Head-to-head matchups in Week 9 will prove pivotal in determining playoff seeding

Burlington, Ont. – It all comes down to Week 9 of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) football regular season to determine a great deal of the postseason picture, with several head-to-head matchups proving pivotal in the final standings.

Six teams have punched their ticket to the postseason to this point, including one seed being locked up heading into the season’s final five games, while three (McMaster, Toronto, York) have been officially eliminated.

Atop the standings, there are two teams jostling for the No. 1 seed. The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and Western Mustangs have both taken an undefeated route to their final game of the season, and it just so happens that final game will come in head-to-head fashion. Quite simply, the winner between the Mustangs and Hawks will secure the undefeated season, the No. 1 seed, and the bye straight to the semifinals of the Yates Cup playoffs. The losing team will then be the No. 2 seed and host a quarterfinal game the following week.

The Windsor Lancers currently hold the No. 3 spot, and they will remain there regardless of how Week 9 plays out. With a win, the Lancers will stand alone with a 6-2 record in the third spot. Even with a loss, however, leading them to a 5-3 record on the year, they would hold the tiebreaker over either the Queen’s Gaels or Ottawa Gee-Gees, having won against both of them in their previous head-to-head matchups this season.

Much like atop the standings, the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will come down to the Week 9 game between the Queen’s Gaels and Ottawa Gee-Gees. With matching 4-3 records heading into their regular season finale, the winning team will earn the fourth seed, while the losing side will fall to fifth. The former, then, will play host to what would ultimately be a rematch in the quarterfinals the following week.

Another timely head-to-head meeting in Week 9 will be the Carleton Ravens hosting the Guelph Gryphons. The winner of that matchup will earn the No. 6 seed in their quest for the Cup, but the scenarios for the seventh and final seed will play out in three potential scenarios based on tiebreakers.

Should Carleton lose and Waterloo – who plays Toronto – win, both sides would finish with matching 3-5 records. In that scenario, the Ravens will finish in that seventh seed while the Warriors would be eliminated, based on Carleton’s Week 8 comeback win over the Waterloo.

If Waterloo wins and Guelph drops their Week 9 game with Carleton, leaving both teams at 3-5, it will once again go to the head-to-head matchup between the two sides to determine the tiebreaker. Therein, it was Waterloo defeating Guelph in Week 6, thereby ensuring they would earn the No. 7 seed, while Guelph would be eliminated.

Finally, if the Warriors drop their Week 9 matchup, ultimately finishing with a 2-6 record as a result, the losing team in the Carleton-Guelph game would secure the seventh seed with their better record, and the Warriors would be eliminated. Despite identical 3-5 records in this scenario, meanwhile, the Ravens or Gryphons would also hold the tiebreaker over Toronto, given their head-to-head wins over the Varsity Blues in Week 6 and Week 1, respectively.

All Week 9 games will be played on Saturday, October 21st, with the postseason and the quest for the Yates Cup kicking off the following week, on Saturday, October 28th.