The Tribune

For four decades, Redmen football victories against rival University of Toronto were treated like blue moons, solar eclipses and Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup — they didn’t happen very often. McGill removed itself from that list Saturday as the team opened its gridiron season with a 40-17 win over the Varsity Blues in an exhibition contest at the Varsity Centre in Toronto.

The CIS University Cup tournament is no place for the faint of heart. Two games can catapult a team to the doorstep of national glory, or just as easily dash their dreams of a historic season. The Redmen discovered this painful truth last week at Nationals, after losing 4-2 to the Atlantic University Sport Champion St.

Preview: The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks find themselves in the toughest of the four regions and will have to rely on their experience and leadership if they want to make it to the Final Four for the second time in three years. Headlined by Big East finalist Georgetown and second-seeded Ohio State, the Midwest promises to provide some serious excitement in the early rounds.

Preview: The West is potentially the easiest region to predict in the entire tournament, but could just as well prove the most surprising. Kansas State and Syracuse seem locked on a collision course and will likely meet up in the Elite Eight, but the West also features a number of strong upset possibilities.

Four years ago, the McGill men’s hockey team travelled to the western shores of Lake Superior and came home empty-handed. On Saturday night, the Redmen reversed history, capturing the OUA Queen’s Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. The win marked McGill’s second Queen’s Cup in the last three years, and the team’s 15th since winning the inaugural competition in 1903.

Preview: Mike Krzyzewski’s team finds itself with the top seed in the South after a tremendous team effort propelled Duke to its 18th ACC title this past weekend. The Blue Devils have shown that they can be absolutely dominant at times, but they lack a go-to player in the post.

Preview: Top-seeded Kentucky and freshman sensation John Wall cast a long shadow over the East bracket, though they’ll need to play better than they did against Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament Final in order to advance. West Virginia, the No. 2 seed, has the most momentum after winning the Big East title in dramatic fashion over the weekend.

McGill hockey fans broke out the brooms on Friday night, as the Redmen eliminated a longtime rival – the UQTR Patriotes – by a score of 7-4 to sweep the Ontario University Athletics East Division Final. A standing-room-only crowd was energized from the opening faceoff until the final buzzer, and the celebration continued in the Redmen locker room after the game.

The Redmen came out flying on Saturday night at McConnell Arena, dominating the Ottawa Gee-Gees at both ends of the ice en route to a 9-0 trouncing. With both teams’ playoff fates already sealed before the opening face-off – McGill in, Ottawa out – the Redmen were able to use the game as a tune-up, and judging by their performance, they’ll be able to enter the postseason with some much-needed confidence and momentum.