It could very well be the Top 4 in CFL West have records above .500, most well above .500 while ALL the eastern teams may have records under .500
Beauty of this beautiful but scarred league is that a minus .500 team will take on a Super Plus .500 team for the league championship.
But here's the rub. Knowing you don't need much more than 8-10 or 9-9 to achieve 1st in East, 2nd may be 7-11 you can spend most of the regular season toying with your lineup and your purpose. Essentially, an 18 game exhibition season where you just have to win enough games to qualify for 1st or 2nd in the weak division.
Yep, they'll certainly be a chaser from the West arrive come November as the designated crossover but by then the eastern teams could actually be peaking and near injury free. They might even be a good Vegas underdog bet.
I think coaches will always start their best players until a playoff spot is locked down. There are eastern teams getting better and anybody is beatable on any given day.
Many underdog teams have won the Cup in recent years, so I have to agree with you on betting that way.
Could be a good payout.
On the other hand, the crossover squad has to win 2 away games over a 7 or 8 day period - and the teams they have to beat won’t resemble the trash and disorganization they presented the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the season.
What i would do is when the crossover occurs, the second team in the west is offered the crossover spot, if they dont want it the third team has the choice, if not then the normal 4th space takes it.
The second team would have home in semi but the 3rd and 4th wouldnt.
It might tempt over BC or Calgary say this season.
I think it would give opportunity for two west teams to make it and maybe force the east to improve if they miss out.
I dont disagree. But if they want to keep the east and west but partly reward better regular seasons then this might be it.
Since i have followed cfl off the top of my head i can only think of 1 Hamilton season that matched the best in west 2014. (Though imo part of this is late finishes when the east travel west and play evening games).
I would say that it is always unlikely for a crossover team to make it to the Grey Cup game, but a dozen or so weeks into the season it looks as likely as I can remember. Unless an East team gets it together (Montreal?), I can see one of Sask/Calgary/BC with Rourke back running the table in the East.
excellent point. it should be just one division. six make it with a bye week for the top two. also, it might balance the sched a little more. in a 9 team league with some teams playing each other 4 times and others once. stamps play edm 4 times and wpg and bc 3 each and sask twice only. even it out.
It’s certainly all speculation with almost half a season to go, but Sask has a way of beating Winnipeg in the Labour Day Classic no matter what their respective records are. I think they probably have to win this weekend to have any realistic hope of finishing higher than 4th.
Calgary already has four losses but they were against the teams above them. It is certainly possible that they finish second ( they won’t finish ahead of the Bombers who are 4 games up with 7 to go). They would have to be the favourite to finish second taking into account BC’s QB situation, but they still have to win those games.
BC could tumble, especially if they have to rely on Pipkin for any length of time. We don’t know much about O’Connor’s injury. They couldn’t beat Sask, which you referred to as overrated, with their third string QB and may have trouble winning if that remains the status quo.
The best bet in the West, it appears to me, is that the Bombers are very likely to finish first.
There are many in the threads you speak of that favour one division, at least until expansion takes place. I include myself. It may even be a majority.
