sahayman@watcgl.UUCP (Steve Hayman) (12/06/84)
Here's the first set of Canadian Inter-university Athletic Union (CIAU) basketball rankings. This marks the first time in YEARS that Victoria has not been #1, thus it is instantly newsworthy. 1) Waterloo Warriors (finally!) 2) Victoria Vikings (Defending national champs) 3) Lethbridge Pronghorns (say this 10 times fast...) 4) Winnipeg Wesmen 5) Acadia Axemen 6) Alberta Golden Bears 7) St. Francis Xavier X-men (same division as the Axemen, naturally) 8) Saskatchewan Huskies 9) Windsor Lancers 10) York Yeomen The following teams are under one sort of suspension or another and aren't eligible for rankings: Brandon Bobcats, Concordia Stingers, St. Mary's Huskies A few comments, if anyone is reading this far: Naturally everyone at Waterloo is excited about this list; however Coach Don McCrae is trying not to get excited about it. The Warriors lost 7 players from last year's national semi-finalist and the early season prospects were not encouraging, but 7' centre Randy Norris decided to play again. Helped by strong starts from returnees Peter Savich, Paul Boyce and Rob Froese, the Warriors are this season's biggest surprise. Waterloo has already knocked off Winnipeg, Acadia and York. A few upcoming tournaments should prove interesting; one in Toronto includes Waterloo, Victoria and York. There are a few teams who aren't usually "up there", including Lethbridge, Alberta and Saskatchewan. A potential sleeper is Windsor. Coach Paul Thomas believes in giving nothing away early and has his team play all their exhibition games in the States, against much better schools and much larger crowds. Thus they aren't fazed when they come to play against the Warrior throng in Waterloo's Physical Activities Complex; however they haven't beaten the PAC-men in Waterloo in three years. It looks like the Canada West conference will be VERY competitive this year, with Victoria, Lethbridge, Alberta and Saskatchewan all in the top 10. Fewer Ontario schools are in the top 10 than normal, perhaps due to a wave of key graduations that hit Brock and Western. Whilst not wanting to look ahead too far, the prospects of a Warrior-Viking final are crossing a few people's minds. P.S. I finally step down as Warrior band leader after 7 years of watching the Warriors come close, and what happens? One week later, they're ranked #1. Thanks a lot, rankers.... Steve Hayman Former Chief Centurion UW Warriors Band P.S. how the hell did PEI get to be #1 in hockey?