(Previous: Canada West, Ontario, Quebec.)
Seems like they can't have it both ways out East these days. For a while, the AUS regular season was irrelevant since Saint Mary's University (Sm-you) was beating the green goo out of everyone, but that was balanced out by the Huskies winning Vanier Cups.
Now Sm-you has been reduced, if not to rubble, at least to a team that is on par with Acadia and St. Francis Xavier. The AUS is a balanced league for the first time since the late '90s, but it could be many years before it sends another team to the Vanier Cup -- just like the OUA, which went nine seasons without a team in the big game before Laurier's breakthrough in 2005.
The snap reaction is to say Saint Mary's will restore the natural order after having its six-year reign snapped last fall, but yours truly has this complex built up over SMU, Laval or Saskatchewan always being in the national-title hunt, so that's out. Or maybe not, because if SMU doesn't do win it, then who will?
MOUNT ALLISON MOUNTIES'05 Record: 0-8
Reason For Being: You know how every mindless teen sex romp has the geeky guy with glasses who wonders why everyone else is scoring but him? That's Mount A, in a nutshell.
Opener: Sept. 9 at Acadia.
Make or Break: Oct. 21 vs. Bishop's.
Outlook: At least two years away from being a credible team again.
Yours truly was still a student the last time Mount A defeated a conference opponent. Oh, and they were outscored 379-23 last season. (For those you keeping score at home, that's an average whipping of 48-3.)
Mount A has been a revolving door for players. There's some nice parts, like newcomer quarterback Kelly Hughes, a former star in junior football, and versatile tailback Colin Weldon. Defensively, it lost its best player, linebacker Matt Harding, but rumour has it he's been spotted on campus.
As a small school that has the toughest admission standards in Canada, is located in Sackville, New Brunswick, and had its recruiting pipeline into Quebec eroded after three French-language schools started programs, Mount A may be the toughest place to build a good program. So be cautious before predicting a great turnaround for the Mounties.
SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES'05 Record: 4-5, lost semifinal to St. FX
Reason For Being: To remind you the biggest and baddest get to make all the rules.
Opener: Sept. 9 at St. FX
Make or Break: Oct. 7 at Acadia, Oct. 21 at Concordia
Outlook: A bit of a no-name crew coming out of south-end Halifax. May be this year's version of the team that has a so-so 4-4 or 5-3 regular season and then finds something that works in the playoffs.
The Huskies also have their son-of-quarterback who seems to fill observers with nothing but doubt, even as he's putting up numbers. Billy Robinson Jr., a fifth-year passer, tossed 17 TD passes in '05, but to hear some people talk, it seems he can make all the throws, just not The Throw.
Saint Mary's, with head coach Steve Sumurah now in charge after several years as offensive co-ordinator under Blake Nill, is never going to be a bad team, certainly not as long as they're in a four-team league. It seems too hasty to write them off, even though neither of their cross-over games (Concordia and Montréal) look winnable, and the team's overall depth and talent has dropped since the 2001-03 glory years.
They're still half-decent, with an O-line anchored by veteran Isaac Robinson, backs and receivers out the ying-yang and a defence led by lineman Tim Burris and D-backs Aaron Knights and Jeff Zelinski. It's kind of no-name crew, but if it's possible for Saint Mary's to ever fly under the radar screen, then don't rule out it happening. It's basically a two-game season for them, since Mount A's struggles assure everyone else of a playoff spot.
ACADIA AXEMEN'05 Record: 6-4, lost to Laurier in Uteck Bowl national semi-final
Reason For Being: With a name like Axemen, they don't need to justify anything.
Opener: Sept. 9 vs. Mount Allison
Make or Break: Sept. 15 at Saint Mary's
Outlook: Shaky. Very shaky.
Defending conference champion Acadia (how weird is it to type that?) is probably a safe pick to repeat for the first time since 1994-95. The D has a playmaker in end Kyle Markin. Offensively, Chris Judd is a pretty good quarterback and he'll be throwing to Ivan Birungi and Matt Carter, a solid No. 2 receiver. (The tandem combined for 17 TD catches in '05).
The schedule is favourable, with early-season trips to Saint Mary's and Laval balanced out with Mount Allison and Sherbrooke. A 6-2 record is achievable, and if Acadia gets that, it will have the bye straight into the AUS final.
So what could possibly go wrong? Well, there are three new starters on the offensive line to work in, and the defence has to replace shutdown corner Eric Nielson, along with two other AUS all-stars. Again, if you want a safe pick to win the Jewett Trophy, go with Acadia, but you know what can happen with safe picks.
Acadia's success likely hinges on three-game stretch in mid-season when it has its dates with St. FX sandwiched around Saint Mary's visit to Wolfville.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER X-MEN'05 Record: 6-4, lost to Acadia in final
Reason For Being: To give X fans a reason to ask, "How long until basketball season starts?"
Opener: Sept. 9 vs. Saint Mary's
Make or Break: Home-and-home with Acadia, Sept. 30 and Oct. 14 Outlook: Could win the conference, or could lose to everyone but Mount A -- and even then they might only get a split.
It's not for nothing that the X-Men's uniforms remind you of when Tobias Bluth, David Cross' character on Arrested Development, tried to join Blue Man Group. Like the Bluth family, the X-Men's potential for farce tends to be off the charts -- just witness last year's playoffs, when X, fresh off laying a 47-29 hurtin' on Saint Mary's that inspired schadenfreude from coast-to-coast, went out the next week and got pole-axed 69-6 by Acadia in the conference final.
Coach John Bloomfield is under scrutiny since the school admin. have put more money into the program, and are expecting results. Offensively, X has the Chris Weinke of the CIS, 29-year-old quarterback Justin Connors, a former NCAA D-2 player. Marvin McCooty is a good running back when he's healthy, and X believes it will have a decent line despite losing Derek Armstrong to the CFL.
Defensively, there's some newbies with NCAA D-1 experience in linebacker Jason Krupinski (Middle Tennessee) and safety Travis Noel (Marshall), but you know the flip side to taking in transfers -- sometimes it can mean inheriting someone else's problems.
So X could be the most peaks-and-valleys team in the AUS, perhaps the whole CIS. They could be a darkhorse, but most likely the conference comes down to Acadia and Saint Mary's.
Predicted order of finish: 4) Mount A 3) St. FX 2) Saint Mary's 1) Acadia. Conference champion: (oh no, anyone but) Saint Mary's.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So do bowl matchups of Alberta-Ottawa and Saint Mary's-Montréal sound right? It would be different, to say the least, especially if the first Vanier Cup played west of Ontario featured two eastern teams.
In most likelihood we're doomed to see Laval and Saskatchewan playing for the title on Nov. 25, but do not go gently into the goodnight.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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