The current league wide standings:

Top Six

8-1-1 Stampeders 

7-3 Lions

6-4 Bombers

5-5 Eskimos

5-5 TigerCats

5-4-1 RedBlacks

Bottom Three

4-6 Argonauts

3-7 Alouettes

1-9 Rough Riders

At the moment Edmonton would cross over to play Ottawa ... is this going to change much if at all by playoff time?

Toronto isn't making it easy on themselves but when I watch them they look like a .500 team.  They'd have to go 5-3 over the final 8 to make it to 9-9, though.  8-10 seems more likely for them.  Can Edmonton and Winnipeg both do better than 8-10?  I think so.  So yes, there will be a crossover.

I lean towards crossover given how the teams are currently playing.

Unless Toronto has a Travis Bond clone or two waiting in the wings - there will be a crossover. Until they can give Ray better protection the playoffs are out of sight for them.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say.... maybe??

lots can change between Labour Day and the end of the season. I suspect there will be a cross over though for one simple reason.... too many wins for western teams when the Riders are sporting the record they are. 

41 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Unless Toronto has a Travis Bond clone or two waiting in the wings - there will be a crossover. Until they can give Ray better protection the playoffs are out of sight for them.

 

Yes.... 5 Canadians on the OL is nice, but if they can't protect, it doesn't make much sense...

 

EDIT: My mistake, looks like they are only starting 4 Canadians on the OL now.  Still...

Edited September 7, 20169 yr by Atomic
confusion

Toronto doesn't look like a very good team right now, even with Ray's great completion %. Their defense is slowly getting better and may be able to give them a chance in the second half, but it's looking more and more like a cross over year.

With a healthy ray and wrs To could make a run. But at this point it would be a surprise. The west is much stronger imop.

Book it. It will be EDM crossing over. Will play OTT in the Semi. And win.

Edited September 7, 20169 yr by Zontar

I know it's been talked about ad nauseam over the years, but I detest the cross over. It's never felt right to me. 

1 minute ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I know it's been talked about ad nauseam over the years, but I detest the cross over. It's never felt right to me. 

Does a 6-12 team making it over a 9-9 team feel right?

3 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Does a 6-12 team making it over a 9-9 team feel right?

Has it ever been a 6-12 team vs a 9-9?

Maybe this isn't the place to bring this up, but does anyone else feel that the whole east/west division should be abolished? I mean, there's only 9 teams in the league... why not just have the top 6 make the playoffs? It seems this cross-over thing is an issue every year, I know the counter-argument would be that it makes games against your own division more important... but doesn't it also make non-divisional games less important?

40 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Has it ever been a 6-12 team vs a 9-9?

Worse.  And there has been quite a few years when a joke of a team made it over a team around and over .500.

http://cflpass.ca/bc-lions/history-cfl-playoffs-crossover/

•  1981

West Division
Edmonton 14-1-1
Winnipeg 11-5
BC 10-6
Saskatchewan 9-7
Calgary 6-10

East Division
Hamilton 11-4-1
Ottawa 5-11
Montreal 3-13
Toronto 2-14

1 minute ago, Rich said:

Worse.  And there has been quite a few years when a joke of a team made it over a team around .500.

•  1981

West Division
Edmonton 14-1-1
Winnipeg 11-5
BC 10-6
Saskatchewan 9-7
Calgary 6-10

East Division
Hamilton 11-4-1
Ottawa 5-11
Montreal 3-13
Toronto 2-14

You could also point to a year like 2008.  Edmonton was 10-8 and crossed over.  Without that rule, Edmonton would have missed and the 4-14 Argos would have made the playoffs 

8 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

Maybe this isn't the place to bring this up, but does anyone else feel that the whole east/west division should be abolished? I mean, there's only 9 teams in the league... why not just have the top 6 make the playoffs? It seems this cross-over thing is an issue every year, I know the counter-argument would be that it makes games against your own division more important... but doesn't it also make non-divisional games less important?

I like having the East and West divisions, personally.  Makes for better rivalries and more intrigue throughout the season.

The funniest thing about having 2 divisions in a nine team league is this: If you're in the West, you play 10 games against the West and 8 games against the East.  If you're in the East.... you play 10 games against the West and 8 games against the East.  What-the-what?!  #funWithNumbers

3 hours ago, Atomic said:

Does a 6-12 team making it over a 9-9 team feel right?

yup sure does. different division.

I think the league has it right in the current format. The East vs West rivalry gives the Grey Cup a lot of its colour and history.

2 hours ago, Atomic said:

You could also point to a year like 2008.  Edmonton was 10-8 and crossed over.  Without that rule, Edmonton would have missed and the 4-14 Argos would have made the playoffs 

But I could also argue the Argos did enough in their division to make it, Edmonton did not. 

10 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

But I could also argue the Argos did enough in their division to make it, Edmonton did not. 

Well I respect your opinion but I disagree fully!

13 hours ago, Eternal optimist said:

Maybe this isn't the place to bring this up, but does anyone else feel that the whole east/west division should be abolished? I mean, there's only 9 teams in the league... why not just have the top 6 make the playoffs? It seems this cross-over thing is an issue every year, I know the counter-argument would be that it makes games against your own division more important... but doesn't it also make non-divisional games less important?

I don't think there's much momentum to do this... but a way to consider it while still keeping divisional rivalries is making a playoff format something where the division winners take the top spots and the rest fall where they fall... the current "playoff" standings would look like this:

1. Calgary (bye, play the winner of 4 v 5) 
2. Ottawa (bye, play the winner of 3 v 6)
3. BC (home team vs Edmonton) 
4. Winnipeg (home team vs Ham)
5. Hamilton (I believe they'd have the tie-break on Edm)
6. Edmonton

 

26 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Well I respect your opinion but I disagree fully!

I agree with your respectful disagreement...

13 hours ago, Atomic said:

I like having the East and West divisions, personally.  Makes for better rivalries and more intrigue throughout the season.

The funniest thing about having 2 divisions in a nine team league is this: If you're in the West, you play 10 games against the West and 8 games against the East.  If you're in the East.... you play 10 games against the West and 8 games against the East.  What-the-what?!  #funWithNumbers

On the rivalry front; the lack of stability within our own conference has been a huge difference maker for us.

If the BB hadn't floated back and forth between West-East...(has it been 2 or 3 times)? we would have maintained our traditional primary rivalry with Sasky. If you were to poll the 30-40 year old Rider fans, I bet many would identify Calgary or Edmonton as their main rival. To me it is because they (and we) found a different enemy when we moved out of the western division. 

You can't maintain a decades long rivalry unless there is continuity over the generations.