Latest CIS Top Ten rankings released, X-Women rugby still No. 6

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#5)
Alberta new leader in rugby, Guelph opens at No. 1 in x-country

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of Alberta Pandas are the new team to beat in Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's rugby.

The Pandas move up one spot in this week's national poll to take over from the Guelph Gryphons, who had been ranked No. 1 each of the past three weeks. Both teams received four first-place votes from CIS coaches but Alberta edged Guelph 87-86 in total points.

The Pandas, CIS bronze medallists a year ago, improved their league record to 3-0 over the past weekend thanks to a pair of convincing wins on the West Coast, 39-0 over UBC and 49-0 against Victoria. The reigning Canada West champions resume conference play on Saturday when they host Lethbridge (1-1).

Meanwhile in the OUA, the Gryphons (4-0) also remained undefeated in league play last weekend but were tested by the No. 9 McMaster Marauders (2-2) before prevailing 44-27. The 2012 CIS finalists, who drop to No. 2 in the new Top 10, welcome Brock (1-3) on Saturday.

Rounding out the top five in the new national rankings are No. 3 Concordia (5-0 / up one), No. 4 Queen's (4-0 / down one) and No. 5 Acadia (5-0 / no change), which also received a first-place nod this week.

In soccer, the Ottawa Gee-Gees and York Lions hold on to No. 1 in the new women's and men's coaches' polls.

On the women's side, Ottawa improved to 8-0-2 with a pair of victories on home turf, 4-2 against Laurentian and 9-1 versus Nipissing. The Gee-Gees hit the road this weekend to visit No. 7 Queen's (5-1-3) on Saturday and Trent (0-11-0) on Sunday. Ottawa and Queen's battled to a scoreless draw back on Sept. 7.

In men's competition, top-ranked York (9-1-0) had a successful road trip last weekend, edging Western 2-1 and Brock 4-1. The Lions host No. 8 McMaster (6-2-2) on Saturday with a chance to avenge their only loss of the regular season, a 1-0 setback in Hamilton on Sept. 13.

Finally, in cross-country running, the reigning CIS champ Guelph Gryphons top the first women's and men's rankings of the campaign. The Guelph women and men have captured the last eight and seven national team banners, respectively, both record streaks.

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(points)

1. Guelph 100 points
2. Western 83
3. Queen's 80
4. Toronto 69
5. Victoria 55
6. McMaster 43
7. Dalhousie 29
8. McGill 25
T9. Calgary 19
T9. Laurentian 19

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(points)

1. Guelph 100 points
2. Laval 76
3. Windsor 75
4. Victoria 63
5. McMaster 59
6. Queen's 50
7. Lakehead 45
8. Western 26
T9. Regina 12
T9. Calgary 12
T9. Trinity Western 12

WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Alberta (3-0) / 87 points (4) / (2)
2. Guelph (4-0) / 86 points (4) / (1)
3. Concordia (5-0) / 63 / (4)
4. Queen's (4-0) / 61 / (3)
5. Acadia (5-0) / 56 (1) / (5)
6. StFX (4-1) / 50 / (6)
7. Calgary (2-1) / 26 / (9)
8. McGill (4-1) / 22 / (7)
9. McMaster (2-2) / 15 / (NR)
10. Ottawa (4-1) / 13 / (8)

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (12), Lethbridge (9), Victoria (2), Western (2).

WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. Ottawa (8-0-2) / 50 points / (1)
2. Laval (7-0-1) / 44 / (2)
3. Alberta (6-0-2) / 41 / (3)
4. Montreal (6-1-1) / 30 / (6)
5. Western (5-0-4) / 26 / (8)
6. UBC (3-0-3) / 24 / (4)
7. Queen's (5-1-3) / 19 / (5)
8. Saskatchewan (5-0-2) / 11 / (NR)
9. Dalhousie (5-2-1) / 8 / (NR)
10. Trinity Western (2-1-3) / 7 / (7) *

* Trinity Western edges Victoria for 10th place thanks to a higher ranking the previous week.
Other teams receiving votes: Victoria (7), Sherbrooke (3), Wilfrid Laurier (3), Cape Breton (2).

MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)

1. York (9-1-0) / 59 points / (1)
2. UBC (7-1-0) / 55 / (2)
3. Ryerson (7-0-1) / 44 / (5)
4. Montreal (5-1-1) / 43 / (3)
5. Guelph (7-1-3) / 34 / (8)
6. Alberta (4-1-2) / 22 / (4)
7. UNB (4-1-2) / 20 / (9)
8. McMaster (6-2-2) / 15 / (T6)
9. UQAM (5-1-1) / 11 / (NR)
10. Saint Mary's (5-2-1) / 7 / (NR)

FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#6)
Western moves past Laval to claim No. 1 status

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning Vanier Cup champions are still undefeated in 2013 but they are no longer the top-ranked team in CIS football. After spending five straight weeks at No. 1, the Laval Rouge et Or were dethroned by the high-flying Western Mustangs in the sixth Football Reporters of Canada poll of the campaign.

The Mustangs (6-0), who opened the season at No. 4 before moving up to No. 2 two weeks ago, received 17 first-place votes and 287 points in the new Top 10 to move past the Rouge et Or (5-0), who earned the remaining 13 first-place nods and 283 points from the FRC panel.

Western had last been ranked first in the country in 2011, for two consecutive weeks (Oct. 11 and 18 polls).

Rounding out the new media poll are the No. 3 Calgary Dinos (5-0 / up two), No. 4 Guelph Gryphons (5-0 / up two), No. 5 Queen's Gaels (4-1 / down two), No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-1 / up one), No. 7 Montreal Carabins (3-2 / down three),  No. 8 Bishop's Gaiters (3-2 / no change), No. 9 McMaster Marauders (2-3 / no change) and No. 10 Manitoba Bisons (3-2 / no change).

In the marquee matchup of the past weekend, Western thrilled 12,185 homecoming fans with a convincing 50-31 win over previously undefeated Queen's. Led by super-sophomore quarterback Will Finch, who currently leads the country in passing yards per game (356.3), touchdown passes (17) and completion percentage (71.4), the Mustangs jumped to a commanding 23-0 lead after 17 minutes of play and never looked back.

With two games remaining on its regular schedule, Western has scored a CIS-best 357 points (59.5 per game) and is on pace for a total tally of 476, which would ranked third all-time behind Laval's 481 points in 2003 and Saint Mary's 480 in 2001. The single-season OUA record of 424 was set by McMaster in 2003.

The Mustangs travel to Windsor on Saturday to face the Lancers (4-2) and will wrap up league play at home against York (2-3) on Oct. 19, following a bye week. 

Meanwhile in the RSEQ conference, Laval also remained undefeated but, for the second straight week, got all it could handle from a Top-10 opponent. A week after they edged archrival Montreal 16-9 thanks to a superb defensive effort, the Rouge et Or won a wild 46-38 shootout against Bishop's in Lennoxville, Que.

The defending Vanier Cup champs, who had allowed a CIS-low 31 points (7.75 per game) in their first four contests of 2013, had conceded this many points only once in their last 119 games overall (41-38 OT loss to McMaster in 2011 Vanier Cup), dating back to a 38-30 loss to Concordia on Oct. 4, 2003. 

Ironically, while they dropped one spot in the national rankings, the Rouge et Or increased their lead atop the RSEQ standings over the past weekend as Montreal was upset 16-12 at home by Sherbrooke (2-3). Following their second straight loss, the No. 7 Carabins (3-2) are now tied with Bishop's and McGill for second place in Quebec.

Other Week 6 results from Top-10 teams included Calgary 76, Alberta 21 (at Alberta); Guelph 41, Waterloo 19 (at Waterloo); Saskatchewan 17, UBC 12 (at UBC); Manitoba 34, Regina 15 (at Manitoba).

The schedule for the coming weekend is highlighted by a battle for first place in Canada West between No. 3 Calgary, the reigning five-time conference champion, and No. 6 Saskatchewan, Friday at 7 p.m. in Saskatoon, live on SHAW TV and canadawest.tv. The Dinos won the first end of the season series 36-24 on Sept. 14, in Calgary. 

The OUA Game of the Week on Sportsnet 360 is the first Panda Bowl since 1998 between Carleton and Ottawa, live from the nation's capital Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. On the same day and time, Radio-Canada airs a Montreal-Sherbrooke rematch, this time from Sherbrooke.

NOTES: Guelph's No. 4 ranking is the best in 16 years for the program. In 1997, the Gryphons reached No. 1 for two consecutive weeks on Oct. 7 and 14 before falling to No. 4 in the Oct. 21 poll... The AUS Game of the Week on Eastlink TV is Acadia (2-2) at Saint Mary's (2-2) Saturday at 2 p.m. AT.

FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#6)

                                                Pts (1st place)  Last week
1. Western (6-0)           287 (17)           2
2. Laval (5-0)               283 (13)           1
3. Calgary (5-0)           230                  5
4. Guelph (5-0)            199                  6
5. Queen's (4-1)          198                  3
6. Saskatchewan (4-1) 126                  7
7. Montreal (3-2)         118                  4
8. Bishop's (3-2)          89                    8
9. McMaster (2-3)        56                    9
10. Manitoba (3-2)       44                    10

Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (21), Sherbrooke (15), Acadia (4), McGill (1).

WEEK 6 RESULTS

Saint Mary's 25, StFX 13 (at Saint Mary's)
Toronto 50, Carleton 10 (at Toronto)
McGill 53, Concordia 52 OT (at Concordia)
Western 50, Queen's 31 (at Western)
Guelph 41, Waterloo 19 (at Waterloo)
Laval 46, Bishop's 38 (at Bishop's)
Ottawa 46, York 16 (at York)
Windsor 26, Laurier 25 (at Laurier)
Manitoba 34, Regina 15 (at Manitoba)
Saskatchewan 17, UBC 12 (at UBC)
Acadia 40, Mount Allison 9 (at Acadia)
Calgary 76, Alberta 21 (at Alberta)
Sherbrooke 16, Montreal 12 (at Montreal)

WEEK 7 SCHEDULE (all times local)

NOTE 1: Click HERE for the complete 2013 regular season schedule.

October 4  
19:00   No. 8 Bishop's (3-2) at McGill (3-2) (video webcast)
19:00   York (2-3) at No. 4 Guelph (5-0) (video webcast)
19:00   No. 3 Calgary (5-0) at No. 6 Saskatchewan (4-1) (SHAW TV & video webcast)

October 5
13:00   No. 7 Montreal (3-2) at Sherbrooke (2-3) (Radio-Canada TV & video webcast)13:00   Laurier (1-5) at No. 5 Queen's (4-1) (video webcast)
13:00   Waterloo (1-4) at No. 3 McMaster (2-3) (Cable 14 TV Hamilton & video webcast)
13:00   Carleton (0-5) at Ottawa (3-3) (Sportsnet 360)
13:00   No. 1 Western (6-0) at Windsor (4-2) (video webcast)
13:00   UBC (2-3) at No. 10 Manitoba (3-2) (video webcast)
13:00   Alberta (0-5) at Regina (1-4) (video webcast)
14:00   Mount Allison (1-3) at StFX (2-2) (video webcast)
14:00   Acadia (2-2) at Saint Mary's (2-2) (Eastlink TV & video webcast)

October 6
13:30   Concordia (0-5) at No. 2 Laval (5-0) (video webcast)