Heading to Hamilton as the 2023 Canada West Champions, the Alberta Golden Bears are looking to keep recent history going at the 2023 U SPORTS Championship.
The defending national champions, the Bears are looking for their third national title repeat in program history. All four of the national titles the Bears have won since 2008 have come in back-to-back fashion, with Alberta winning national titles in 2008 & 2009, as well as 2014 & 2015.
The Bears will begin their title defence on Friday morning, when they take on the #8 seed Toronto Varsity Blues at 11:00 a.m. MT in the national quarter-final.
While this will be the third U SPORTS Championship for head coach Brock Davidiuk, it will just be the second in which games will be played. Alberta entered the 2020 Championship seeded fourth, before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Alberta went a perfect 5-0 in the 2023 CW playoffs, beating Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Trinity Western en route to their first conference title since 2015. The Bears, who went 22-2 during the regular season, are now seeded first at the national tournament for the first time since 2014, the year they won their 7th national title. The Bears (10) are joined by Trinity Western (6), Saskatchewan (4), Sherbrooke (1), as past national champions in the field this week at McMaster.
By being seeded first, Alberta would also avoid any Canada West matchups until the national final, and will play either Sherbrooke or Windsor in the semifinal with a win over Toronto.
All 11 games from the eight-team competition will be webcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms (English) and USPORTS.ca (French), up to and including Sunday’s gold medal game. The full webcast schedule will be available throughout the tournament at usports.ca/en/broadcast.
SEEDING:
1. Alberta Golden Bears (CW champions: 22-2 regular season, 5-0 playoffs)
2. McMaster Marauders (OUA champions: 18-2, 3-0)
3. Trinity Western Spartans (CW finalists: 18-6, 4-1)
4. Sherbrooke Vert & Or (RSEQ champions: 15-1, 4-0)
5. Windsor Lancers (OUA finalists: 15-5, 2-1)
6. Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists: 11-5, 2-2)
7. Saskatchewan Huskies (CW bronze medalists: 17-7, 3-3)
8. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA bronze medalists: 13-7, 2-1)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all times MOUNTAIN)
Friday, March 17
11:00 a.m.: Quarter-Final #1 – No. 8. Toronto vs No. 1 Alberta
1:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #2 – No. 5 Windsor vs No. 4 Sherbrooke
4:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #3 – No. 7 Saskatchewan vs No. 2 McMaster
6:00 p.m.: Quarter-Final #4 – No. Montreal vs No. 3 Trinity Western
Saturday, March 18
11:00 a.m.: Consolation #1—Loser Quarter-final #1 vs. Loser Quarter-final #2
1:00 p.m.: Consolation #2—Loser Quarter-final #3 vs. Loser Quarter-final #4
4:00 p.m.: Semifinal #1—Winner Quarter-final #1 vs. Winner Quarter-final #2
6:00 p.m.: Semifinal #2—Winner Quarter-final #3 vs. Winner Quarter-final #4
Sunday, March 19
10:00 a.m.: 5th-place game
12:00 p.m.: Bronze Medal
4:00 p.m.: Gold Medal