Who Gets the Week 1 Bye?

Just a little game. Let's see who can predict.

Vote above and post below, and a little explanation why if you like.

As for me, I know my vote but I won;t vote yet and I'll post my logic a bit later. I don't want to influence the vote yet.

Just for reference:
2014, Week 1 bye Ottawa, Week 20 bye Winnipeg.
2015, Week 1 bye BC, Week 20 bye Edmonton.

Does anybody know when the schedule is released? It's usually Feb some time isn't it?

BC... they don't have their rival...

BC should get their bye on Labour Day so Montreal can play Ottawa.

Is the season starting on Canada day weekend or the weekend before that?

I'd like to see Ottawa host Toronto on Canada day, so if the season starts the week before, I'll give Ottawa the bye in the first week so they can open their season at home against Toronto.

But isn’t the first game of the year usually the Grey Cup re-match?
With Canada Day on Friday this year it will be the first time in at least 4 years that there will be a CFL game on Canada Day. I would like to see the game in the capital, the Snowbird flypast etc

Montreal should get a bye on Canada Day - Quebec has their own National Holiday the week before… :frowning:

Did Quebec become a Nation? No-one told me!

I can see Calgary getting the bye.

Edmonton will play Ottawa.

Sask vs B.C

first choice sask
second choice montreal

if there is any kind of preplanned method of choosing

It should not be any of the last four teams to have byes

doesn't seem to include precious cup winners

third choice for first bye and first choice for second bye is Hamilton.

I’m betting it starts on Thursday, June 30 because the next day’s a holiday so they could get in 4 games by Saturday, with the only double header on Canada Day. And aren’t Thursday night games in the summer fairly popular anyway?

I’m giving the Lions the first bye. That’s a total guess. I can’t really decide if there is rhyme or reason for these decisions beyond specific scheduling issues, most of which have now disappeared with the Argos move to BMO. So if the decision as to which team gets the first bye is totally random, I have an 11% chance of being right :smiley:

I say the Als get the second bye.

Hope so

Did nation become synonymous with country? No one told me!

And...
What week will Toronto have to play two games? :smiley:

It has to start a week earlier than that to have the Grey Cup played on the last Sunday in November. Schedule has 20 weeks (81 games) plus three weeks post-season. Counting back from Nov. 27, schedule will have to start weekend of June 24-25-26 (as it did last season). Canada Day weekend was a good starting point when there were eight teams and 19 weeks of regular season (one bye week each) but it doesn’t work with nine teams.

Yes it is a synonym IE The United Nations
But Country is not the only definition of the word

But my post was not a shot at Quebec, it was a response to what seemed to be a statement claiming that Quebec was not entitled to Canada day because of St Jean Baptist

I Calgary gets the bye

First game of the season for theses two teams - Riders vs Eskimos at Edmonton

Please no, way too early

Should be Ottawa in perpetuity; they are the reason it is needed.

Yeah, when does the schedule usually come out?

I liked the 2014 set up where the last three weeks were divisional games. Unfortunately, the way the East started that year, they will probably never set it up that way again.

If the season remains at 20 weeks (which is 99% with certainty since 19 weeks would force five mid-week games) the season would start around Thursday June 23. Making the season schedule should be way easier since there aren't the same conflicts as last season (FIFA and Pan Am). Unless they wait for more definitive progress on BMO Field, the schedule should be out earlier than last year (Feb 13).

To answer the actual question, what if no team has a bye in week 1? Because there are 81 games, there must be a week that has five games. That week should be week one. I think the kickoff game should be on a Monday night (hosted by the defending champions) followed by the rest of the games. This way, every team gets to play in the first week and there's no awkward Tuesday game in the middle of the season. This was last done in 2004 when Saskatchewan was on the road twice in week one. Pre-season games would be shifted slightly to accommodate for the earlier game featuring two teams, but pre-season is already garbled with nine teams playing nine games.

Yeah that would work. The pre season is three weeks. You can play all but one game in the first two.

The third would basically be a transition week between preseason and the regular season where the extra game of the preseason is played on a Saturday and the extra game of the regular season would be played on Monday.

As far as the first week bye, it should be one of the western teams. Divisional games draw larger crowds in most cases. But opening night draws a large crowd no matter who the opponent is. So it makes sense to do all crossover games for the first two weeks of the season so that every team can score a good opening night draw playing a team that normally doesn't draw all that well in their stadium.