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Old 09-16-2019, 01:50 PM   #16
dash_pinched
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On that note though, there's been talk in recent years of changing the university football playoff format as the AUS has languished behind the RSEQ, OUA, and Canada West conferences. The earliest that we will see any kind of change will be 2020.

Regular blowouts. Playoff teams with 2-6 records. Bowl games that are losing their lustre.

The Canadian university football playoff structure has its share of critics, and cries for change have been growing louder. The Laval Rouge et Or and Western Mustangs are set to square off in Saturday's Vanier Cup in Quebec City, but the path to the championship game has been the subject of much debate.

Count U Sports president and chief executive officer Graham Brown among the group that would like to see adjustments to the post-season setup.

The current playoff format has put a spotlight on the significant gap between the handful of elite teams and the rest of the field in the country's 27-team lineup.

Teams play off within their conferences to set up national semifinals — the Mitchell Bowl and the Uteck Bowl — to determine the teams for the Vanier Cup. For the second year in a row, the Mustangs and Rouge et Or — both undefeated teams — will square off for the title.

Laval outscored the opposition by a staggering total of 117-1 over three playoff games, capped by a 63-0 win against the Atlantic champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men last weekend to secure a rematch at home against the reigning Vanier Cup champion Mustangs, who also rolled through the playoffs.

In Quebec, four of the five conference teams made the post-season, including two 2-6 squads. A different setup is used in the five-team Atlantic conference, where three teams advanced with the top seed getting a first-round bye.

In the six-team Canada West, a 3-5 team qualified as the fourth seed while six teams made the cut in the 11-team Ontario conference.

Athletic directors and conference officials may have differing viewpoints and cost is often one of the biggest issues. In addition, some universities make heavier investments in facilities, coaching and recruiting.

"Our members, they basically refuse to get in the arms race," Atlantic University Sport executive director Phil Currie said Thursday. "It's because it's not congruent with the philosophies they feel university sport is all about. The parity in our (Atlantic) league is fantastic."

However, once the Atlantic champion reaches the final four, it has been a different story. The X-Men's loss extended the conference's Vanier Cup drought to 11 years.

Saint Mary's was the last Atlantic team to win a national semifinal, topping Laval in 2007.

"The AUS schools are very, very committed to football," Brown said. "We need to make sure that our messaging around the playoff structure doesn't in any way insult the effort
and monies and commitment they have to the game because they're a big part of the fabric of it historically and just in general."


https://www.thespec.com/sports-story...orts-ceo-says/
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