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The University of Calgary Dinos are out to make a little history Saturday afternoon. Winners of four straight Canada West titles, the Dinos look to become the first team in history to win the conference five straight years when they host the Regina Rams in Saturday’s 76th edition of the Hardy Cup.
The game kicks off a busy weekend at McMahon, with another Calgary-Regina match-up set for Sunday afternoon in the Canadian Football League when the Calgary Stampeders take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West semifinal.
Kickoff goes at 2 p.m. MT from McMahon Stadium, live on TSN and QR77 radio. Fans showing a ticket to Sunday’s CFL game at McMahon will receive admission to the Hardy Cup for just $5.
Hosting the Hardy Cup is nothing new for the Dinos, who welcome the game to McMahon for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five seasons. And in the Rams, they face their fifth different opponent in as many Canada West championship games: Simon Fraser in 2008, Saskatchewan in 2009, Alberta in 2010, UBC in 2011, and now Regina in 2012. It’s the first-ever Hardy Cup meeting for the two teams and the sixth playoff meeting overall. All previous outings have come in the semi-final round, with Calgary holding a 3-2 lead in the all-time postseason series.
Regina is making its fourth appearance in the title game since joining Canada West prior to the 1999 season. The Rams won the Hardy Cup in their first try in 2000, then lost back-to-back to Manitoba (2001) and Saskatchewan (2002). In their last appearance, the Rams fell to the Manitoba Bisons in 2007 – and 2012 will mark the first time in team history that Regina will face a team other than Saskatchewan or Manitoba in the Hardy Cup game.
The last three playoff meetings, all semi-final wins by the Dinos in 2008, 2010, and 2011, have been decided by 12 points or less. The Rams have provided the toughest competition of the season for the Dinos in both of their earlier meetings this season, with Calgary winning 37-12 in Week 1 followed by the Rams taking a 12-9 victory Week 7 in Regina – the Dinos’ only loss of the season.
The winner of Saturday’s contest heads east to face the Ontario champion in the Mitchell Bowl for a berth in the Vanier Cup. Other conference finals on the docket Saturday include Saint Mary’s at Acadia in the Atlantic’s Loney Bowl, Sherbrooke visiting Laval in Quebec’s Dunsmore Cup, and Guelph facing No. 1 McMaster in the Ontario Yates Cup.