here are no changes to the U SPORTS football national rankings coming out of Thanksgiving weekend.
The Montreal Carabins (4-0) lead the way for the fifth straight week after receiving eight of 15 first-place votes and 140 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel but can now feel the Calgary Dinos (5-0) breathing down their necks. Calgary picked up six first-place nods and 135 points in the latest media poll to close the gap for the third week in a row.
The remaining No. 1 vote went to the third-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (5-1 / 122 points), a first in five weeks for the reigning Vanier Cup champions.
Rounding out the seventh poll of the campaign are the No. 4 Western Mustangs (7-0 / 113), No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (5-1 / 89), No. 6 McMaster Marauders (5-1 / 67), No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds (3-2 / 59), No. 8 Regina Rams (3-2 / 44), No. 9 Saint Mary’s Huskies (4-1 / 32) and No. 10 Guelph Gryphons (3-3 / 11).
Thanksgiving weekend took an unexpected turn for top-ranked Montreal, whose Thursday night tilt against Concordia was cancelled due to public health concerns after a number of U of M players and staff members fell ill. The Carabins, who had a scheduled break the previous week, will play their first game in 22 days when they visit Sherbrooke (1-5) on Saturday afternoon, live on TVA Sports at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
Only four top-10 squads were in action as part of the reduced Thanksgiving schedule, and all prevailed convincingly.
Laval rushed for over 300 yards in a 46-15 road win over Sherbrooke. Western racked up 699 yards of offence in a 51-14 domination of Carleton. Laurier scored two touchdowns in the first six minutes of play en route to a 53-31 decision against York. McMaster took a 28-6 lead to the locker room at halftime on its way to a 43-6 victory over Toronto.
The Week 7 schedule is highlighted by a top-10 battle between No. 5 Laurier and No. 10 Guelph, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, live on Rogers TV and OUA.TV.
Second-ranked Calgary looks to remain undefeated against visiting Manitoba Saturday at 1 p.m. MT (CanadaWest.TV), while the other members of the leading quintet, No. 3 Laval and No. 4 Western, both enjoy a bye this weekend.
The Mitchell Bowl (RSEQ at Canada West) and Uteck Bowl (OUA at AUS) are set for Saturday, Nov. 18, while the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Vanier Cup follows on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. ET at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton… For all the information on the 53rd Vanier Cup (including tickets) visit vaniercup.com.
FRC – U SPORTS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#7)
RANK | SCHOOL | SEASON | VOTES (PTS) | PREVIOUS |
1 | Montreal | (4-0) | 140 (8) | 1 |
2 | Calgary | (5-0) | 135 (6) | 2 |
3 | Laval | (5-1) | 122 (1) | 3 |
4 | Western | (7-0) | 113 | 4 |
5 | Laurier | (5-1) | 89 | 5 |
6 | McMaster | (5-1) | 67 | 6 |
7 | UBC | (3-2) | 59 | 7 |
8 | Regina | (3-2) | 44 | 8 |
9 | Saint Mary’s | (4-1) | 32 | 9 |
10 | Guelph | (3-3) | 11 | 10 |
Week 7 results
October 5
- Queen’s 68, Waterloo 17 (at Queen’s)
- McMaster 43, Toronto 6 (at Toronto)
- Laurier 53, York 31 (at York)
- Concordia at Montreal (cancelled due to public health concerns – will not be rescheduled)
October 6
- Western 51, Carleton 14 (at Western)
October 7
- Mount Allison 32, StFX 15 (at Mount Allison)
- Acadia 27, Bishop’s 24 (at Bishop’s)
- Laval 46, Sherbrooke 15 (at Sherbrooke)
Week 8 schedule
October 14
- StFX (3-3) at Acadia (4-2), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (AUStv.ca)
- Waterloo (4-3) at Ottawa (4-2), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (OUA.TV)
- No. 5 Laurier (5-1) at No. 10 Guelph (3-3), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (Rogers TV & OUA.TV)
- York (1-5) at Queen’s (2-4), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (CHCH & OUA.TV)
- Windsor (0-6) at No. 6 McMaster (5-1), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (OUA.TV)
- Toronto (1-5) at Carleton (2-4), 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT (OUA.TV)
- Bishop’s (1-4) at No. 9 Saint Mary’s (4-1), 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT (Bell Aliant Fibe TV1 & AUStv.ca)
- Concordia (2-3) at McGill (1-4), 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT (StretchTV)
- No. 1 Montreal (4-0) at Sherbrooke (1-5), 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT (TVA Sports)
- No. 8 Regina (3-2) at Alberta (1-4), 3 p.m. ET/noon PT (Sasktel maxTV, TELUS Optik TV, Bell MTS & CanadaWest.TVCanadaWest.TV)
- Manitoba (1-4) at No. 2 Calgary (5-0), 3 p.m. ET/noon PT (CanadaWest.TV)
- No. 7 UBC (3-2) at Saskatchewan (3-3), 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (Sasktel maxTV, TELUS Optik TV, Bell MTS & CanadaWest.TVCanadaWest.TV)