The Saskatchewan Huskies and U-B-C Thunderbirds finished tied in the annual Canada West Conference pre-season football poll.
Scott Flory’s defending Hardy Cup-champion Dogs and Blake Nill’s T-Birds both received three first place votes and 23 voting points in the poll ahead of Friday’s start of the regular-season. Saskatchewan visits Manitoba and U-B-C travels to Regina. The Bisons were third and the Rams fourth in the coaches poll. Following is the news release from the Canada West Conference…..
FB: UBC, Saskatchewan favoured in Coaches Poll
Last year’s finalists eye return to Hardy Cup
30 August 2023
Aug. 30, 2023 – There’s no ties in Canada West football, but there’s officially a tie at the top of this year’s CW football coaches poll.
Last year’s Hardy Cup finalists, the Saskatchewan Huskies and UBC Thunderbirds, each received identical votes and will enter the season as favourites.
A new CW football season kicks off this week with three games on Friday night, including Alberta visiting Calgary, Saskatchewan travelling to Manitoba, and Regina hosting UBC.
After claiming two straight conference championships, many will still consider the Huskies as the team to beat. Saskatchewan is coming off a dominant 7-1 regular season campaign, powered by a blistering offensive attack that averaged 30.1 points per game. Having twice fallen just short in the Vanier Cup, it’s a group that will be motivated to get over the hump in pursuit of a national title.
Dethroning the Huskies won’t be easy, but UBC appears up to the task. The T-Birds, who went 4-4 last season, made waves with an impressive semifinal upset of Regina. That valuable playoff experience has left the group confident they can take the next step in pursuit of their first Hardy Cup trophy since 2015.
Not to be overlooked, the Manitoba Bisons look to build on their own 4-4 campaign. The group showed well in the pre-season, which included a 26-7 exhibition win over Regina last weekend. The Bisons finished third in this year’s coaches poll, narrowly ahead of fourth place Regina.
The Alberta based teams will enter as underdogs, with poll results placing the Alberta Golden Bears fifth and the Calgary Dinos sixth. That’s sure to give both sides plenty of motivation as they look to return to the CW playoffs this season.
The eight-game CW regular season runs through Oct. 28, with semifinal playoff games set for Nov. 4.
The 2023 Hardy Cup will take place Nov. 11, hosted at the highest finishing seed.
View a team by team preview here.
Catch the Action on SASKTEL, TELUS and CANADA WEST TV
The excitement of hard-hitting Canada West football is returning to SaskTel maxTV and maxTV Stream and TELUS Optik TV subscribers this fall.
The conference has unveiled its 2023 CW Football Showcase schedule, which will bring 19 total games to SaskTel subscribers on SaskTel maxTV and maxTV Stream.
All Rams and Huskies games will also be available on maxTV Local on Demand. Viewers can find them on channels 48 or 348 for the Rams and 49 or 349 for the Huskies.
Fans in British Columbia and Alberta will be able to watch Showcase games on TELUS OptikTV, channels 997 and 998.
Fans can catch all the action through the new look CanadaWest.TV, which now allows fans to watch games on popular Connected TV apps like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.
2023 CW FOOTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team – Points (First-place votes)
T1. Saskatchewan Huskies – 23 (3)
T1. UBC Thunderbirds – 23 (3)
3. Manitoba Bisons – 14
4. Regina Rams – 13
5. Alberta Golden Bears – 12
6. Calgary Dinos – 5
