I was surprised how physical McGill was...they played right on the line all game, probably crossing it a couple times. Curious if that’s how they played all year or if they were just getting frustrated?
That’s 9 straight losses by the OUA at the University Cup...0-3 in ‘16, ‘17, and now ‘18.
Excited to see the Alberta/Saskatchewan rivalry up close and in person tomorrow.
Yes, another very disappointing OUA performance.
The OUA has expanded too much in the past decade, thinning out the talent pool. Let's not forget that 15 years ago Western and UQTR were regularly winning the University Cup. What we are seeing the last 5 years is the result of adding Carleton, UOIT, Nipissing, and Laurentian to all recruit from the same group of Ontario-based players. Meanwhile, the AUS has not changed, nor has Canada West, save for adding MRU. The top OUA teams simply aren't deep enough any more, and that leads to mediocre teams getting hot and making it out of the playoffs.
Let's be honest here: McGill could have very easily won tonight. And while UNB manhandled Concordia 8-1, they also manhandled the AUS runners-up 11-3 in the Championship series. UNB and Alberta are at another level. It's a convenient narrative to say "UNB crushed Concordia because the OUA is terrible, but Alberta crushed Acadia because Acadia has a bad game, and that flurry of late goals made it respectable." The reality is that Alberta and UNB have long been in a league of their own. McGill is right there with Saskatchewan, St FX, and the other runners-up.
But, the real issue is that the OUA is so thinned out that it sends one team every year that has no business being at the University Cup. That was Brock this year. The OUA needs to cut teams, not add more.