Powerhouses Laval and Western have been mainstays in the U Sports football final four in recent years. Both teams are now watching this post-season from the outside.
Instead, Acadia will host Montreal in the Loney Bowl and McMaster will visit Calgary in the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday. The Rouge et Or and Mustangs, who split Vanier Cup meetings over the last two years, were eliminated last weekend.
The results from the conference finals created a new-look final four without a clear favourite.
"It should be some good semifinal games and we'll see where we get to," said Marauders head coach Stefan Ptaszek. "Parity in the country is seemingly moving in the right direction."
The winners of Saturday's games will meet Nov. 23 in the Vanier Cup at Quebec City's Telus-UL Stadium.
It's the first time since 1998 that the previous year's conference champions were all shut out of the national semifinals.
The Carabins, Laval's only real threat in the five-team Quebec conference, delivered an impressive 25-10 road win last week over the Rouge et Or. Western was unbeaten in the deeper 11-team Ontario conference until dropping a 29-15 decision to the visiting Marauders.
Calgary and Acadia, meanwhile, are both coming off routs. The Dinos dumped Saskatchewan 29-4 and the Axemen whipped Bishop's 31-1.
McMaster, led by quarterback Andreas Dueck, held the No. 3 spot in the final Canadian university football rankings poll of the season. Acadia was fourth, ahead of No. 5 Montreal and No. 7 Calgary.
The Carabins return to the road to face an unbeaten Axemen side that's brimming with confidence.
"There's a level of consistency with our three facets of the game — offence, defence and the kicking game," said Montreal head coach Danny Maciocia. "So that's something that's really pleased me and it's coming at the right time."
The weather forecast is calling for sunny but windy conditions at Raymond Field in Wolfville, N.S. The temperature is expected to hover just below the freezing mark but gusts of 50 km/h are expected.
The Axemen, led by quarterback Hunter Guenard, are brimming with confidence thanks to their unbeaten record.
"The players have a good leadership crew that keeps guys accountable and has them all pushing in the right direction," said Acadia head coach Jeff Cummins.
Acadia is looking to end an 0-8 skid in national semifinal appearances since winning the Vanier Cup in 1981. The last Atlantic conference team to reach the title game was Saint Mary's in 2007.
In Calgary, comfortable, mostly sunny conditions are expected at McMahon Stadium. The Marauders are making their first appearance in the final four since 2014 while the Dinos are returning after a one-year break.
"They can hit you in a bunch of different ways, said Calgary head coach Wayne Harris. "You've got to be able to defend a balanced attack, that's a big part of the game. I'm sure that's why they're in the same position as us. They've got some similarities there."
Adam Sinagra, who won the Hec Crighton Trophy last year, split quarterbacking duties with Josiah Joseph in the Dinos' win last weekend.
Either Laval or Western has been in the national semifinals in 16 of the last 20 post-seasons, with the Rouge et Or winning a whopping 10 titles over that stretch. The Mustangs, who fell to Laval in the 2008 title game, have reached the final four on six occasions since 2007.
TVA Sports, which will provide live coverage of all three remaining U Sports football playoff games, is the French-language broadcaster for the fifth straight year.
CBC, which will provide digital coverage of Saturday's games, has returned as the English-language broadcaster for the Vanier Cup for the first time since 1979.
Notes: Cummins and Carabins assistant coach Anthony Calvillo were teammates on the Las Vegas Posse in 1994, the team's lone season in the CFL. ... Hamilton remains in the mix to pull off a rare double this year with the Tiger-Cats in the CFL's East Division final on Sunday. Edmonton was the last city to win the Vanier Cup and Grey Cup in the same year. In 1980, the Alberta Golden Bears took the university crown and the Eskimos won the CFL title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2019.
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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
