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From West to East
CFL's playoff format draws praise

You can count the Saskatchewan Roughriders among those in favour of the crossover playoff system becoming a permanent fixture of the CFL.

At 8-10-0-2, the Riders finished fourth in the West with 18 points this season, two points behind the third place B.C. Lions.

Under the traditional playoff system, the Riders would have been consigned to watching the playoffs from the sidelines. However, thanks to the crossover format, the Riders found themselves in the postseason for the first time in five years.

Because they had a better record than the third place team in the East -- the Hamilton Tiger Cats finished 7-11-0-1 with 15 points -- the Riders were able to win a playoff berth and the right to face the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern semifinal.

The idea behind the crossover concept is to promote competitiveness and allow the teams with the six best regular season records to advance to the playoffs. And while few would argue that the Riders didn't deserve to qualify ahead of the Ti-Cats, there is still a vocal segment of fans and media pundits who feel the format defies CFL tradition and could lead to an all-Western Grey Cup.

"I like the crossover concept. I think the best team should go in," said CFL on CBC analyst Chris Cuthbert. "But with that said, there's still something better about having an East-West Grey Cup."

"I thought Saskatchewan deserved to be in the playoffs this year, but it might not have been as intriguing of a Grey Cup having two western teams."

Of course, crossing over isn't exactly a new concept in the CFL.

In the modern era of the CFL -- since 1954 when nine teams first played in the league -- crossing over has come in all kinds of shapes and forms.

Prior to the 1987 season, the Montreal Alouettes folded, reducing the total number of teams in the East to three, and forcing the two divisions to be realigned. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, traditional powers in the West, played that season in the East and made it to the division final, marking the first instance crossover in CFL history.

The following year, crossover of another sort came to fruition when the first all-Western Grey Cup final was staged in Ottawa. By virtue of winning the East, the Bombers made it to Grey Cup and defeated the B.C. Lions 22-21.

In 1994, the CFL's expansion into the United States caused the league to be realigned. After one season, the North and South Divisions replaced the East and West in 1995, producing more crossover games.

Fourth place Hamilton played division leaders Calgary in the North semifinal, marking the first time these two traditional East-West teams met in the divisional playoffs.

That same year, only the top three teams in the five-team South advanced to the playoffs. This meant the fifth place team in the North -- the 7-11 Blue Bombers -- went to the postseason even though the fourth place team in the South -- the 9-9 Memphis Mad Dogs -- had a better record.

The next instance of crossing over came in 1997 when the fourth place B.C. Lions, at 8-10, had a better record than the third place team in the East -- the 4-14 Bombers -- and faced Montreal in the East semifinal.

Although historically it has been a western team that has crossed over into East, according to Cuthbert, there may come day when the trend is reversed.

"One day, who knows, it might be an eastern team crossing over into the West."