Ivy Big Ten League for Ontario University Football

Many of the commentors on the Canadian university football game have recently been wondering if the Ivy League of Canada, the Ontario University Athletics Football Conference, should be split into two. Nothing really brand new here, since discussions in this area have been on going for years, as every single institution in the conference, let alone the league itself, want the edge. But now the call for change has gotten much louder, in particular, from those in the Atlantic East and Pacific West outside of Ontario.

This leaves conventional wisdom to decide how such an interesting arrangement work out, some think it should be decided by population, others believe it should go by ability. If one did align the schools by population, Ontario would have a Big Ivy Five consisting of University of Toronto Varsity Blues at 63,000 students, York University Lions at 39,100, University of Ottawa Gee Gees at 30,882, University of Western Ontario Mustangs at 25,000 and University of Waterloo Warriors at 22,368, while the Small Oak Five would be Mcmaster University Marauders at 19,113, University of Guelph Gryphons at 17,332, Queens University Golden Gaels at 13,500, University of Windsor Lancers at 12,291 and Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks at 11,869. However, if one instead went by ability instead, then in the past twelve years since 1995, Ontario's Big Ivy Five would have UWO Mustangs at 106 powerpoints, UO Gee Gees at 102, WLU Golden Hawks at 96, MU Marauders at 89 and UW Warriors at 72, while their Small Oak Five would be QU Golden Gaels at 71, UG Gryphons at 60, YU Lions at 53, UW Lancers at 45 and UT Varsity Blues at 21.

So, obviously there is no agreement in both these areas, if one were to combine them, results show two obviously different tiers. The Ivy Schools would then be Western, Ottawa, Mcmaster, Waterloo and York, the Oak Schools would start with Toronto, Queens, Guelph, Laurier and Windsor, ticking off archrivals within the Varsity Blue and Lion camps as well as Golden Hawk and Warriors booster. To find an absolute agreement from all these variables may just be too hard, therefore perhaps the best thing is to let them fight it out there on turf, rather than on the notebook.