Rematches, rivalries, and renewed aspirations headline the 2024 OUA football schedule
Burlington, Ont. – New season, same goals. Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is pleased to announce the schedule for the 2024 football season, with the conference’s latest gridiron gauntlet set to kick off on August 24th.
It will be a trio of games headlining Week 1’s early contests, including Carleton and Guelph, who battled for the final playoff position a season ago; Queen’s and Windsor, who each secured a semifinal spot in 2023; and Wilfrid Laurier and McMaster, with the former finishing as Yates Cup finalists in the 115th edition.
To close out the Week 1 slate the next day, it will be Waterloo hosting Toronto as well as the defending champions from Western heading to Ottawa.
Week 2 will see the final of the 11 teams take to the gridiron for the first time in 2024, as the York Lions welcome the Gee-Gees for their season opener on August 31st. That same day will also feature a rematch of one of last year’s quarterfinals – the first postseason game the Lancers hosted since 2014 that ended with them earning the 14-11 win – as Windsor and the Ravens link up in the nation’s capital.
Playoff rematches will also be on tap just a couple weeks later in Week 4. Another low-scoring quarterfinal clash from 2023 between the Gaels and Gee-Gees will see its latest chapter come to pass, but it won’t be the only storied matchup of the week, as the 115th Yates Cup combatants collide once again. The Hawks, who were vanquished by the victorious Mustangs to close out the 2023 campaign, will welcome Western to Waterloo for a banner season rematch on September 14th.
Rivalry games continue over the proceeding weeks, meanwhile, and the Hawks will go from a battle of the purples to the Battle of Waterloo when they take on the Warriors in Week 5 (Sept. 21st). That same day, it will be the latest Red & Blue Bowl between the Varsity Blues and Lions, hosted by the former, leaving just one set of crosstown rivals set to add to their head-to-head history.
Headlining the Week 7 slate, the Gee-Gees and Ravens put Pedro the Panda on the line once again in the 55th Panda Game. The host Garnet and Grey have come away with the coveted prize on five straight occasions, with two of the last three coming via game-winning kicks. Fans can find out on October 6th at TD Place if those heroics will continue to favour Ottawa or if crosstown Carleton soars to victory for the first time since 2017 in what continues to be one of the biggest varsity events anywhere in the country.
The penultimate week of regular season action sees four games hit the field as part of a condensed Thanksgiving weekend schedule, including the Gryphons’ season finale against the Lions. The remaining 10 teams will see their regular seasons come to an end in Week 9 (Oct. 19th). Those five games, which should present plenty of playoff implications, will see the Marauders host York, the Golden Hawks heading to Carleton, Queen’s playing host to the Warriors, Toronto linking up with the Gee-Gees, and the Lancers heading off to Western.
The quest for the cup then ramps up into the three-week postseason push thereafter, with quarterfinals taking place on October 26th, followed by semifinals on November 2nd, and the 116th Yates Cup to be played on Saturday, November 9th.