Murray McCormick
The StarPhoenix

REGINA -- The CFL's schedule makers could not have dreamed of a better ending to the 2009 regular season.

The final weekend will decide the playoff fate of six of the CFL's eight teams. Only the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts, who play Saturday in Toronto, meet in the only game that doesn't have any playoff implications.

The Alouettes, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders have locked up playoff berths. The Alouettes will play host to the East Division final. The woeful Argonauts have been eliminated from the playoffs.

The Riders and Stampeders meet Saturday at Mosaic Stadium in a first-place West Division showdown. The winner will finish first and play host to the final on Nov. 22. The loser drops to second and will play host to the division semifinal on Nov. 15.

Who wll be in the semifinal will be determined before Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff. The B.C. Lions play host to the Edmonton Eskimos on Friday. The winner will lock up third place in the West and play in the semifinal.

The Lions and Eskimos could both qualify for the playoffs with a tie. B.C. would then finish third. The Eskimos would earn a cross-over playoff berth because they would have more points than the third-place team in the East.

A more likely scenario is the loser having to watch Sunday's regular-season finale between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers to find out their playoff fate.

The winner of the Bombers-Ticats game would finish second in the East and play host to the semifinal. Hamilton would clinch a playoff berth for first time since 2004 with a win or a tie.

Hamilton could squeeze into the playoffs with a loss because it would have the same record as the loser of the game between the Lions and Eskimos. A team can only cross over if it has more points than an the East Division squad.

Winnipeg can only qualify for the playoffs with a win.

Courtesy: www.leaderpost.com