Corporate
Monday Morning Quarterback: Men’s hockey Axemen edge defending national champion Reds
The Western Mustangs top the U SPORTS football national rankings for the third straight week following their most lopsided win of the season.
2019 U SPORTS Football Schedule & Results
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Fresh off a spectacular 58-25 victory at Windsor, the Mustangs (6-0) received 11 out of a possible 16 first-place votes and 234 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, good for 474 total points when combined with statistical calculation by the ELO Rating System.
For the third consecutive Tuesday, the Montreal Carabins (5-0) were the only other team to earn first-place nods and remain comfortably at No. 2, with 451 points.
The Calgary Dinos (4-1 / 288 points) were the biggest losers in the sixth poll of the campaign, dropping four spots to eighth position after suffering their first conference defeat since 2017.
Rounding out the new top 10 are the No. 3 Laval Rouge et Or (3-1 / 417 points / no change), No. 4 McMaster Marauders (4-1 / 332 / up one position), No. 5 Guelph Gryphons (4-2 / 323 / up one), No. 6 Acadia Axemen (5-0 / 299 / up one), No. 7 Saskatchewan Huskies (3-2 / 297 / up two), No. 8 Alberta Golden Bears (4-1 / 204 / up one), as well as the previously unranked Waterloo Warriors (4-1 / 204) at No. 10.
Alberta edged Waterloo for ninth place thanks to a higher number of media votes. The Warriors crack the national top 10 for the first time since the Sept. 19, 2017 poll (No. 9) and for only the second time since 2007.
Top-ranked Western extended a pair of impressive OUA winning streaks Saturday at Windsor. Thanks to four touchdown passes from veteran quarterback Chris Merchant and 593 yards of total offence, the Mustangs are now undefeated in 26 straight games overall against OUA opponents dating back to the 2016 Yates Cup final and 28 straight in regular season action dating back to Week 2 of the same campaign.
At Montreal, things weren’t as easy for the RSEQ-leading Carabins, who edged visiting Concordia 20-17 thanks to a blocked field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile at Saskatoon, Calgary suffered a 29-15 setback against the now seventh-ranked Huskies, who also handed the Dinos their only loss of 2018, a 43-18 upset in the Canada West championship match.
Other Week 6 results from top 10 squads included Guelph 33, Ottawa 6 (at Guelph); Acadia 24, Bishop’s 12 (at Bishop’s); Alberta 40, UBC 20 (at UBC); Waterloo 57, York 19 (at Waterloo).
The Week 7 schedule is highlighted by a pair of top 10 confrontations as well as the annual Panda Game in the nation’s capital, all on Saturday afternoon.
At London, No. 1 Western puts its winning streaks on the line against No. 10 Waterloo. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, live on OUA TV (tape delayed on Rogers TV).
Also at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Carleton (2-3) and Ottawa (3-2) meet at TD Place Stadium in the 51st Panda Game (live on OUA TV and Rogers TV). The fall classic has attracted over 22,000 fans each of the past three years.
Then at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT, the Battle of Alberta takes centre stage at McMahon Stadium, where the No. 8 Dinos hope to rebound on home turf against the No. 9 Golden Bears (live on Canada West TV Presented by Co-op).
For the second straight season, U SPORTS is using the ELO Rating System for the calculation of its weekly national rankings. Powered by RankR, ELO’s unique algorithm blends a statistical calculation with customized variables that is adaptable across a range of sports. For football, it will be combined with the results of the Football Reporters of Canada panel balloting (each weighted 50%) to produce the final top 10.
|
Rank |
School |
Record |
Media Points (1st place) |
ELO Points
|
Total Points |
Previous Ranking |
|
1 |
Western |
6-0 |
234 (11) |
240 |
474 |
1 |
|
2 |
Montreal |
5-0 |
227 (5) |
224 |
451 |
2 |
|
3 |
Laval |
3-1 |
209 |
208 |
417 |
3 |
|
4 |
McMaster |
4-1 |
188 |
144 |
332 |
5 |
|
5 |
Guelph |
4-2 |
147 |
176 |
323 |
6 |
|
6 |
Acadia |
5-0 |
107 |
192 |
299 |
7 |
|
7 |
Saskatchewan |
3-2 |
137 |
160 |
297 |
9 |
|
8 |
Calgary |
4-1 |
160 |
128 |
288 |
4 |
|
9 |
Alberta |
4-1* |
140 |
64 |
204 |
10 |
|
10 |
Waterloo |
4-1* |
92 |
112 |
204 |
NR |
* In case of a tie in total points, the tie-breaker is number of points from the media vote.
Honourable mentions: Manitoba (129), Saint Mary’s (115), Ottawa (103), Laurier (94), Carleton (43).