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Quebec university football playoff picture a puzzling quagmire

Published: 27 October 2009

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MONTREAL - With just one week remaining in the regular season, all six Quebec University Football League teams remain in contention for the playoffs, setting up arguably, the most intriguing weekend ever in Quebec football history.

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There is a plethora of permutations for potential playoff match-ups as four teams, the McGill Redmen, Bishop's Gaiters, Concordia Stingers and Sherbrooke Vert & Or are currently tied for the final two playoff positions with identical 3-4 records.

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The defending Canadian champion Laval Rouge et Or, currently ranked No.1 in the country with a 6-1 record, are one of two teams that have clinched a playoff berth, locking up first place last weekend with a 22-5 victory over Sherbrooke. The Montreal Carabins are the only other team assured of having an invitation to the post-season dance with a 4-3 record, but they can finish anywhere between second and fourth, depending on this weekend's results.

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All three QUFL games will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. with SRC, the CBC's French-language network, televising the Sherbrooke-Montreal match-up from CEPSUM Stadium in Montreal. The other games will pit Concordia at Bishop's and Laval at McGill.

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Laval will visit Percival Molson Stadium to face the Redmen. After back-to-back winless seasons, McGill has been the surprise of the 2009 campaign, with victories over Sherbrooke, Bishop's and Mount Allison this year. They are now set up for a showdown against the defending national champions and need a win for the best chance of a berth in post-season play. McGill's last regular season conquest against Laval came on Oct. 27, 2001 when the Redmen toppled the Rouge et Or 29-23 at Molson Stadium. On the other side of the ball, Laval has already wrapped up their fifth consecutive regular season crown and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

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Should the Redmen lose, they could still qualify for playoffs on the condition that Montreal beats Sherbrooke and Concordia gets the upper hand on Bishop's. If McGill upsets Laval, they would qualify for playoffs in three of four scenarios but would miss the post-season if Sherbrooke knocks off the Carabins and Bishop's defeats Concordia.

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Looking at the Sherbrooke-Montreal match-up, the Vert & Or have won the previous two games between the institutions, including the most recent contest two weeks ago when Sherbrooke their playoff hopes alive with a 34-15 home field win over the Carabins. Sherbrooke is 0-3 on the road this season but Montreal has lost two straight contests and may be without the services of starting quarterback Marc-Olivier Brouillette who was reported to have suffered a concussion in last week's loss to Bishop's. The Vert & Or must win on Saturday in order to qualify for the playoffs, while a Montreal win will earn them second place and home-field advantage in the semifinal.

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In another game featuring a pair of teams battling for their playoff lives, Bishop's will host Concordia at Coulter Field in Lennoxville. The Gaiters stunned the Carabins last week, earning a 21-16 upset over the Montreal squad, while the Stingers topped McGill 30-25 in the 41st annual Shaughnessy Cup match. This is the only meeting of the season between Concordia and Bishop's. The squads split their season series last year, with Concordia winning 30-15 at home, while the Gaiters rebounded for a 33-25 victory at Coulter Field.



Please see the attached table for details about the QUFL tiebreakers:

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2009 QUFL tie breakers
Scenario 1
Position University W L Differential
Laval defeats McGill 1 Laval 7 1 vs McGill vs Sherbrooke vs Bishop's Total différentiel
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô defeats Sherbrooke 2 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 5 3 McGill X 18 -3 15
Concordia defeats Bishop's 3 Concordia 4 4 Sherbrooke -18 X 5 -13
4 McGill 3 5 Bishop's 3 -5 X -2
5 Sherbrooke 3 5*
6 Bishop's 3 5
*Sherbrooke wins tie breaker against Bishop's on point differential
Scenario 2
Position University W L
Laval defeats McGill 1 Laval 7 1
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô defeats Sherbrooke 2 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 5 3
Bishop's defeats Concordia 3 Bishop's 4 4
4 Concordia 3 5*
5 McGill 3 5**
6 Sherbrooke 3 5
*Concordia wins tie breaker against McGill (+5) and Sherbrooke (+2)
**McGill wins the tie breaker against Sherbrooke (+18)
Scenario 3
Position University W L Differential
Laval defeats McGill 1 Laval 7 1 vs ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô vs Sherbrooke vs Concordia Total différentiel
Sherbrooke defeats ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 2 Sherbrooke 4 4* ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô X -19 23 4
Concordia defeats Bishop's 3 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 4 4** Concordia -23 2 X -21
4 Concordia 4 4 Sherbrooke 19 X -2 17
5 Bishop's 3 5
6 McGill 3 5
* Sherbrooke wins the differential
** ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô wins tie breaker against Concordia on differential
Scenario 4
Position University W L
Laval defeats McGill 1 Laval 7 1
Sherbrooke defeats ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 2 Sherbrooke 4 4*
Bishop's defeats Concordia 3 Bishop's 4 4**
4 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 4 4
5 Concordia 3 5
6 McGill 3 5
*Sherbrooke wins tie breaker against Bishop's (+5) and ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô (+x)
** Bishop's wins the tie break against ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô (+5)
Scenario 5
Position University W L
McGill defeats Laval 1 Laval 6 2
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô defeats Sherbrooke 2 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 5 3
Concordia defeats Bishop's 3 Concordia 4 4*
4 McGill 4 4
5 Sherbrooke 3 5
6 Bishop's 3 5
* Concordia defeats McGill (30-25)
Scenario 6
Position University W L
McGill defeats Laval 1 Laval 6 2
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô defeats Sherbrooke 2 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 5 3
Bishop's defeats Concordia 3 Bishop's 4 4*
4 McGill 4 4
5 Concordia 3 5
6 Sherbrooke 3 5
* McGill wins head-to-head tie breaker against Bishop's on differential (Win 25-20, loss 21-19 (+3)
Scenario 7
Position University W L
McGill defeats Laval 1 Laval 6 2
Sherbrooke defeats ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 2 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 4 4*
Concordia defeats Bishop's 3 Concordia 4 4
4 McGill 4 4
5 Sherbrooke 4 4
6 Bishop's 3 5
*²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô and Concordia win tie breakers against McGill and Sherbrooke to create a new tie for second place
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô awarded second place over Concordia on differential (+23)
McGill awarded fourth place over Sherbrooke on differential (+18)
Scenario 8
Position University W L
McGill defeats Laval 1 Laval 6 2
Sherbrooke defeats ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 2 Sherbrooke 4 4*
Bishop's defeats Concordia 3 Bishop's 4 4
4 ²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô 4 4
5 McGill 4 4
6 Concordia 3 5
*Sherbrooke and Bishop's win tie breakers against McGill and Concordia to create a new tie for second place
Sherbrooke awarded second place over Bishop's on differential (+5)
²Ñ´Ç²Ô³Ù°ùé²¹±ô awarded fourth place over McGill on differential (+52)

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