111th Grey Cup Playoff Scenarios: Als lock up East, Bombers punch playoff ticket
Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca
TORONTO — The 2024 CFL playoff picture came a little bit more into focus in Week 17.
The Montreal Alouettes will host the Eastern Final on Sat. Nov. 9 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The Alouettes locked up the East after the Ottawa REDBLACKS fell to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday. The REDBLACKS had a chance to punch their playoff ticket in Saturday’s game, but needed to win in order to mark their first playoff appearance since the 2018 season.
Thanks to their their 55-27 win over the visiting Edmonton Elks on Friday night, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers became the first team in the West Division to clinch a playoff spot. It’s an impressive effort from the four-time defending West Division champions, as they started the season 0-4. Standing at 9-6, the team has now won seven games in a row and extends its playoff appearance streak to eight consecutive seasons.
The following scenarios were in play this week.
WEST DIVISION
- WPG WIN = WPG clinches post-season berth
EAST DIVISION
- MTL WIN or OTT LOSS = Montreal claims East Division title; earns the right to host the Eastern Final at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Saturday, November 9 at 3 p.m. ET
- OTT WIN = OTT clinches post-season berth
- HAM LOSS and EDM LOSS = OTT clinches post-season berth
- Eliminates the possibility of OTT being impacted by a West to East crossover
CROSSOVER RULE
If the fourth-place team in Division A – A4 – has more points than the third-place team in Division B – B3 (they cannot be tied), A4 will cross over and take the place of B3 in terms of playoff seeding. A4 will then compete against B2 in the Division B Semi-Final.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
- In Week 13, Montreal clinched a playoff berth for a fifth straight season.
