Top 27 for Sept 9

I'll let you know when I get College Colours back online (I swear, I'm working on it), but in the meantime look here for your CIS fix.

You should be looking here anyway. The Top 27 below the jump:


Top 27 for Sept 9
* indicates biggest drop
** biggest gain

No. 27 – York. (-1)

Um, yeah….

No. 26 - Toronto (-1)

Let’s be honest. A week one win does not indicate some kind of miracle breakthrough. But the Blues still look better than York. Baby steps. It’s all about the baby steps.

No. 25 – McGill (-1)

Connell got his yards, but an absolute inability to stop Sherb was telling. The Redmen will be hard pressed to find a win in ’08.

No. 24 – Waterloo (+3)

A really nice little win over a program that the Warriors couldn’t touch for years, but that week one loss to Toronto lingers.

No. 23 – McMaster (–7)*

Well that was unexpected. It was understood that MAC was in a rebuilding season, but losing to Waterloo. Badly. The week after the Warriors lost to Toronto. It’s a bit hard to wrap your head around it. And with Ottawa on the schedule next, it isn’t getting any easier for the former powers.

No. 22 – Mount Allison (-2)

The Mounties are clearly a better team than what was typical in Sackville in the early part of this decade. But, they still don’t really know how to win. Hosting Sherbrooke in week two should prove to be a very interesting barometer.

No. 21 – UBC (+2)

CanWest made little sense last week, with upsets a galore. UBC was no exception with Alberta playing the patsy to the upstart Thunderbirds. We need to see more before a big turn up the rankings occurs.

No. 20 – Simon Fraser (+1)

Bye week. A small move up because of MAC’s drop.

No. 19 – Bishop’s University (-1)

All you need to know about BU’s week one loss: Jamall Lee 14 carries, 56 yards. Bishop’s will need a lot more if it is to close the gap on the top three in Quebec.

No. 18 – St. Francis Xavier (+4)

The X-Men did one very important thing in week one. They won. And, despite some previously expressed misgivings about leadership at the school, it’s time to just judge the X-Men for what happens on the field. There, you would still like to see the team tighten up a little in the secondary and, if you believe them to be contenders, you would hope that they would put a little more distance between themselves and a team like Mount Allison. It’s a big test this weekend, with a trip to Montreal. It’s a great opportunity for the X-Men to shut up all the know-nothing critics.

No. 17 – Alberta (-5)

Again, it was a mess in CanWest last week. But, with Alberta’s loss to UBC it appears that the Golden Bears are closer to the bottom half of CanWest than they are to the top.

No. 16 – Sherbrooke (+1)

Sherb did what it was supposed to do in week one against McGill. Another apparent easy touch awaits in week one of the interlock against MtA. If the Vert et Or are to move up they will need to run away with that game.

No. 15 – Wilfrid Laurier (-1)

WLU is an intriguingly athletic team, with lots of raw potential. Although not a top 10 team at this point of the schedule, the potential is there for the Golden Hawks to challenge by season’s end—-although 2009 seems more likely.

No. 14 – Regina (-4)

We will give the Rams the (slight) benefit of the doubt as they opened things up with two tough games. But, they had better use this week’s bye to full advantage because they are one more loss from dropping like a rock.

No. 13 – Windsor (NC)

They have yet to be challenged, but any team with a back as talented as Daryl Stephenson deserves to be taken seriously. Guelph will provide a interesting match-up in week three.

No. 12 – Guelph (+3)

Guelph will not win a championship in 2008—the secondary is a little too soft and they are way too inconsistent on the attack. But, they will take out one of the big boys. They likely have the most explosive offense in the league. That big strike capability that took Laurier down last year will not be kept at bay all year.

No. 11 – Calgary (+8)**

Was that the game that finally kicked of the Dinos resurgence? Maybe, but we need to see it once more before the top 10 beckons.

No. 10 – Manitoba (-6)

Calgary hung one on them, but there is too much recent history to throw the Bisons completely under the bus just yet. Still, a big result—not just a win, that should be expected—against UBC is needed to stay up

No. 9 – Acadia (+2)

The Axemen nearly pulled the upset off in week one. And, although this isn’t 2001, it’s still an accomplishment to get a win at the Tower—even when SMU is missing its starting QB. It will be an even bigger accomplishment if AU gets a result this week—Laval is coming to town.

No. 8 – Concordia (+1)

The week two smackdown against BU didn’t really prove anything that close followers of the game didn’t already know—the Stingers are a top three team in the Q, Bishop’s really isn’t.

No. 7 – The GOLDEN Gaels (+1)

It’s not yet time to get too picky about the GOLDEN Gaels performance. However, Guelph scored a little too easily at times Saturday for comfort. Another interesting game this week when Laurier comes to town. How will the GOLDEN Gaels handle a game with their GOLDEN counterparts when going in as the favourite.

No. 6 – Montreal (+1)

There was lots to take hope from in Montreal’s closer-than-some-might-have-thought loss to big, bad Laval. For one, the Carabins moved the ball a bit. Sure, they didn’t actually score many points, but at least they were moving the ball. Although it doesn’t seem like they will have enough to seriously challenge the Rouge et Or moving forward, it didn’t seem impossible.

No. 5 – Ottawa (+1)

The sure fire way to get over a tough week one loss against Western? Go all Slovakia on CIS’ worst team.

No. 4 – University of Western Ontario (+1)

Western made some nice adjustments early in last week’s game with Laurier and took advantage of solid veteran leadership and poise to beat their purple rivals for the first time in six outings. They should have won. At this point in the season, Western is the better team and, so long as they go out and do what they are capable of the rest of the way, the ‘Stangs have set themselves up to host the Yates.

No. 3 – Saint Mary’s University (-2)

Questions at the QB position made it a short stay at No. 1. But, if Erik Glavic can get healthy SMU will be back to challenge for top spot (and it’s worth noting that the Huskies, you know, won last week).

No. 2 – Saskatchewan (+1)

The western dogs just keep on keepin’ on. The only CanWest team consistently performing early on.

No. 1 – Laval (+1)

Back where most think they belong, but not nearly as dominant in the week one win versus Montreal as we’ve seen in year’s past. No. 1, yes, but not quite a slam dunk anymore.