Ottawa, ON – It’s finally Vanier Cup time. When the Saskatchewan Huskies and Western Mustangs take the field in Quebec City, a two-year wait to crown Canada’s best in university football finally ends.

What about the last decade, though? If we wanted to go through the U SPORTS football results from 2010 to 2019 to find the best-ranking program, what would that look like?

Not to fear, I’ve once again broken out our U SPORTS ranking system to find the best team in Canada.

Our Past Rankings
2010’s U SPORTS MHKY
2010’s U SPORTS MBB

DISCLAIMER: This is not my ranking system, this was developed by Bob Sturm now of the The Athletic way back in 2002 for the NFL, he brought it back in 2020 and The Athletic NHL used it for their Post-Lockout rankings between 2005 and 2020. I gave it a nice U SPORTS Football twist though.

Win the Vanier Cup: 11 Points

Make the Vanier Cup: 7 Points

Make the Uteck or Mitchell Bowl: 5 Points

Make the Conference Final: 3 Points  

Make the Conference Final Four(OUA): 2 pointsMake the Playoffs (OUA) Make the Conference Semifinal (AUS,Canada West, RSEQ): 1 point

The OUA is weighted slightly higher due to needing two wins to reach the finals. There is no double-dipping, so the point total each year is whatever tier the team reached. (i.e. if they reached the Vanier Cup and lost, they get 7 points, not every level added together). There will be some ties, and I get to break them cause it’s my rankings.

Tier 1: The Heavyweights

1. Laval Rouge et Or – 78 Points

2010: Vanier Cup Champion
2011: Vanier Cup Finalist
2012: Vanier Cup Champion 
2013: Vanier Cup Champion 
2014: RSEQ Finalist
2015: RSEQ Finalist
2016: Vanier Cup Champion
2017: Vanier Cup Finalist
2018: Vanier Cup Champion
2019: RSEQ Finalist

In the same vein as the Carleton Ravens in basketball and the UNB Reds in hockey, the Laval Rouge et Or are the dominant team in U SPORTS football. Five titles in seven trips to the Vanier Cup in the 2010s puts them at the top of the class.

2. Calgary Dinos – 54 points 

2010: Vanier Cup Finalist
2011: Lose in Mitchell Bowl 
2012: Lose in Mitchell Bowl 
2013: Vanier Cup Finalist
2014: Canada West Finalist
2015: Canada West Semifinalist
2016: Vanier Cup Finalist
2017: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2018: Canada West Finalist
2019: Vanier Cup Champion

The Calgary Dinos come in at number two and prove that patience can be a virtue. Heading into the decade, the Dinos came off back-to-back Hardy Cup titles in 2008 and 2009 but had not won the Vanier Cup since 1995. They got blown out in 2010 and came close in 2013 and 2016 before finally taking down the Montreal Carabins in 2019 to win the National title.

3. Western Mustangs – 44 Points

2010: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2011: OUA Finalist
2012: OUA Semifinalist
2013: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2014: OUA Semifinalist
2015: OUA Finalist
2016: OUA Finalist
2017: Vanier Cup Champion
2018: Vanier Cup Finalist
2019: OUA Finalist

Our first 2021 finalist makes an appearance at number three on our list. The Mustangs peaked in the 2010s with their back-to-back appearances and 2017 Vanier Cup title, but they still also managed to tally four Yates Cup wins in eight appearances across the decade.

4. Montreal Carabins – 42 points

2010: RSEQ Semifinalist
2011: RSEQ Finalist
2012: RSEQ Semifinalist
2013: RSEQ Finalist
2014: Vanier Cup Champion
2015: Vanier Cup Finalist
2016: RSEQ Finalist
2017: RSEQ Finalist
2018: RSEQ Finalist
2019: Vanier Cup Finalist

You could call them the Scottie Pippen to Laval’s Michael Jordan. The Montreal Carabins come in fourth, but not for lack of effort. While they made the 2019 finals and fell to Calgary, the peak of Montreal’s decade has to be their 2014 Vanier Cup win 20-19 over McMaster in Montreal. It was the first Vanier Cup win in school history and to be able to do it at home is something the players involved will likely never forget.

5. McMaster Marauders – 40 points 

2010 OUA Semifinalist
2011 Vanier Cup Champion 
2012 Vanier Cup Finalist
2013 OUA Semifinalist
2014 Vanier Cup Finalist
2015 OUA Quarterfinalist
2016 OUA Semifinalist
2017 OUA Semifinalist
2018 OUA Quarterfinalist
2019 Lose in Mitchell Bowl

The final member of our heavyweight class comes from Hamilton, Ontario. The McMaster Marauders were essentially what the Mustangs were, but they did it in the front half of the decade. McMaster peaked with their 41-38 2011 Vanier Cup win over Laval in Vancouver, but they also reached the final game twice more, falling in 2012 in a Laval rematch in Toronto and 2014 vs Montreal.

Light Heavyweights

6. Acadia Axemen – 28 points

2010: AUS finalist
2011: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2012: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2013: AUS Semifinalist
2014: AUS Semifinalist
2015: AUS Semifinalist
2016: AUS Semifinalist
2017: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2018: AUS Semifinalist
2019: Lose in Uteck Bowl

The Acadia Axemen are the team of missed opportunities. They won the Loney Bowl five times in the 2010s, got five shots at the Vanier Cup, and whiffed all five times. They only lost one Uteck Bowl by less than 30 points. Acadia certainly had provincial success, but it feels like a decade unfulfilled nationally.

7. Guelph Gryphons – 22 points

2010: OUA Quarterfinalist
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: OUA Finalist
2013: OUA Semifinalist
2014: OUA Finalist
2015: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2016: OUA Quarterfinalist
2017: OUA Semifinalist
2018: OUA Finalist
2019: OUA Semifinalist

The OUA’s third best team in the 2010s was the Gryphons. They were never a real national threat but they made nine playoff appearances and peaked in 2015 with a Yates Cup title.

8. St Francis X-Men  – 22 Points 

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: AUS Semifinalist
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: AUS Finalist
2015: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2016: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2017: AUS Semifinalist
2018: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2019: Miss Playoffs

The St. FX X-Men had a middling decade but they came away with hardware. They missed the playoffs four times but three wins in the Loney Bowl give them a decent trophy case.

9. St Mary’s Huskies – 20 points 

2010: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2011: AUS Finalist
2012: AUS Finalist
2013: AUS Finalist
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: AUS Finalist
2018: AUS Finalist
2019: Miss Playoffs

Scratch that, St Mary’s is the team of missed opportunities. The Huskies picked up the 2010 Jewett Trophy and then proceeded to lose the next five times they made the final game in AUS. Acadia couldn’t get it done nationally but they have a much bigger provincial trophy case to show for it then St Mary’s does.

10. UBC Thunderbirds – 19 points 

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: Canada West Finalist (Results Forfeited)
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Canada West Semifinalist
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Vanier Cup Champion
2016: Canada West Finalist
2017: Canada West Finalist
2018: Canada West Semifinalist
2019: Miss Playoffs

The Thunderbirds had a wild decade. They start with only one official playoff appearance in the first five seasons as their 2011 results were forfeited for administrative violations. They then stun everybody and take the Vanier Cup in a 26-23 win over defending champion Montreal. The back half of the decade was more unremarkable, but the wild swing of missing the playoffs to national champion stands out for UBC.

11. Mount Allison Mounties – 19 points

2010: AUS Semifinalist
2011:  Miss Playoffs
2012:  AUS Semifinalist
2013: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2014: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2015: AUS Finalist
2016: AUS Finalist
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: AUS Semifinalist

The Mounties fall below UBC for not having a Vanier Cup title, but they managed back-to-back AUS titles. As part of four consecutive trips to the AUS Championship game, it was a respectable decade for Mount Allison.

Middleweights

12. Saskatchewan Huskies – 15 points

2010: Canada West Semifinalist
2011: Canada West Semifinalist
2012: Canada West Semifinalist
2013: Canada West Semifinalist
2014: Canada West Semifinalist
2015: Canada West Semifinalist
2016: Canada West Semifinalist
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Lose in Mitchell Bowl
2019: Lose Hardy Cup

The second participant in the 2021 Vanier Cup clocks in at number twelve on the power rankings. The Huskies had a pretty straightforward run in the 2010s and the board shows. Typically a 5-3, occasionally a 6-2 record, and then bowing out in the semifinals. They mixed it up, though, upsetting the undefeated Calgary Dinos in 2018 to win the Hardy Cup. They’ll go for the upset again against Western this afternoon.

13. Laurier Golden Hawks – 14 Points

2010: OUA Semifinalist
2011: OUA Quarterfinalist
2012: OUA Quarterfinalist
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: OUA Quarterfinalist
2015: OUA Semifinalist
2016: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2017: OUA Semifinalist
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Miss Playoffs

The Laurier Golden Hawks are in what I call the mushy middle. Not quite good, not entirely wrong, very meh. The Golden Hawks peaked in 2016 with a Yates Cup win but also had three missed playoffs and three one-and-done games. The middle of the OUA and the middle of this list.

14. Manitoba Bisons – 12 points

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: Canada West Semifinalist
2013: Canada West Finalist
2014: Lose in Uteck Bowl
2015: Canada West Semifinalist
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Canada West Semifinalist
2019: Canada West Semifinalist

The Manitoba Bisons are the other U SPORTS mushy middle team. One peak and quite a few lows balance right in the middle. The peak is prominent, the 2014 Hard Cup title that saw them win upsets over Saskatchewan and Calgary. The four missed playoffs, though, are low, so the Bisons go right in the middle.

15. Sherbrooke Vert et Or – 12 Points

2010: RSEQ Finalist
2011: RSEQ Semifinalist
2012: RSEQ Finalist
2013: RSEQ Semifinalist
2014: RSEQ Semifinalist
2015: RSEQ Semifinalist
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: RSEQ Semifinalist
2018: RSEQ Semifinalist
2019: Miss Playoffs

Sherbrooke clocks in as the third-best team in RSEQ mainly because of their Dunsmore Cup appearances in the years they took down the Carabins. No hardware, but those two wins stand out in Vert et Or history as the program’s only playoff wins.

16. Ottawa Gee-Gees – 9 points 

2010: OUA Finalist
2011: OUA Quarterfinalist
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: OUA QuarterFinalist
2014: OUA Semifinalist
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: OUA Quarterfinalist
2017: OUA Quarterfinalist
2018: OUA Semifinalist 
2019: OUA Quarterfinalist

The Gee-Gees slot right into the middle of the OUA. Never quite the best team but always relatively competitive with eight playoff appearances and four playoff wins.

17. Regina Rams – 8  Points

2010: Canada West Semifinalist
2011: Canada West Semifinalist
2012: Canada West Finalist
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Canada West Semifinalist
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Canada West Semifinalist
2017: Canada West Semifinalist
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Miss Playoffs

The Regina Rams are the Canada West’s weaker but not weakest team. They made the playoffs six times in the 2010’s and even played in the 2012 Hardy Cup falling 38-14 to Calgary. They were never really a threat at any other point in the decade though.

18. Queen’s Gaels – 7 points 

2010: OUA Quarterfinalist
2011: OUA Semifinalist
2012: OUA Semifinalist
2013: OUA Finalist
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: OUA Quarterfinalist
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: OUA Quarterfinalist
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Miss Playoffs

The Queen’s Gaels (although they fixed this in 2021 with a run to the Yates Cup) are similar to the Gee-Gees. They fall lower thanks to three missed post-seasons in the last four years but Queen’s also had a couple decent runs including a 2013 Yates Cup appearance.

19. Carleton Ravens – 7 points

2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: OUA Semifinalist
2016: OUA Semifinalist
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: OUA Semifinalist
2019: OUA Quarterfinalist

The second era of the Carleton Ravens have only been in the OUA since 2013 but they have had some success. Three OUA quarterfinal wins, (including a 2016 blowout win over the Gee-Gees) are their peak of success but it’s not a terrible set of results.

Welterweights

20. Concordia Stingers – 6 points

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: RSEQ Semifinalist
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: RSEQ Semifinalist
2015: RSEQ Semifinalist
2016: RSEQ Semifinalist
2017: RSEQ Semifinalist
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: RSEQ Semifinalist

You can commend Concordia for making the playoffs six times but the closest they came to a win was a 39-14 loss to Laval in 2016.

21. Bishop’s Gaiters – 5 Points

2010: RSEQ Semifinalist
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: RSEQ Semifinalist
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: AUS Finalist

Bishop’s changed from RSEQ to the AUS in 2017 and made their first Loney Bowl in 2019 but fell to Acadia 31-1.

22. Alberta Golden Bears – 5 points 

2010: Canada West Finalist
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Canada West Semifinalist
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Canada West Semifinalist

Somebody has to be at the bottom and for Canada West it is the Golden Bears and that’s not entirely surprising. They were blown out 56-3 in the 2010 Hardy Cup and proceeded to miss the playoffs seven times in the next nine seasons.

23. Windsor Lancers – 5 points 

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: OUA Semifinalist 
2012: OUA Quarterfinalist
2013: OUA Quarterfinalist
2014: OUA Quarterfinalist
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Miss Playoffs

The Lancers are fascinating only in how they could fall so hard. After their 5-3 record in 2014 saw them fall to the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the quarterfinal, they missed the playoffs every year since and only picked up seven regular season wins between 2015 and 2019.

24. McGill Redbirds – 4 points

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: RSEQ Semifinalist
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: RSEQ Semifinalist
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: RSEQ Semifinalist
2019: RSEQ Semifinalist

The McGill Redbirds made the playoffs four times in the 2010’s and lost each game to either Laval or Montreal by a minimum of 31 points. That pretty much sums it up for them.

Lightweights

25. Waterloo Warriors – 3 points

2010: Team Suspended
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Oua Quarterfinalist
2019: OUA Semifinalist

This absolutely feels disrespectful to Tre Forde, who was just named Athlete of the Year for 2021 but his impact on the Warriors is clear. After missing the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons including the suspended 2010 season for steroid use, the Warriors made the OUA quarterfinals in 2018 and fell to Guelph. The following year though they toppled Ottawa to make their first OUA semifinal since 2000.

26. Toronto Varsity Blues  – 0 Points

2010 Miss Playoffs
2011 Miss Playoffs
2012 Miss Playoffs
2013 Miss Playoffs
2014 Miss Playoffs
2015 Miss Playoffs
2016 Miss Playoffs
2017 Miss Playoffs
2018 Miss Playoffs
2019 Miss Playoffs

Being ranked higher than York is solely due to their 2021 playoff appearance. The Blues may have missed the playoffs for more consecutive seasons than York but they were (eventually) the first to make it back and that has to count for something.

27. York Lions – 0 Points

2010: Miss Playoffs
2011: Miss Playoffs
2012: Miss Playoffs
2013: Miss Playoffs
2014: Miss Playoffs
2015: Miss Playoffs
2016: Miss Playoffs
2017: Miss Playoffs
2018: Miss Playoffs
2019: Miss Playoffs

Including the 2021 season where they went 0-8 it has been 17 years since the York Lions last reached the OUA postseason and it doesn’t look like they are going to get close anytime soon.

So those are the 2010s U SPORTS Football Rankings. Now it’s time for Western and Saskatchewan to decided who kicks of the 2020s at the top of the list.
COVER PHOTO: U SPORTS