The Canadian Press
TORONTO – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ hopes of hosting the Western Semi is in the hands of the Edmonton Eskimos — at least for now.
By falling to the BC Lions Saturday afternoon, the Bombers will hope for an Edmonton loss this evening in order to clinch second place in the West.
In the East, the Ottawa REDBLACKS have done their part by beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night. Now, they need to sit back and wait to see what next week has in store for their rivals the Toronto Argonauts.
Sitting just a point up and with a bye in the final week of the season, the REDBLACKS fate is simple: An Argos win in BC next week and Ottawa finishes second; an Argos loss to BC and the REDBLACKS will host their third consecutive Eastern Final on November 19 at TD Place.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are making things very interesting in the West Division following a 37-12 win Friday night over the Montreal Alouettes.
The win moves them into a tie with the Edmonton Eskimos with 20 points as they chase the third playoff spot in the East. All of this is temporary as the Eskimos play Saturday night. Whoever finishes lowest in the standings will crossover to play in the East Division playoffs.
Making matters even more intriguing is that Edmonton and Saskatchewan play each other in Week 20 and depending on what Winnipeg does this week, there could be a rare three-way tie in the West.
> RELATED: Full 2017 Standings | 2017 Crossover Standings | 2017 Game Schedule
Here are the remaining playoff scenarios for Week 19:
West Division Scenarios
- Edmonton loss = Winnipeg clinches second place in the West and will host the Western Semi-Final on November 12
East Division Scenarios
- N/A
Crossover Scenarios
- Hamilton loss in Week 17 confirmed a West Division team will crossover and take the third playoff berth in the East Division
Who has clinched a playoff berth
Calgary Stampeders*, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa REDBLACKS, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* – Denotes clinched division
If the playoffs started today (Oct. 27) …
Western Semi-Final: Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
Western Final: TBD at Calgary
Eastern Semi-Final: Edmonton at Toronto
Eastern Final: TBD at Ottawa
Out of the playoffs: Hamilton, Montreal, BC
