This past weekend's games have clarified the playoff picture in the West somewhat but have not clarified the East picture at all.
In the East, each of Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto have as good of a chance to finish first as they do of finishing third. All three teams have exactly the same opponents over the final three weeks as well. It will come down to the head-to-head matchups as well as to whether Ottawa can play spoiler at all to determine who finishes where.
In the West, Calgary has clinched first place and Edmonton has all but clinched second. The only way that Edmonton doesn't finish in second is if B.C. wins their remaining games including beating the Esks by more than 7 points and the Esks lose their game to Saskatchewan. The Roughriders are in real danger of finishing in fourth and having to cross over to the East where they have already been blown out by all of Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal. The Lions trail the Riders by two points with one game in hand and B.C., very importantly, owns the season series over the Riders by point differential. Winnipeg's playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. They need to win their final two games, have B.C. lose their remaining games and have one of Toronto, Hamilton or Montreal finish with fewer than 8 wins.
It looks like there will be a western crossover. The only way that it doesn't happen is if B.C. loses all of their remaining games and Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal all win at least 8 games. While Winnipeg could upset B.C. this week, I strongly suspect that Calgary will be resting many of their players for their season finale in B.C. which could make life quite easy on the Lions.
This is the way I see the West playing out:
1. Calgary
2. Edmonton
3. British Columbia
4. Saskatchewan
5. Winnipeg
The East is simply too close to call with any scenario possible between the Argos, Ticats and Als. I do think that Saskatchewan will cross over but be eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.
