and the Mustangs picking up an ugly win of the Lancers. As I said last week, Guelph has proven nothing so far. I would not call them an OUA top two team nor a CIS top ten team. The only way they’re going to change anyone’s mind (unless you’re named DJ Bennett who doesn’t any non-Top 10 schools outside Ontario) is to beat Western convincingly. Otherwise, I’d say this one is the Mustangs’ to lose.

Pregame Coverage:
Heaven Forbid, Don’t Hurt Their Feelings (Big Man on Campus)
Welcome To The 2010 Fraudulent Bowl (Big Man on Campus)

Broadcasters:
TV: The Score
Radio: CJBK 1290 AM (London)

#2 Ottawa Gee-Gees (4-0) at Queen’s Gaels (1-2)

Okay, I was slightly wrong last week. Queen’s isn’t quite a OUA top four team. That’s not to say that they weren’t the better team against Guelph. Turnovers, bad calls and Ben Chapeldaine were the only things keeping the Gaels from beating Guelph. However, even if Billy McPhee turns in the performance of his life, the Gaels will need a lot of help to secure the win. Ottawa pulled out a huge comeback win over Mac last week. Penalties and picks nearly did them in. One week is a short time to shore up the execution and having to go to Richardson Stadium as a collective bunch of imploding basket cases is not what the doctor ordered. Ottawa should win this game but I also expect it to be a lot closer than it should be.

Pregame Coverage:
Bleeding Tricolour: Football for its Own Sake, Again (The CIS Blog)
Big Gaels Receiver Sidelined Following Injury (Kingston Whig-Standard)

Broadcasters:
TV: TV Cogeco (Kingston)
Radio: CFRC 101.9 FM (Kingston)

Windsor Lancers (1-3) at #8 McMaster Marauders (2-2)

This game is just what the doctor ordered for Mac. Back to back losses to Western and Ottawa have dropped this team from Yates Cup favourite to needing to take the long road to get to the OUA final. Windsor is unlikely to put up much of a fight. The Marauders have to put up points fast and keep the Lancers off the board while the first team rests on the sidelines. Actually, now that I think about it, I think that resting the first team would be a bad idea. They’ve gone two weeks with a drubbing and a come-from-behind loss. Putting up easy points would help boost everyone’s confidence.

Broadcasters:
TV: Cable 14 (Hamilton)
Radio: CHML 900 AM (Hamilton), CFMU 93.3 FM (Hamilton)

York Lions (0-3) at Laurier Golden Hawks (1-2)

This one has the potential to be ugly. The Hawks beat the Varsity Blues by 31 and the Lions are worse than Toronto. The interesting thing is that the Lions were actually able to keep U of T within one score so maybe they’ve turned a corner. More likely, I would say that if the line on this game is under five scores, I’d take Laurier to cover. And if the Guelph game last week taught us anything, it’s that teams seem to get a good boost from the bye week break.

Broadcasters:
Online: Radio Laurier

CIS/OUA News and Notes

Just a little over a year after seeing Eric Glavic transfer to the Calgary Dinos (and come one game from a Vanier Cup), the St. Mary’s Huskies have lost another QB. Jack Creighton announced that he is transferring out of Halifax after being benched in Week 2. Nobody’s entirely sure if he’s leaving SMU because of the benching or because he’s homesick. Creighton is from the Niagara area and now fans of every southern Ontario team without a reliable option under centre is hoping he’ll sign up with their squad. The frontrunners are expected to be the two Waterloo teams. The Warriors’ QB looks like the new starter at Queen’s and the Golden Hawks are 1-2. Both could probably use a proven option at starting quarterback.

It looks like the return of the Carleton Ravens to OUA football action will be sooner rather than later. The school’s athletic department says that they are well on track for a 2012 revival. The Ravens will be borrowing heavily from Laval’s business model to ensure long-term sustainability of a program that was cut in 1999. Laval relies on donations and sponsorship money to fund the team. However the new Ravens football team gets off the ground, they have to submit its application to the OUA by May 2011.

As a follow-up to last week’s D.J. Bennett controversy, he’s still largely uneducated about CIS football outside Ontario. He said in his post about the CIS Top 10 “It seems like the rest of the voters beliefs are starting to fall in line with mine.” I don’t know whether to laugh at his arrogance or cry because this guy is part of broadcast crew for OUA football on national TV. He ranked Guelph 6th for beating two pushovers that will end with one win between them (York and U of T) and getting a gift against Queen’s. The rest of the voters got Guelph pushed to 10th. He also ranked Western at 3rd while the field put them closer to 5th. Sorry, D.J., you might be an ex-Mustang star but I’m taking the field over you every time.

Standings
1. Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-0
2. Western Mustangs 3-1
3. Guelph Gryphons 3-0
4. McMaster Marauders 2-2
5. Queen’s Gaels 1-2
6. Laurier Golden Hawks 1-2
7. Toronto Varsity Blues 1-3
8. Windsor Lancers 1-3
9. York Lions 0-3

Note: Information on broadcasters has been pulled from athletic department websites, the OUA website, and various articles read during the week. We make no guarantees over the completeness or accuracy of the listings.