Western remains no. 1; three new teams enter U SPORTS Top 10 in football

The defending Vanier Cup champion Western Mustangs remain the top gridiron squad in the country, but four newcomers move into the second U SPORTS Top 10 rankings of the 2022 season.

No 1. Western (2-0) extended its regular season and playoff winning streak to nine games with their 34-19 road win at Laurier on Saturday.

There was no movement between teams in the upper half of the rankings, as the No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies (1-0), No. 3 Montréal Carabins (1-0, bye week), No. 4 Laval Rouge et Or (2-0) and No. 5 Queen's Gaels (2-0) remained in the same positions as the opening week poll. The first change comes at No. 6, as the StFX X-Men (1-0) move up one position from last week after a 25-12 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday in Antigonish, NS.

The Regina Rams (1-0), fresh off of an impressive 33-23 road win against the previously ranked Manitoba Bisons, move into the No. 7 position in the rankings.

The No. 8 Waterloo Warriors (1-0, bye week) remain unchanged, while the UBC Thunderbirds (1-0) scored 16 points in the final 15-minutes to rally to beat the Alberta Golden Bears and jump up to the No. 9 ranking this week.

Rounding out the Top 10 are the No 10. McMaster Marauders (1-1) rebounded from a tough opening game road loss at Carleton to dominate the York Lions 39-1 on Saturday to move into the Top 10.

Expect more movement in next week's Top 10 rankings as the Road to the 2022 Vanier Cup continues, with three games featuring Top 10 teams going head-to-head this week.

No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds @ No. 2 Sask. Huskies, Friday 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT (CanadaWestTV)

No. 4 Laval Rouge et Or @ No. 3 Montréal Carabins, Saturday - 1 pm ET, 10 am PT (TVA Sports) No. 5 Queen's Gaels @ No 1. Western Mustangs, Saturday - 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT (OUA.TV)

FOOTBALL

*Media poll – first place votes indicated in brackets ( )

Other teams receiving votes: Mount Allison (88), Manitoba (79), Ottawa (79), Bishop's (60), Windsor (40), Sherbrooke (39), WLU (36), Toronto (24), Alberta (16), Saint Mary's (13), Calgary (12), Guelph (11), Carleton (10), Concordia (2), McGill (1)

Defending champions Queen's opens the U SPORTS women's rugby rankings at no. 1

The defending U SPORTS champion Queen's Gaels sit atop the first U SPORTS women's rugby rankings of the 2022 season.

The Gaels (1-0), who went a perfect 4-0 in the 2021 OUA campaign en route to their first national title, posted a 105-0 performance against the York Lions in the curtain raiser of the 2022 season as fourth-year centre Maggie Banks recorded three tries in the win. The Gaels host the Brock Badgers Saturday at Nixon Field.

UBC (0-0), the pre-season Canada West favourites, sits second in the national rankings as they head into a showdown with the no. 6 ranked Victoria Vikes (0-0) on Saturday to open their campaign in Vancouver.

The defending U SPORTS bronze medalists from Université Laval (1-0) sit in the no. 3 slot after a convincing 58-0 road win over the Montreal Carabins in their RSEQ opener. The no. 4 Ottawa Gee-Gees (1-0), who fell to the Gaels in the 2021 U SPORTS final, downed the Concordia Stingers (0-1) 59-6 in their first contest of the campaign.

The Road to the 2022 U SPORTS women's rugby championship in Victoria, BC, continues this week with a full slate of contests across the country, including the start of the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) season. The no. 8 ranked StFX X-Women travel to Charlottetown, PEI, to face the PEI Panthers and the no. 9 Acadia Axewomen heading to Halifax to face the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Other Top 10 action this week features the no. 5 Guelph Gryphons (1-0) hosting the no. 10 McMaster Marauders (1-0) while the no. 7 Calgary Dinos (1-0) have a bye until September 15^th, when they travel to Vancouver to face the Thunderbirds.

WOMEN'S RUGBY

WOMEN'S SOCCER 

MEN'S SOCCER