It’s not a new sentiment, but lately I’ve been thinking about how great a midseason stretch of inter-conference games would be.
Imagine Weeks 3, 4, and 5 of the U SPORTS football season being dedicated to unique matchups across the country. We could get to see Laval take on UBC, Bishop’s take on Queens, or Western take on Regina.
Cost and scheduling nightmare aside, the entertainment value of midseason U SPORTS games would go through the roof. We would also finally be able to see how the conference leaders stack up with one another way before we got to elimination games.
Unfortunately we don’t live in this world, but if we did, these are four of the matchups I’d want to see this season.
Western–UBC
Who remembers the 1982 Vanier Cup? How about the 1986 championship? UBC won both games, 39-14 & 25-23 respectively. These two teams have not played since.
Two of the country’s biggest programs, these schools currently have two of the all-time coaching greats calling the shots. Western’s Greg Marshall and UBC’s Blake Nill are two of the winningest U SPORTS coaches of all time with over 300 wins between them, and we’ve only see them face off once.
The matchup was the 2013 Mitchell Bowl. Nill’s Dinos handled Marshall’s Mustangs in a Calgary blizzard that day, but why have we been depraved of a round two over the last 12 years?
These two programs have been in the national spotlight a lot in the last decade. At least one team from this pair has played in five of the last nine Vanier Cups. However, they haven’t themselves met in 40 years.
This would be a classic matchup that would inject some life into the middle of the U SPORTS season.
Saskatchewan–Laval
I actually have seen this matchup, which makes the title of this article deceiving. The thing is, I liked round one so much that I want another!
The round one that I’m referring to was the 2022 Vanier Cup. Laval edged out the Huskies in a 30-24 affair, but take my word for it: Saskatchewan came to play that day.
Then-Huskies' quarterback Mason Nyhus threw for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns and his counterpart Arnaud Desjardins matched an extraordinary effort with 396 passing yards of his own. There was a combined 975 yards of total offence in the game.
Again, these are two of the biggest programs in the nation. Although they have met in the national playoffs several times over the past two decades (four times to be exact), I’m sure no one would object to a regular season tilt between the two.
Laurier–Montreal
The 2024 Vanier runner up versus the 2023 Vanier Cup champions. If the start to this U SPORTS season has showed us anything, it’s that clearly both programs are still humming. A midseason clash would be a heavyweight tilt.
Laurier has never played Montreal in a regular season or playoff game, they have however played before in the preseason.
Imagine Laurier’s explosive offence clashing with a top RSEQ defence. Laurier lost the Vanier Cup to Laval last year on such terms by a score of 22-17, but the game was exciting right up until the end.
In fact, Laurier’s defence kept Laval out of the end zone all day. That’s right, Laval won that game with six field goals and two safeties.
I’m sure that losing a national championship in this fashion has left a bitter taste in the defending Yates Cup champions’ mouths, which would make another game against a top RSEQ program electric.
Montreal on the other hand would love to flex their muscle outside of Quebec. The program has been one of the nation’s strongest over the last decade, even winning the Vanier Cup in 2014 and 2023. Unfortunately for them, and U SPORTS fans, the Carabins have been on the wrong side of Laval more times than not during these years.
This means that we’ve only seen Montreal play nine out of conference games in 5 different seasons (Uteck Bowl, Mitchell Bowl, & Vanier Cup) over the last 10 years. The program has a 6-3 record in these games.
To me that’s not enough prime time for a team that’s consistently ranked in the top four nationally every week.
Regina–Bishop’s
Both teams lost in separate national semi-final games last year. Both have returned starting quarterbacks along with many other key pieces. It would be a great game to watch.
The Rams’ electric rushing attack and stout defence against Justin Quirion and a strong AUS aerial assault. Would the defending Canada West champs stand on business or would the reigning AUS champs shock the nation?
It’s true that an AUS team hasn’t won an out of conference game since the 2007 Saint Mary’s Huskies, but unless we’re ready to write off the Atlantic completely the conference’s top teams need to play in competitive games more often.
Through two weeks of the AUS season there are three programs that are undefeated (Saint Mary’s 2-0, Bishop’s 1-0, St. FX 1-0,). Through these four games, the winning team has outscored their opponents 159-21.
As the old saying goes, pressure either creates diamonds or bursts pipes. If these teams actually got to compete with out of conference programs on a regular basis, there’s no telling where the competition level could go.