From the by the numbers section
Here at the top 10(as per Darly Slade who wrote the article) teams who finished first in their division and did not get to the cup.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1981 (11 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie) - Not the most dominant regular season ever, but it won more games than the rest of the East Division teams combined (10), then was humiliated 17-13 by Ottawa(5-11-0) in the East final.
Edmonton Eskimos 1989 (16-2-0) - Still hold the CFL record for wins in a regular season, but were shocked 32-21 by eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-9-0) in the West final.
Ottawa Rough Riders 1949 (11-1-0) - Lost only once during the year, but was swept two straight by Montreal Alouettes in the best-of-three division final.
Saskatchewan Roughriders 1970 (14-2-0) - Finished 10 points ahead of Calgary (9-7-0), but lost 15-14 on final play of deciding game of best-of-three West final on legendary field goal by Stampeders’ Larry Robinson.
Toronto Argonauts 1988 (14-2-0) - Similarly ran away with division, but humbled 27-11 in East final by Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-7-0).
Calgary Stampeders 2000 (12-5-1) – Dominated the West, but were outplayed 37-23 in division final by British Columbia Lions, who became first team to win Grey Cup with losing record (8-10-0).
Montreal Alouettes 2004 (14-4-0) - Coasted to first place but were beaten 26-18 by Toronto Argonauts (10-7-1).
Calgary Stampeders 1994 (15-3-0) - Led division wire to wire with quarterback Doug Flutie and never trailed West final until his brother Darren Flutie caught touchdown pass on final play to give British Columbia Lions (11-6-1) a 37-36 win.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1960 (14-2-0) - Would have been first team to win 5 straight Grey Cups (1958-62), if not for 2-1 loss to Edmonton Eskimos (10-6-0) in best-of-three final.
Edmonton Eskimos 1957 (14-2-0) - Had string of 3 Grey Cup victories end with 2-1 series loss to Winnipeg (12-4-0), which won first of 4 championships in 5 years.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Edmonton 1997 (12-6-0); Calgary 1993 (15-3-0); Edmonton 1953 (12-4-0); British Columbia 1999 (13-5-0);
Hamilton 1952 (9-2-1); Winnipeg 1952 (12-3-1). Saskatchewan 1968 (12-3-1); British Columbia 1984 (12-3-1); Ottawa 1978 (11-5-0).
Just goes to show any thing can happen in the wackey world of football...cruise into the conference final with the best record in the CFL...a couple of fumbles and the QB throws a few picks, next thing you know, your going home instead of playing the next week in the Big game..
The article reminds us there may still be hope of second chance (postseason glory) for lowly teams reaching the playoffs. Whichever team performs best in 2-3 weeks wins the Grey cup. Frankly, I think the playoffs are an overhyped mini version of regular season. Regular season of 18 games is a better measure of teams strengths. Alot harder to overachieve in all 18 games. Also regular season is more important for financial health of teams.
I agree,what the playoffs need is a bestof series. Before anyone laughs look at number 3.
In a best of series you eliminate the bad bounce or fumble or even a bad call that can lead to a inferior team beating a superior one. It would be difficult to do but it would be nice
Yeah, but the only time the Riders won in my lifetime was because we had some no-name running back (Brian Walling if I remember correctly) sneak through on a snowy field for a 50+ yard touchdown run.
If we couldn't have fluked out on beating Edmonton that year, I'd have never seen us win, and with the way things are going, may never see it again.
Besides, to fit in a series, all the games would have to be played in Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto as we'd go into December before the Grey Cup was awarded. And there aren't too many places in this country that even have the chance to be warm at that time of year.
Maybe they could go with the 2 game total point idea that used to be used, that would somewhat alleviate the bad call/ bad bounce problem. However, that is a part of football to have to deal with things of that nature, it would kind of take the fun out of it, dontcha think?
2 was a glorius day for all rider fans. I remember watching the game in my basement with all my family and my neighbours family, who were edmonton fans. It was a great time. I was only 8 but I rember it clearly, well not much from the game, but i remember the evening. Actually I still have the tape of that game. I might have to watch that one of these days.
GREAT thread....now......Do you know how many teams have had their player WIN the , CFL's most outsatnding player award , BUT NOT, the GREY CUP, AS WELL, in that same year?
Yeah, thats what bothers me about the hype regarding the perfect season. We need Edmonton and Montreal to beat us once, just to bring us down to reality and not be over confident. I'd rather lose to them in the regular season than the playoffs.
