OUA Football Tiebreakers Heading into Final Weekend

BURLINGTON, Ont. – Ontario University Athletics (OUA) has determined the possible following playoff scenarios depending on the outcomes from games taking place this Saturday, October 21.

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, there are eight teams who have a chance to keep their Yates Cup hopes alive, while the remaining three (Toronto, York, and Windsor) have all been eliminated from postseason contention.

The final weekend will see the No. 1 Western Mustangs (7-0) host the No. 4 uOttawa Gee-Gees (5-2); a battle between the No. 2 McMaster Marauders (6-1) and No. 3 Laurier Golden Hawks (5-2); the No. 5 Guelph Gryphons (4-3) hitting the road to take on the No. 7 Carleton Ravens (3-4); and the No. 8 Queen’s Gaels (3-4) visiting the Toronto Varsity Blues (1-6). The No. 6 ranked Waterloo Warriors have the bye week and will close out the season with a 4-4 record.

Western, McMaster, Laurier, Ottawa, and Guelph have all clinched a postseason berth heading into the final weekend, while Carleton, Queen’s, and Waterloo will battle for the final playoff spot. Despite having five teams already confirmed, there is still much to be decided in terms of their seeding beyond the Mustangs, who secured the top ranking earlier in the season.

Some of the potential outcomes coming from this weekend’s schedule of play are as follows:

• The winner of the McMaster v. Laurier game will finish as the second playoff seed, unless there is a combination of a Laurier win and Ottawa win over Western. This scenario would leave three teams (McMaster, Laurier, and Ottawa) with a 6-2 record, and would give McMaster the No. 2 ranking.
• The Gryphons could finish anywhere from No. 3 (with a win over Carleton and losses from Laurier and Ottawa) to No. 6 (with a loss against Carleton).
• Laurier, currently at No. 3, can still secure a bye in the quarterfinal action with a win against the Marauders this weekend.  A win against Mac plus a win from Ottawa, however, means that the Golden Hawks could slip to the No. 4 seed based on the tiebreaker. Similarly, losses from Laurier, Ottawa, and Guelph would also leave Laurier in the No. 4 position.
• Ottawa, currently in the No. 4 position, are most likely to finish the season in that position given the potential scenarios. Even with a win over the Mustangs, the only way the team can move to the No. 3 seed is with win from McMaster over Laurier as well. A Gee-Gees loss coupled with wins from both Guelph and McMaster, however, and the team will fall to the fifth seed, as Guelph holds the tiebreaker over Ottawa.
• Waterloo has played out their schedule and will finish with a .500 record. Currently holding the No. 6 seed, the Warriors will need losses from both Queen’s and Carleton to maintain that position; otherwise they will fall out of the playoff picture.
• The Queen’s Gaels need to win their final game to have a shot at making the playoffs, but even a victory doesn’t guarantee them a postseason berth. In addition to their own win, the Gaels will also need a loss from Carleton against Guelph. This would give Queen’s the sixth seed, as they hold the tiebreaker over Waterloo.
• A loss from Carleton against Guelph effectively ends their season, bringing their record to 3-5. The Ravens will need to win against the Gryphons on Saturday to secure their spot, but heading into this final weekend, the team faces a win-and-you’re-in situation, as they would hold the tiebreaker over both Queen’s (should the Gaels win) and Waterloo.

To arrive at the previously mentioned results, the OUA Tie Break Procedures have been utilized.

Fans can catch all of this weekend’s action on OUA.tv to see who secures their spot and who will be left on the outside looking in. Following this weekend’s action, the playoffs will kick off the follow week, with the quarterfinals being hosted on October 28^th and semifinal action on November 4^th. The province’s biggest game will occur on November 11^th with the 110^th Yates Cup kicking off at 1:00pm.