At this time of year we start to focus on who is in and who is out of the upcoming CFL playoffs.
We already know who some of the playoff teams will be for the CFL in 2018. Sadly for Toronto and Montreal fans we already know it won’t be their team. Perhaps they will adopt someone else to root for in the post-season, or perhaps to root against (one can think of there being little chance that Argos fans would be cheering on the Ti-Cats for example).
Either way they, like the rest of us, will be expecting to see some fun, fast paced, action packed football once the playoffs begin.
Who’s definitely in?
- Calgary Stampeders
- Saskatchewan Roughriders
- Ottawa REDBLACKS
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Who’s definitely out?
- Montreal Alouettes
- Toronto Argonauts
Who’s on the bubble?
- Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- BC Lions
- Edmonton Eskimos
What happens now?
The East is pretty straightforward. Ottawa and Hamilton are both in the playoffs. Both stand at 8-7 and they play each other home and away over the next 2 weeks. Ottawa currently holds the tie-breaker with one game over Hamilton earlier in the season. Thus splitting those games coupled with a home win over Montreal to finish the season would be enough for Ottawa to clinch top spot.
Whoever wins this tussle will get a bye week and host the Eastern Final whilst the loser will make do with hosting the Eastern Semi-Final
The West is much more complicated. Winnipeg (9-7), BC (8-7), and Edmonton (8-8) are vying for position and all hoping not to be the final team to miss out on post season play. This could provide one of the most tense run-ins to the post-season in recent memory.
As it stands in the West, if Calgary win or tie they will secure first place in the West division again and will host the Western Final. If BC win they clinch a playoff berth and if Saskatchewan win and BC lose or tie then Saskatchewan would have a home playoff date. Edmonton will be hoping to jump above Winnipeg or BC and get themselves into the playoffs.
At this point any one of Winnipeg, BC or Edmonton could finish 2nd or 3rd in the West, get the crossover spot OR be eliminated completely! If they all finish on the same record tie-breakers will come into play but I’m not going to pretend to know how that wold all pay out! With so much to play for there are likely to be some intense games coming up. It should be a lot of fun watching it all unfold.
All images originally from cfl.ca
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