Vanier playoff run preview with Arash Madani

Hi everyone and welcome inside our CBC Sports Digital Studio and to our very first Road to the Vanier Cup segment. Today we are talking all things U Sports football as we look ahead to the final stages of the playoffs and of course the Vanier Cup. My name is Mackenzie Barwell, your host, and joining me now is someone who is no stranger to the Digital Studio sports broadcaster and our resident U Sports football expert, Arash Madani. Welcome. Great to see you, man. It's been... Finally, like finally, exactly. That's the word I think is most sort of relevant to us because this is a conversation we've been waiting a while to have. How's it feel back here? It's November. It's time to play football. Let's do this thing. Okay, so tell me what is exciting you the most about this 2026 U Sports football landscape. Obviously, this is a space that's continuing to grow. The quality of football is increasing. More and more people are invested year after year. I'd say a couple of things. One, there's more parity probably this season than many other years. Exciting, yeah. You talk to people around the country within conferences, there's probably three teams that can win a conference championship in Ontario, if not more. You look at the Canada West right now, there are three teams that could legitimately win that championship. It looks like we're going to have a new Vanier Cup champion. So that's part of it. The other is quarterback play across the country has just gone through the roof. And so when, you know, that's what people are looking for. Who's at the controls? Can they sling it? Can they get the football where it needs to be? And there's a couple in Quebec. There's a bunch in Ontario. No shortage out west. So the combination of parity and really good quarterback play has us in what's going to be a really competitive postseason here. It's always exciting when I feel like there's more than one team, more than one quarterback to look out for. Of course, there's going to be the stars of the show that we'll get into in a moment. But the fact that it's kind of anyone's championship, especially conference by conference, is a really cool thing. So that's how we're going to navigate this conversation. We're going to talk about all the conferences, biggest stories, biggest players, beginning with the OUA, right? As a McMaster and Marauder, this is a tough one. Yeah, bye-bye. Bye. Okay. Yeah. Let's talk about the four teams standing. Fortunately, the Marauders are not included in this one. It's going to be Queens taking on Ottawa, and then Western versus Windsor in the semifinals. You want to talk about Queens and Windsor. So let's start with the Gales. 7-1 in the regular season. Number one seed in Ontario. Reigning OUA champs. Things are going pretty well for them at this point. Yeah, things are going really well for them. Over there in Kingston, and you think about kind of the last couple of years, they win the Yates Cup last year, Alex Fraken, their quarterback, fifth-year senior, and this is somebody who can make all the throws. Like, you talk about a leader of a program, check. You talk about somebody who grew up in an athletic household, check. Brother Connor, played point guard at Carleton. Played a little bit of pro. Playing for Canada overseas in the three-on-three. Athletic family. Athletic family. And then when you want somebody as a quarterback who's a gifted passer, who has a high football IQ, make the throws, that's what Alex brings. And there was a moment when they played Western earlier this year. Where he kind of looks one way and then looks off and just rips it into the tightest window right there to Cedric Smith. This is somebody who just has the complete deal. You talk about velocity, you talk about, you know, timing, location with the football. Brake and checks all those boxes in no small part why Queens is 7-1 right now. A lot of potential for this team, especially with him at the helm. I can see the twinkle in your eye when you talk about that pass. You walked into the studio. I need this visual when we talk about Queens. Outstanding. An exciting player. The only team to hand Queens that one regular season loss, Windsor. This is an interesting one, because you pointed out they started their season one and two, and now they're on, what, a five-game unbeaten streak? Make it six. There you go. The hottest team in the country. That's a big statement. Knock off Guelph back-to-back times. They beat Queens. And... Like, when you think back not that long ago, the Lancers were the doormat of the OUA, perennially 10th and 9th in this conference, and they have put something together there. And, you know, one of the messages that they have over there, and I want to quote this properly, we got to do things the right way, which is the long way and the hard way. And that's what they talk about there over in Windsor, and it's a real thing. Having kind of started off slow, but getting these wins, Mackenzie, they all haven't been the same. There's been some defensive stands late. It's been driving the field late. It's been gaining the experience of how to finish in the fourth quarter. And when you think about what playoff football is all about, what playoff football needs to be, it's that they go into Western this weekend where a couple things. One, they have to execute in the red zone. But the other is, they've got to go shot for shot with the Mustangs. Western's offense is legit. They're going to put points up. Can Windsor hang with them? That'd be dumb. How about Kareem Cotton Jr., though? We talked about QB leadership. This is somebody who appears to have what you're looking for. And with Cotton Jr., this story is so interesting. One, he starts at a U.S. school as a receiver. Last season with the Lancers, he was a receiver. I mean, kind of early on before practices would get going, he'd run around, throw the ball some. Are you kidding me? That is insane. And so Cotton Jr. goes to coaching staff in the offseason and says, I'd like a shot to compete for this thing. And looked really good in spring ball, spent a lot of time with the coaches, a lot of time after, didn't, you know, just really put in a lot of work to kind of get this, get this role. Windsor's in a really interesting spot because if you go an hour east on the 401, you'll land in Chatham. If you go an hour south, you'll land in Michigan. And there's a lot of talent in the United States. If you're just a little undersized, you may not fit in the U.S. game, but you sure will in the Canadian game. And Kareem Cotton Jr. started his university studies as an undergraduate in Arkansas. Now he's a master's student here at Windsor. He's got years of eligibility left. And he is a dual threat as a quarterback. And he's got the Lancers. Into a playoff semifinal as the hottest team in the country. That is so interesting. Talk about athleticism, eh? Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see with this Windsor side, who you said have kind of been grinding it out at one point with the doormat of this conference and now really proving themselves and maybe could make something happen against a perennial contender in Northwestern Queens. Sure. So let's see what happens there. Canada West is where we head next. Manitoba taking on UBC. Regina taking on Saskatchewan. UBC in the last week of the regular season. Beat Saskatchewan to snag that number one seed. So we'll start there. 6-2 was their record. Undefeated at home and led by a rookie running back. Led by a rookie running back who actually sat last week intentionally. And UBC won by five touchdowns over Saskatchewan. Ooh, okay. So now the Canada West goes through Vancouver. It won't go through Saskatoon. And the reason 18-year-old tailback Marvin Larazar sat Because they kind of looked at it and said, look, Marvin, you're the leading rusher in the country as a freshman. Do you really want to get hit 20, 25 times? Or should we sit you? Can we do this without you? Because we want, like, let's look at the bigger picture of November football and the playoffs. We're going to need to run the football when it really matters. And so, Larazar sat. They found something in their quarterback. They have one of the most dynamic receiving cores in the country. And Blake Mills, the coach out there, you'll be seeing. Blake won a national championship when he was coaching St. Mary's, I think, maybe even two. Yeah. Won in Calgary, was the head coach of the Dinos. Won with UBC, and he told his team this week, hey, a good season means playoff victory. And so now, now here they are with the number one seed in Canada West. And the Larazar story is amazing because here's a kid who's the second youngest of five, grows up in the east end of Ottawa, son of a single mother. And I had a chance to speak with N.E. Nedro. And mom said, I told Mark, if you want to compete with the best of the best, you've got to get out of here. And so at the age of 16, Larazar went down to North Carolina and played high school in Asheville, North Carolina. Played both offense and defense to learn the game a little bit better. He says, I'm just scratching my running ability. Well, he's on pace for 1,000 rushing yards. This is an 18-year-old. We're talking about double digits as well for touchdowns. Okay, Saskatchewan Huskies. This is a team who was in the final of the Vanier last year, and you obviously are connected to their QB, Anton Amundrud, who has had an incredible journey this year. Yeah, I mean, it's a wild story, and I'm going to try and tell it as quickly as I can. I mean, last year at the beginning of the season, Saskatchewan's playing lights out football, led by Anton Amundrud. And Anton is on his way to winning the National Player of the Year, as they had cried in the word, winner. But he's just not feeling well. Goes into the hospital, and turns out it's lymphoma. It's another rare form of cancer. And Anton was in the hospital through the playoff run, through the run to the Vanier Cup, is diagnosed. Finally, they find out what it is. Rounds and rounds of chemo. He went from 205 pounds to, in his words, 173 skin and bones. And here you have a unit, like, these are university football players. Anton's one thing, his teammates, the program, what's going to happen. Yeah. And all Anton kept asking the doctors is, when can I play? When can I get back? When is this going to be over so I can return? He's watching practice film on his tablet from the hospital room. Anyhow, this spring, Anton gets a clean bill of health. And his first call is to his parents in Lloydminster. Mom starts to cry. The next call is to Joel Lipinski, the strength coach of the Huskies, and gets into the gym and they start working on shoulder mobility and they started working on getting the strength up. Mackenzie, I went and spent some time with Anton this summer. There's 16 steps between the kitchen and living room that take you upstairs to the bedrooms. He said the peak of his chemo. It would take him four minutes to get up those stairs. And now this dude is back playing. He has lit it up for the Huskies. He hasn't skipped a beat. And it feels like, feels like there's a collision course happening here with UBC versus Saskatchewan. It's coming. Yeah. Let's talk about RSEQ, the Quebec side of things. We've got Concordia facing Laval. And then McGill facing Montreal. Interestingly, despite winning the Vanier last year, Montreal, I mean, not only are they injury-ridden, but they took a loss against Laval. You were just describing not too long ago what's going on there. Laval just went into Montreal and beat them there at Sepsom for the first time in eight years. And when I say beat them, they won 35-3. And you look at the Caravan right now, yes, they're the defending Vanier Cup champions, but week four, their quarterback gets KO'd. Pepe Gonzalez, I'm told, is done for the season. It's a shoulder injury. Two plays after Pepe goes down, their leading receiver goes down. The Caravan have had 78 different players go for them. Now look, they're saying all the right things. Here's still an opportunity. It's enough. The balance of power has shifted in the RSE. This is now Laval's shot again to take over, Just like they've been the dominant force for the last... 25 years in Canadian university football. They have their two-time All-Canadian middle linebacker back. Their quarterback is playing good football. And Saint-Foy is where the Vanier Cup will be held this year. They're going back to Quebec City for it. It would not surprise me if the Rougeurs are. Okay, heard it here first. So knowing that they are hosting, how motivating do you think that is for them, knowing it could be out? Yeah, I mean, that's a big part of it. They'll tell you, even if they win the national championship, the most satisfying win of the season. It was Saturday in Montreal. We have won there in eight years. We just beat them 35 to 3. Everything else is a cherry on top. Because that rivalry is real. I was telling you this a couple of weeks ago, last year when Montreal went to Quebec City. They had over 20,000 people at that game. Like, that rivalry means something. I don't want to get too carried away. But people are invested. It's like biblical stuff, you know? It matters to them. Okay, let's talk about the AUS to finish things off and go out east. We've got Acadia taking on St. FX on one side of things. But St. Mary's is the team we've got to talk about right now. And you want to highlight, obviously, they come into this 8-0 in the regular season. Number one seed. Are they going to be? Be the last team standing, regardless of how the other matchup story unfolds? Yeah, look, the Loney Bulls, the Atlantic Championship, St. Mary's is going to host it. They're going to play the winner of X in Acadia. St. Mary's won it last year, handily beating St. FX. And Justin Shibley is back for another year at quarterback. He's a good AUS quarterback. What's interesting about the Huskies is last year, up front on their offensive line, there was a lot of first and second year players. Those kids have grown up fast. And so that's the name of the game, to protect your quarterback. The question, Mackenzie, becomes, can the AUS ever, will the AUS ever become competitive nationally again? The last time an Atlantic school won a bowl game, almost 20 years ago, 2007. Eric Glavich and those St. Mary's Huskies beat Laval, they get to the Vanier Cup, they lost in Toronto to Manitoba. That feels like a lifetime ago, because no Atlantic team has been competitive nationally. And that is the key. Arash, this was really fun. Thank you for educating me, for having this conversation, for letting everyone know what to expect. We will absolutely, as I said, circle back.