The end to one whacked out basketball season

In men's play, this weekend was the finals in the Canada West division of the CIS basketball championships. A stranger season could not have been had.

• Traditional powerhouse University of British Columbia Thunderbirds finish out of the playoffs for the first time in god knows how long.
• Season long Canada West second place University of Victoria Vikes, nationally ranked #5, place 4th in the Canada West Finals, leaving them out of the Canadian Final 8.
• Season leaders of Canada West most of the season and the 2009/10 national champions University of Saskatchewan Huskies, nationally ranked #3, finish 3rd by beating the Vikes. However, due to the strange rules of seeding, it is unlikely that they will get the one wildcard berth to the Final 8 -- in part because they lost the Canada West final 4 tournament that they hosted.
• Nationally ranked #4 Fraser Valley Cascades beat the Vikes to come in 2nd in Canada West. This earns them a seat at the Canadian Final 8.
• Nationally ranked #7 University of Alberta Golden Bears, beaten twice in a row by my Dinos in January, take the Canada West title.
• Speaking of my Dinos, they had a rather dismal 9 wins in their first 23 games of the season (including league and exhibition/tournament play) -- then went on to win 10 in a row, including 2 over Alberta, and one each over Saskatchewan and Victoria -- in the second half of the season. Credit the comeback to the return of 2 of 3 key players lost to injury early in the season.

No one I know or read could have predicted this outcome for Canada West.

Unfortunately, we all know Carelton University will take the nationals, so all will return to normal soon.