Funny. I never claimed the OUA to be the strongest conference. I've been saying all along that your belief that the CW is better than the OUA is completely unfounded. Canada West has a single dominant program (Alberta) and a bunch of average teams. The OUA is very balanced, and does not have a single dominant program. My evidence is that, in the past 25 years, no CW team other than Alberta (and Babcock's Lethbridge) has won the University Cup, yet four different OUA programs have prevailed in that time frame. If the CW was such a great conference, somewhere along the line another team would win ... yet they haven't.
You're the person who ranks Calgary and Mount Royal as "A" teams, claims that the OUA sends "dud" and "mediocre" teams to the University Cup, and whines and complains about the OUA having some mystical power in the CIS offices.
Yet, here we are, with the very team you called "mediocre" - one that was in the middle of the OUA West at the end of the season - beating your supposed "A" team in the University Cup. Geez, you'd think that a great CW team would have no trouble with a mediocre OUA team. This was no Miracle on Ice - it was a good University Cup game in which the OUA team won.
And, if you're seeking other opinions about the quality of the CW vs the OUA, you could ask any the of three most recent University Cup winning coaches from that conference. I think Kelly Nobes and Clarke Singer have particularly strong opinions about the matter.
On the point about why more CW teams haven't won national titles, the answer lies in your question. If Alberta wins all the time, that gives precious little opportunity for anybody else. The same phenomenon applied to the OUA when Toronto had their dynasty. There was one token season when Waterloo won the OUA in those years.
You also cannot forget about Sask. For whatever reason, Sask are perennial bridesmaids. I may have posted before about their number of 2nd place finishes over the years at both conference and national level. Sask has tailed off the last couple of years, but they have been one of the CIS's strongest programs for almost 20 years. Given their lengthy period of success they ought to have had more than one national title. IMO they have still been up there with Alberta, UNB, Moncton, and UQTR. If they were 3-3 in U-Cup championship games, instead of 1-5, I am not sure that would materially affect the relative strength of the conferences. Especially when 2 of those losses were against Alberta.
IAE the combination of 2 exceptional programs suppressed opportunities for the rest. In the days of the 6 team era, the CW usually had one or sometimes two berths in the nationals. One spot would usually be Alberta's, and the other Sask's. In Canada West playoffs the higher seed hosts the whole series, which is played 3 games in 3 days. This makes upsets tough.
So, if not for Alberta, there were many Sask teams, and often Calgary and Manitoba teams, who were capable of winning national titles but never got out of the conference. Just like what happened in the OUA in the days of the Varsity Blues, and a brief fling from York.
(There was one season where Alberta hosted and the CW had two additional berths. Manitoba won a 3rd place playoff over Calgary. They beat UQTR then lost to Alberta. Alberta beat Sask in the final.)
As for the ranking of Calgary and MRU, the rankings speak for themselves. Alberta and UNB pulled away from the rest. Calgary and MRU easily deserved their rankings. There were 12 teams B+ or higher and 4 were from the AUS, the CW and OUA East had 3 each, and the OUA West had 2.
As for the CIS catering to the OUA, that is obvious. Just look at the regulations for basketball compared to hockey. The OUA has a strong basketball league therefore there is no rule about conference winners getting higher seedings, and the wild-card spot goes to the highest-ranked non-qualifier (Ottawa this year). Or football, which now restricts CWUAA usage of junior players, whilst OUA basketball teams can utilize OCAC programs to their heart's content.
