Canadian Interuniversity Sport football

Not to be confused with CIS national football team, CIS (rugby), or CIS Soccer.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport football

Current season, competition or edition: 2015 CIS football season
Formerly	CIAU football
Sport	Canadian football
Founded	1961
No. of teams	27, in four conferences
Country	Canada
Most recent champion(s)	University of British Columbia Thunderbirds
Most titles	Laval Rouge et Or (8)
TV partner(s)	Sportsnet/The Score Television Network/Shaw TV(English) Télévision de Radio-Canada(French)
Related competitions	Vanier Cup
Official website	CIS football

Canadian Interuniversity Sport football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of the CIS. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of the CIS: Canada West Universities Athletic Association, Ontario University Athletics, Quebec Student Sport Federation, and Atlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, the champions of each conference advance to semifinal bowl games; the winners of these meet in the Vanier Cup national championship.

The origins of North American football can be traced here, where the first documented game was played at University College at the University of Toronto in 1861. A number of CIS programs have been in existence since the origins of the sport. It is from these Canadian universities that the game we now know as Canadian football began. In 1874, McGill University (Montreal) challenged Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) to a series of games.

The Grey Cup, the championship trophy of the professional Canadian Football League (CFL) since its founding in the 1950s, was originally contested by teams from the University of Toronto and Queen's University and other amateur teams since 1909. Many CIS players have gone on to professional careers in the CFL and elsewhere; a number are drafted annually in the Canadian College Draft. In 2015, there were a record 199 CIS alumni on CFL rosters, including 136 on active rosters, 41 on injured lists, 20 on practice rosters, one on suspended lists and one on disabled lists.

Season structure

Regular season

The Calgary Dinos playing against the Alberta Golden Bears in 2006.

The regular season is eight to nine weeks long, depending on the conference, and, as of 2015, opens on the last Sunday of August. Teams play eight regular season games and regular season games are in-conference with the exception of limited interlocking play between the Quebec and Atlantic conferences. Throughout the season, there are featured homecoming and rivalry games in most regions. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Hec Crighton Trophy is awarded annually to the MVP of the CIS.

Playoffs

After the regular season, single elimination playoff games are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the Canada West and Quebec conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs, while in the Atlantic conference the top three teams qualify. In Ontario, the top six teams qualify with the top two teams receiving playoff byes to the next round. Because the OUA teams have conference playoffs that last three weeks instead of two, the first round of the post-season in the OUA occurs during the same week that each of the other three conferences are playing their last regular season games. Each conference has its own championship trophy; the Hardy Trophy in the West, the Yates Cup in Ontario, the Dunsmore Cup in Quebec and the Jewett Trophy in the Atlantic conference. The conference champions proceed to national semifinal bowl games: the Mitchell Bowl and the Uteck Bowl. The participant conferences of each bowl are determined several years in advance on a rotating basis.

The Laval Rouge et Or on offence against the McMaster Marauders in the second quarter of the 47th Vanier Cup.

Vanier Cup

Main article: Vanier Cup

The winners of each bowl game meet in the Vanier Cup national championship, first established in 1965 and named in honour of Governor General Georges Vanier. The game was held in Toronto every year through 2003 when host conference bids were first accepted, yielding a move to Hamilton for 2004 and 2005, followed by Saskatoon in 2006. In 2007, the game returned to Toronto, along with the Grey Cup, which was hosted there for the first time since 1992. The Vanier Cup game moved back to Hamilton in 2008 before heading to Quebec City for the 2009 and 2010 games. The 2011 Vanier Cup was played in the newly renovated BC Place in Vancouver. Quebec City again hosted the game in 2012 and 2013 before Montreal hosted the 50th Vanier Cup in 2014. Quebec City will host again in 2015.

Expansion

There have recently been efforts at establishing new varsity football programs at institutions that currently do not have teams. A group of alumni from Carleton University in Ottawa have successfully revived that school's program which returned in 2013. The team is a member of the Ontario University Athletics conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, returning football to Carleton University after a 15-year absence.

Because the AUS is the smallest conference in the CIS, there has been talk of adding more teams there, as well. There has been interest expressed in starting a team at the Université de Moncton, due to the recent construction of Moncton Stadium. As of May 2011, the athletics department has submitted a feasibility report to the school's president and are going to base a large part of their decision upon how the Uteck Bowl in 2011 is received by the fans in Moncton. Additionally, a club team league, the Atlantic Football League, features four universities in what some hope will lead to varsity teams featured at some of these schools.

Following their successful application to become full-members of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, the UBC Okanagan Heat are investigating the feasibility of starting their own football program, likely to be partnered with the existing CJFL's Okanagan Sun. UBCO would host the Sun in much the same way that the University of Regina was paired with the Prairie Football Conference's Regina Rams. Due to a moratorium that Canada West has placed on new entries, the earliest that UBCO could apply would be in 2015. If UBCO submits a formal proposal for a football program, they would need five of the six existing programs to approve the move and the earliest they would begin play would be 2016.

The University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres is also exploring the possibility of adding a football program with the launch planned for the 2017 season. The program would be similar to Carleton University's in that there would be private funding from football alumni, but operated by shareholders. As of April 2015, $800,000 of the required $3 million had been raised in support of the varsity sport at UQTR. The capacity of the football stadium would be increased from 2000 to 6270 seats. The UQTR Patriotes previously fielded a senior varsity team from 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979.

Proposed interconference consortium

In February 2015, businessman David Dube (an alumnus and supporter of the Saskatchewan Huskies) and Jim Mullin announced a proposal for a consortium known as the "Northern 8", which would organize interconference games between its member schools. Dube felt that this plan could help improve the prominence of CIS football on a national basis outside of the post-season (which, as of the 2014 season, was the only period of the season that featured nationally-televised CIS games), as it would allow a nationally-televised package of regular season games to be sold to a major broadcaster. The Northern 8 would be structured as a non-profit corporation, and would subsidize production costs for its telecasts: profits would be distributed to non-member schools. It would start with 8 teams, but could expand to 10 in the future. The Canada West conference has backed the proposal, although it must also be discussed with CIS representatives: the OUA showed concerns for the plan due to travel costs and its effects on standings.

Teams

UBC Thunderbirds Alberta Golden Bears Calgary Dinos Saskatchewan Huskies Regina Rams Manitoba Bisons Windsor Lancers Western Mustangs Guelph Gryphons Laurier Golden Hawks Waterloo Warriors McMaster Marauders York Lions Toronto Varsity Blues Queen's Gaels Ottawa Gee-Gees Carleton Ravens Concordia Stingers McGill Redmen Montreal Carabins Laval Rouge et Or Bishop's Gaiters Sherbrooke Vert et Or Mount Allison Mounties Acadia Axemen Saint Mary's Huskies St. Francis Xavier X-Men

Canada West Football Conference
Hardy Trophy

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity	Hardy Trophies	Vanier Cups
University of British Columbia	Thunderbirds	Vancouver	BC	1923	Blake Nill	49,166	$1.3B	Thunderbird Stadium	3,500	14	3
University of Calgary	Dinos	Calgary	AB	1964	Wayne Harris, Jr.	27,802	$790.6M	McMahon Stadium	35,650	15	4
University of Alberta	Golden Bears	Edmonton	AB	1910	Chris Morris	39,312	$1.0B	Foote Field	3,500	18	3
University of Saskatchewan	Huskies	Saskatoon	SK	1912	Brian Towriss	21,168	$214M	Griffiths Stadium	6,171	20	3
University of Regina	Rams	Regina	SK	1999	Mike Gibson	12,270	$25.9M	Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field	32,848	1	0
University of Manitoba	Bisons	Winnipeg	MB	1920	Brian Dobie	28,335	$424M	Investors Group Field	33,422	11	3

Ontario University Athletics
Yates Cup

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity	Yates Cups	Vanier Cups
University of Windsor	Lancers	Windsor	ON	1968	Joe D'Amore	16,883	$70.9M	South Campus Stadium	2,000	1	0
University of Western Ontario	Mustangs	London	ON	1929	Greg Marshall	35,952	$685M	TD Waterhouse Stadium	10,000	30	6
University of Waterloo	Warriors	Waterloo	ON	1957	Chris Bertoia	31,362	$311.2M	Warrior Field	5,200	2	0
Wilfrid Laurier University	Golden Hawks	Waterloo	ON	1961	Michael Faulds	20,151	$71.6M	University Stadium	6,000	7	2
University of Guelph	Gryphons	Guelph	ON	1950	Stu Lang	27,048	$308.9M	Alumni Stadium	4,100	4	1
McMaster University	Marauders	Hamilton	ON	1901	Stefan Ptaszek	29,411	$609M	Ron Joyce Stadium	6,000	7	1
University of Toronto	Varsity Blues	Toronto	ON	1877	Greg Gary	73,185	$1.88B	Varsity Stadium	5,000	25	2
York University	Lions	Toronto	ON	1969	Warren Craney	55,000	$439M	York Stadium	2,500	0	0
Queen's University	Golden Gaels	Kingston	ON	1882	Pat Sheahan	24,582	$1.04B	Richardson Stadium	10,258	23	4
University of Ottawa	Gee-Gees	Ottawa	ON	1894	Jamie Barresi	42,587	$233.9M	Gee-Gees Field	4,152	4	2
Carleton University	Ravens	Ottawa	ON	1945	Steve Sumarah	25,890	$230M	Keith Harris Stadium	3,000	0	0

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec
Dunsmore Cup

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity	Dunsmore Cups	Vanier Cups
Concordia University	Stingers	Montreal	QC	1974	Mickey Donovan	38,809	$136.7M	Concordia Stadium	4,000	3	0
Université de Montréal	Carabins	Montreal	QC	2002	Danny Maciocia	55,540	$276.5M	CEPSUM Stadium	5,100	2	1
McGill University	Redmen	Montreal	QC	1898	Ronald Hilaire	39,497	$1.45B	Molson Stadium	25,012	3	1
Université Laval	Rouge et Or	Quebec City	QC	1996	Glen Constantin	37,591	$108.3M	PEPS Stadium	12,257	12	8
Université de Sherbrooke	Vert et Or	Sherbrooke	QC	1971	David Lessard	35,000	---	Université de Sherbrooke Stadium	3,359	0	0
Bishop's University	Gaiters	Sherbrooke	QC	1884	Kevin Mackey	1,817	$32.5M	Coulter Field	2,200	4	0

Atlantic University Football Conference
Jewett Trophy

Institution	Team	City	Province	First season	Head coach	Enrollment	Endowment	Football stadium	Capacity	Jewett Trophies	Vanier Cups
Acadia University	Axemen	Wolfville	NS	1957	Jeff Cummins	4,358	$96M	Raymond Field	3,000	12	2
Mount Allison University	Mounties	Sackville	NB	1955	Scott Brady	2,694	$110M	MacAulay Field	2,500	5	0
Saint Francis Xavier University	X-Men	Antigonish	NS	1954	Gary Waterman	5,158	$100M	Oland Stadium	4,000	11	1
Saint Mary's University	Huskies	Halifax	NS	1956	Perry Marchese	7,586	$52.9M	Huskies Stadium	4,000	24	3

Awards and the annual All-Canadian Team

Main article: Canadian Interuniversity Sport Football All-Canadian Team

There are post-season awards for on-the-field excellence. The players deemed to be the best at each position are named to the annual All-Canadian Football Team as first or second team players.

Additionally there are a number of individual awards for categories like "best defensive player".

CIS football players in the professional leagues

Opening Day of the 2014 CFL season saw a record 192 CIS football players on rosters around the League.

As of 2014, the CIS had produced 32 players who have earned a spot on an NFL roster (including three who did not play a regular season game; players listed in chronological order by entry year in NFL):

1945 Joe Krol, Western Ontario, K/RB.
1947 Les Lear, Manitoba, OG/OT.
1960 Bill Crawford, UBC, OG.
1965 Jim Young, Queen's, RB/R.
1976 Brian Fryer, Alberta, R.
1979 Ken Clark, Saint Mary's, P.
1986 Mike Schad, Queen's, OG.
1987 Brian Belway, Calgary, DE.
1987 Dave Sparenberg, Western Ontario, OG.
1987 Brant Bengen, UBC and Idaho, WR.
1988 Dean Dorsey, Toronto, K.
1992 Tyrone Williams, Western Ontario, WR.
1995 Tim Tindale, Western Ontario, RB.
1995 Mark Montreuil, Concordia, CB.
1995 Mark Hatfield, Bishop's, OL.
1996 Grayson Shillingford, UBC, SB.
1998 Jerome Pathon, Acadia & U. of Washington, R.

2001 Randy Chevrier, McGill, LS/DE.
2000 J. P. Darche, McGill, LS/LB.
2003 Israel Idonije, Manitoba, DL.
2004 Steve Morley, Saint Mary's, OG/OT.
2006 Daniel Federkeil, Calgary, DE.
2006 Jon Ryan, Regina, K.
2008 Sam Giguere, Sherbrooke, WR
2009 Vaughn Martin, Western Ontario, DL.
2010 Cory Greenwood, Concordia, LB
2010 Joel Reinders, Waterloo, OT
2011 Matt O'Donnell, Queen's OT
2012 Akiem Hicks, Regina, DT
2013 Stefan Charles, Regina, DT
2014 Henoc Muamba, St.FX, LB
2014 David Foucault, Montreal, OL
2014 Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, McGill, OL

NFL Draft

In the 2009 NFL draft, the San Diego Chargers selected defensive lineman Vaughn Martin from Western Ontario in the fourth round. Martin became the first CIS underclassman to be selected in the NFL draft.

In the 2012 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints selected defensive lineman Akiem Hicks from Regina in the third round, 89th overall.

In the 2014 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs selected offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from McGill in the sixth round, 200th overall.

CFL Draft

The following is a list of recent numbers from the CFL Draft, which is an annual seven round event with a current maximum of 63 players drafted. The high-water mark of 59 players from the CIS drafted was recorded in the 2014 CFL Draft, which was the most since 1978.

44 CIS players drafted in the 2015 draft
59 CIS players drafted in the 2014 draft
44 CIS players drafted in the 2013 draft
24 CIS players drafted in the 2012 draft
34 CIS players drafted in the 2011 draft
36 CIS players drafted in the 2010 draft
38 CIS players drafted in the 2009 draft
33 CIS players drafted in the 2008 draft
31 CIS players drafted in the 2007 draft
26 CIS players drafted in the 2006 draft

See also

• Canadian Junior Football League, Quebec Junior Football League
• Football Canada
• Canadian Football
• Canadian Football League
• College Football
• Canadian Interuniversity Sport
• Canadian Colleges Athletic Association
• Comparison of Canadian and American football
• CEGEP
• List of Canadian Football stadia by capacity

External links

• Official website of CIS football (English version)
• A History of Canadian University Football