The Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team has dominated the OUA since the turn of the millennium. Since the 2000–2001 school year, the Ravens have not only won the OUA East division in every season, they have gone on to win both the OUA Championship and the CIS Championship six times each.
It’s safe to say that the Ravens in the OUA East are something like what the New York Yankees were in the AL East: perennial winners who always had a ticket booked to the playoffs. Anyone else in the division had to pray that they had a shot at the wild card berth.
This season the OUA is trying something new and has introduced the OUA Wilson Cup Final Four basketball championship, a four team miniature tournament that includes the two finalists from each of the OUA East and West divisions.
The difference from previous OUA playoffs is this: teams will crossover to play an opponent from outside of their division and all the games will be played at one venue over a single weekend. This year’s tournament will be held March 4–5 at McMaster University’s Burridge Gymnasium.
The format is quite simple. The higher seed from the East will play the lower seed from the West, while the higher West seed will take on the lower East seed. The winners will play each other in the tournament final, which could involve representatives from each division, or possibly two teams from one of the divisions.
This effectively means that teams other than Carleton in the OUA East no longer have to go through the Ravens to have a berth at the CIS Championship.
“I think it’s better because it gives you a better representation for Ontario,” said Varsity Blues Assistant Coach Mike DeGiorgio. “ In years past, Ottawa has been in the top five [of the CIS rankings] and would lose to Carleton, who was ranked first, and not make it to nationals, while an OUA West team would that wasn’t even in the top ten.”
The new format would definitely reduce this problem, and would allow the OUA to send their two best teams, as opposed to the best team from each division, to nationals.
“There is not necessarily going to be one East and one West representative at Nationals,” said Blues Head Coach Mike Katz. “It could go that way, or there could be two East or two West teams making it to Nationals.”
OUA executive director Ward Dilse is excited about the new format, which has been locked in for at least the next three years.
“One advantage is that there will be a pre-determined neutral site, and no the final will no longer be a division home,” said Dilse. “And all three games will be televised on The Score.”
The Score Television Network will be broadcasting both semi-final games along with the OUA Championship game live for this year’s tournament. If the broadcast is successful, Dilse is hoping they will sign on for the remaining two years, if not longer.
“The biggest thing is that we have TV exposure, taking it province-wide, and it builds the growth of the game and the interest,” added Katz. “I like it.”
The Score’s very own D.J. Bennett, who has been the sideline reporter for The Score’s University Rush coverage of OUA football, is enthusiastic about their involvement in this year’s tournament.
“A couple of years ago we had the CIS Final 8 and we loved covering it, we got great responses from our audience, and it fits our demographic,” said Bennett. “There is no better way to show the games on this side of the border, especially with the new format. It can only help basketball in this country.”
The Final Four is going to be treated not just as a basketball tournament, but as an event. Members of the Ontario Basketball Association are invited to attend, as well as local high school students and avid fans of OUA basketball.
“We’ll be hosting a Mega Hoops youth clinic open to all OBA members,” said Dilse. “There will be a two-ball tournament with local high school players and our OUA all-stars.”
Before the tournament begins, there will be an awards breakfast announcing all of the OUA award winners and all-stars.
The event will not only be showcasing the OUA’s top talent on the basketball court, but will also be promoting its brand to local communities and youth, encouraging them to take part in the weekend’s activities and see what OUA basketball and culture is all about.
“It’s kind of like a snowball effect,” said Bennett. “Having these games on TV and features of athletes are not just conversation starters, but it also gives the up-and-coming youth a chance to get exposed to basketball here. Once you get games on national TV in their own country, it’s a big draw to get these up-and-coming kids to decide to stay here and play at a Canadian university.”
Bennett feels that as the television coverage of CIS sports gets better, more people will take interest, resulting in more Canadian high-schoolers weighing the benefits of staying in Canada instead of going south of the border to play. As a result, the competition level at Canadian universities will increase, and as the product gets better, there will be even more interest and fewer athletes taking their talents outside of the country.
Dilse feels that coaches throughout the OUA are embracing this new format, as he’s received quite a bit of positive feedback from many coaches.
With sponsors such as Wilson, Pizza Pizza, Pioneer, and The Dairy Farmers of Canada, there is an expectation that the game will gain plenty of exposure and get basketball back on the national stage for television. The tournament will also create revenue for the hosts, and with the site alternating every year it gives many universities the opportunity to generate some income for their sports programs.
Tickets can be purchased in person, via telephone, or online at oua.ca/wilsoncup.
