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The Canada West has handed out all-stars in all sports now, most recently for men’s basketball, which has its final four starting tonight.

There will be gripes and disagreements on these things all the time and truthfully you could usually make an all-conference third team in most sports for the number of players who didn’t get included in the first two. The CIS and the Canada West don’t do that, however. 

But I do.

So here then is my thoughts on the men’s basketball all-stars and what I would have done. (Actual all-stars in graphic below).

I have little to no problem with these teams, just FYI. It’s really more about who isn’t listed, than who is. I’m not looking to take anyone of those lists, I don’t think — although I’m not crazy about Plumb being a first-teamer after averaging a little less than 16 points a game and not putting up any eye-popping numbers otherwise. Plumb is the MVP of UBC and that alone is likely why you see him in the list.

In fact: Take a look at Plumb’s numbers matched up against the second-best player on Lethbridge, Julian Spear Chief-Morris (click on images to enlarge):

I’m not even suggesting Spear Chief-Morris is an all-star — just that the numbers of a non-all-star are comparable to those of a first-teamer.

But rather than nitpick, here’s five more players who could have and, in a couple of cases, absolutely should have been Canada West all-stars.

• Thijin Moses, Calgary — In my mind, the most egregious oversight of them all. Moses’ snub could be a product of two things: Ogungbemi-Jackson making one squad and Calgary not being a playoff team. So when you see a team not good enough to make the post-season (even though the Dinos record would have had them in third place in the Pacific Division), some might say its not deserving of two all-stars. This, of course, is lunacy. Ogungbemi-Jackson deserves to be there because he’s probably the top point guard in Canada West. But Moses was a 6-foot-7 match-up nightmare for teams, averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting the three at 47%. And that’s not 47% on 25 shots or something suspect. That’s 47% on 123 shots. And if you’re really a stat geek — his true shooting percentage was 61.5, which incidentally is the same percentage Steve Nash currently has for the Lakers.

• Steven Wesley, Winnipeg — This isn’t just because I proclaimed him to be a conference all-star about four games into the season. Wesley averaged 18.1 points and 8.2 rebounds, and shot over 60% from the field (TS% of 62.9). Wesley gave a Winnipeg team with zero advantages down low an active rebounder and hustle guy who won 50/50 balls and got himself easy baskets.

• Kevon Parchment, Fraser Valley — Nearly 18 points a game to go along with eight rebounds per and a FT% near 85. And he’s 6-foot-3. Once again probably the product of Fraser Valley already having an all-star in Freeman, who was most certainly deserving.

• Tonner Jackson, Trinity Western — The Spartans were a totally different team with Jackson in the lineup. A match-up challenge at 6-foot-7, Jackson averaged 16 points and seven rebounds, and shot the three at over 40%. And yes, I’m aware you can’t put a guy on an all-star team officially who played in only 13 conference games. Still.

• Paul Gareau, Regina; Jonar Huertas, Manitoba — The Cougars weren’t very good. But they’d have been a lot worse without Gareau, who averaged more than 16 and 7 and shot nearly 65% from the field. The Bisons were pretty good and Huertas was a much-needed piece. I certainly didn’t like his shot selection on most nights, but he could fill it up. Without Huertas’ 16 points and 39% from three.

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@LarkinsWSun

It took less than two weeks to eliminate almost everyone.

When Canada West playoffs began for men’s and women’s hockey and volleyball, and with the basketball conference season coming to an end at the same time, eight teams with Manitoba ties still held hopes — in some cases faint — of a championship at the end of the line.

Yet in 10 days, six of those teams are done and the two that remain are textbook pieces of evidence that timing matters. 

The Winnipeg Wesmen men’s basketball team and the Brandon Bobcats men’s volleyball team both got hot when it mattered, the Wesmen the microwave variety with a quick little heat-check to end the season that got them into the playoffs, into a hosting berth and, now, into the Canada West final four.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, are Xeroxing a page from their 2011 playbook, when they went a pedestrian 10-8 in the conference season but went on a late-season run that they extended into the post-season right to the national final, where they were beaten by Trinity Western. Whereas the problems for BU occurred in the first half of 2010-11, this time around their rough patch came in the second semester, at one point losing four in a row and five of six just two weeks before the post-season was to begin.

The Wesmen had a number of things go their way (as I blogged about here last week) but are now in a conference semifinal thanks to an absolutely scintillating performance Sunday afternoon at Duckworth Centre, where they eliminated the Trinity Western Spartans in Game 3 of the best-of-three quarter-final. They shot nearly 60% from three and played as selfless and cohesive a brand of basketball as they have all season long. By doing so, they’ve cooked up what is already the finest Wesmen season in nearly 20 years.

Nothing comes easy now, of course. The Wesmen must beat a very tough Victoria squad on a neutral floor for a berth in nationals; the Bobcats must navigate the eight-team nationals in Quebec City, albeit from the top perch. That No. 1 ranking, the first of its kind for the Brandon program, guarantees zilch, especially considering a semifinal duel with Alberta would loom on Day 2 if the Cats are able to win their quarter-final.

The Bobcats and Wesmen have successfully navigated to this point without much recognition from the rest of the country. Winnipeg only just this week appeared in the national poll — and in 12th at that — and Brandon hovered in the bottom half of the top 10 for most of the season. Maybe nobody expected much from either, and that’s likely just fine for both.

As the Bobcats proved in 2011, sometimes to be among the last ones standing, you gotta sneak up there.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

There are too many breaks — the good way, the bad way — to ever pin any success or lack thereof on any single one of those random twists of fate.

Yet the body of work for the Winnipeg Wesmen — put together now with the benefit of hindsight after they locked up a playoff spot Wednesday night — needs to be filed away and examined considering the way the hits and misses conspired to not only get them into the playoffs, but keep them at home at the same time.

The post-mortem of their thrilling 89-85 win over the Manitoba Bisons, contains plenty of what-ifs and, indeed, so too does the Winnipeg season as a whole.

In returning to the playoffs for the first time in four years — and truthfully that 2009 appearance is deserving of an asterisk considering that team won just five of 22 games — the Wesmen did so in the only fashion they really could have: with a three-game win streak to end the season.

Yes, every team in a league will say “if only we’d gotten that one” or “we needed that one” when taking stock of the games that have passed, but this season U of W had some truly pivotal moments.

Forget for a moment the bullets dodged in the final seconds of Wednesday’s win — Davidson Joseph missing two free throws to tie the game; Kevin Oliver missing a layup — take a look back through the calendar first.

• What if Sahr Saffa doesn’t foul? The Wesmen went into the Alberta weekend out of the playoffs and knowing that two out of their final three may not be enough to assure a post-season berth. So they go ahead and get the win Friday against first-place Alberta to give themselves a breath of added hope. They fall behind by double digits the next night, battle back to take an eight-point lead, then squandered that through a series of turnovers and missed free throws that combined with the Golden Bears hitting every three-pointer they needed down the stretch. And when Kenny Otieno hit a contested three — and the word ‘contested’ doesn’t even do it justice — with six seconds left to tie the game, it looked like the Wesmen had thrown their season away. Until — and perhaps if you believe in basketball gods, this is where they come in — Sahr Saffa, thinking the Bears were still behind, fouls Nolan Gooding with three seconds left. Gooding knocks down the second of two — another ‘what-if’ — and the Wesmen, improbably, live to fight another day.
• What if that fourth quarter doesn’t happen? Escape doesn’t seem to adequately sum up what the Wesmen did at Mount Royal on Jan. 19. Thanks to terrible starts to the first and third quarter, Winnipeg found itself down by 20 entering the fourth. A 35-11 finish, however, bails them out against a team that finished 4-16 this season. Considering 13 wins wouldn’t get them in the playoffs, imagine now if they hadn’t authored that improbable rally.
• What if he doesn’t get hurt? As much credit as the Wesmen deserve for an impressive sweep of Alberta that they absolutely needed, it would be foolish to not make note of the fact they got U of A after their star player, Jordan Baker, went down with a herniated disk. That injury helped Winnipeg two weeks ago, and it kept paying out for the Wesmen last weekend when Alberta went on the road and got swept by Saskatchewan, one thing they needed to have happen if they were to move up to the No. 2 spot. The other thing….
• What if 37 to 16 doesn’t happen? The Wesmen needed the Lethbridge Pronghorns to get a game off Calgary (so did Manitoba, by the way). After the Dinos won on their home floor last Thursday, the fortunes of both teams lay in that final game of the season and the Bisons and Wesmen were left to watch and hope that U of L’s homecourt advantage would mean something.

Perhaps it did.

The Pronghorns went to the free-throw line 37 times that night, making 11 more free throws (27) than Calgary even got to attempt (16), a figure that got the term ‘home cooking’ trending for a night among coaches and those among the curious. That disparity isn’t entirely to blame/credit for the 95-78 final, but you weren’t paying much attention if you looked at the boxscore and didn’t say ‘Wow’ when you saw those figures.

• • •

People are fond of saying “you create your own destiny.” I, however, am not one of these people because I find that phrase to be foolish and devoid of anything grounded in, or remotely close to, logic. You do not create destiny — you merely watch it unfold.

The Wesmen and Bisons are deserving of their place in the playoffs. You win 14 games, you should be in there and in this wildly competitive season, if you got in, you are worthy.

But there’s other things at play here.

There are breaks to the game, and all teams find themselves on both sides of them at some time or another, destiny be damned.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

Way back in the year 2012, I wrote about the renewed rivalry of the Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons in men’s basketball.

The final paragraph: “But keep in mind, this isn’t the last time they see each other this season — Feb. 13. To close out the conference season. A game that could let us declare this rivalry officially resuscitated.”

A couple of months later, and now that the teams are in their final preparations for the season-ending tilt at U of M on Wednesday, one could argue that the game looms even larger than anyone would have predicted even back then when it was clear the Bisons and Wesmen were both making cases to be playoff teams.

In fact, that is my argument.

While I was pretty sure Manitoba and Winnipeg would be playing a pretty significant game this week, I would not have guessed this much would be riding on it — for everyone.

You see, because of the scheduling quirk that has the two playing in the middle of the week, instead of a traditional Friday or Saturday night, when the final buzzer sounds Wednesday it will let everyone else in the conference know, pretty much, what they have to do to get into the post-season.

I’m no Canada West historian, but I have been covering the league for the past 10 years and I’ll just say this season will go down as providing one of the most bizarre final weekends in the history of the conference.

Consider these facts and gander to the right at the official standings as your primer:

• Six teams are still in the running for a playoff spot.
• No team has secured a spot.
• The Alberta Golden Bears could finish first — or out of the playoffs.
• The Lethbridge Pronghorns, in sixth place, are still in contention.
• The Winnipeg Wesmen, out of a playoff spot as of last Friday morning, could finish second and host a first-round series.
• The Manitoba Bisons could do the same.
• Alberta/Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Manitoba and Calgary could all be tied at 14-8 at the end of the weekend.

So here’s the two must-know facts if you’re heading to IGAC on Wednesday. The Wesmen must win to have a hope of getting in. The Bisons don’t need to win, but they’d be advised to. Let’s look at the possibilities for the two local teams.

MANITOBA BISONS

Eliminated with: A loss, plus a Calgary sweep of Lethbridge.
This scenario works thusly: Calgary would pull even with Manitoba at 14-8 then win on the second tiebreaker, which is record in the division. Calgary would be 9-5, while Manitoba would be 8-6 if this scenario plays out.

In with: A win.
At 14-7, holding the same amount of wins currently as the two teams ahead of them, no one can go in the backdoor to force the Bisons out.

Best vs Worst (case): Could be in second place and hosting a series. Could be at home.

WINNIPEG WESMEN

Eliminated with: A loss.
By virtue of Calgary owning the head-to-head tiebreak, even a Calgary split with Lethbridge would pull the Dinos even with Winnipeg in the event of a Wesmen loss. Similarly, a Lethbridge sweep of Calgary doesn’t help the Wesmen either, as the Horns own the head-to-head on U of W as well.

In with: A win.
A win would give the Wesmen the season series 2-0 and bump them ahead of the Bisons and put them in regardless of what Calgary and Lethbridge do.

Best vs Worst (case): Could host with a win, a Saskatchewan sweep and a Calgary/Lethbridge split. Could have their first winning record since 1994 — and still not have enough.

So the volleyball and hockey pictures are fully painted in the Canada West conference, meaning we now know the match-ups for the local schools. Basketball (as I’ll allude to in my next blog post) is still very, very murky.

Let’s have a look:

MEN’S HOCKEY

Regina (13-12-3) at Manitoba (17-7-4)
When: Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m., if necessary.
Season series: Manitoba 3-1
Info: The Bisons missed out on a first-round bye, dropping the ball in the final game of the season, a 4-2 loss to the Cougars in Regina. That left the door open for Saskatchewan, which slid into second place and is sitting at home relaxing this weekend. Still, the Bisons get home-ice advantage and a rematch with Regina, which they outscored 21-9 in four games this season. Also in their favour? The Bisons went a sparkling 10-2-2 on home ice this season.
About Regina: The Cougars did not have a player in the top 30 in Canada West scoring this season. Their leader was former Dauphin King Troy Hunter of Lenore, Man., who had eight goals and 19 points in 23 games.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Manitoba (10-12-6) at UBC (17-7-4)
When: Friday, Saturday, 9 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m., if necessary.
Season series: UBC 3-1
Info: The record in favour of the Thunderbirds is somewhat misleading, as two of the four games the Bisons lost were in overtime or a shootout. All but one of the games in the series was decided by a goal and the Thunderbirds held only a 10-6 scoring advantage in those games.
About UBC: The T-Birds are making their first playoff appearance in four years and hosting a series for the first time in program history. They’ve also authored likely the most remarkable turnaround in the history of women’s hockey in Canada West. The Thunderbirds, who feature Winnipeg’s Tatiana Rafter and Oakbank’s Cailey Hay, improved by 16 wins after going 1-21-2 last season.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Manitoba (14-8) at UBC (15-7)
When: Thursday, Saturday, 9 p.m. CT; Sunday, 5 p.m., if necessary.
Season series: UBC 2-0
Info: After a stretch of three straight losses — and four in five matches — that included a sweep in Winnipeg by UBC, the Bisons recovered somewhat to post four straight wins in January, before going 2-2 in their final four. That four-match stretch to close the season, however, included a win over previously undefeated Alberta.
About UBC: The Thunderbirds feature two Winnipeggers, both sophomores who play key roles. Jarrid Ireland is eighth in the conference in kills with 244, while Noah Derksen has appeared in 19 of the team’s 22 matches off the bench.

Brandon (13-9) at Saskatchewan (15-7)
When: Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m. CT; Sunday, 3 pm., if necessary.
Season series: Saskatchewan 2-0
Info: Other than an impressive road win at Trinity Western in early January, the second semester has been largely barren of joy for the Bobcats, who have gone 4-6 in 2013 and struggled to get two wins last weekend against UBCO, which finished 2-20. The Bobcats played without Sam Tuivai, second in the nation in kills, last weekend but they should have him back for this series.
About Saskatchewan: The Huskies return to the post-season for the first time in five years and do so as the comeback story of the season. The Huskies amassed a mere 19 wins in the past five seasons, including a 4-16 record in 2011-12.

Winnipeg (11-11) at Trinity Western (16-6)
When: Thursday, Friday, 10 p.m. CT; Saturday, 4:30 p.m., if necessary.
Season series: 1-1
Info: The Wesmen are dancing in the post-season for the first time since 2009-10 and will try to do some of what their in-province colleagues did and that’s win at the Langley Events Centre. The Bobcats stopped TWU’s 26-match home win streak back in January, and the Bisons followed that up the very next weekend with a sweep. Winnipeg’s win over the Spartans came at Duckworth Centre in November.
About Trinity Western: The two-time defending national champion Spartans are not the odds-on favourites to win it all like they were last season, but no one would be surprised if they did. They come in having won five of their last six, including a win over Alberta last weekend in Edmonton, which was just the Bears second loss in 22 outings this season.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Manitoba (12-10) at Alberta (15-7)
When: Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m. CT. Sunday, 4 p.m., if necessary.
Season series: 1-1
Info: By winning five of their last six, the Bisons not only go into the post-season as one of the hottest teams in the conference, but they moved up to sixth place and avoided a tougher trip to see Trinity Western, where they mustered only one set win in a double-header last month. Instead they get the third-place Pandas, with whom they split a series in Winnipeg two weeks ago.
About Alberta: After blazing guns in the first semester and jumping out to a 10-2 start prior to the break, the Pandas have been decidedly underwhelming in 2013. They have split each of their five doubleheaders in the second semester, including to non-playoff teams Winnipeg and Brandon.

The Canada West web site does a great job of keeping current stats and standings, along with history and records, in an easy-to-navigate place and does it as well or better than any other conference in the land — and I’m including the CIS’ site in that.

So with the seasons winding down for hockey, basketball and volleyball, I thought it would be apt to dig through the records and find where local — and currently active — athletes stand in the Canada West historically, both for career and single-season.

A couple of notes:

• I’ve done my best to include anyone who would fit in the category of Manitoban or playing for a Manitoba school.  If you feel someone has been omitted, please feel free to leave a comment.

• For volleyball, it’s important to note that the record book is really only applicable to the past 12 or so years because of rule changes and changes to scoring.

• It is also important to remember that the local basketball teams did not become a member of Canada West until 1999-2000, so anything that happened in the GPAC days is not applied here.

So, with that, here’s who to watch for this weekend in their quest to move their names up in the history books of the Canada West.

MEN’S HOCKEY

• Russell’s Brock Nixon of the Calgary Dinos, with two games at Saskatchewan, will move into a tie for sixth all-time in games played in the Canada West with 138. If he plays in Calgary’s final four games he will be one of only four CW players to have played in 140 career games.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• With three assists this weekend at Saskatchewan, Winnipeg Wesmen guard Andrew Cunningham will move into a tie for 13th for most assists in a season, matching him with former Wesmen Erfan Nasajpour‘s 2005-06 season. At his current rate of 8.25 assists per game, Cunningham would break the record of 162 set in 2003-04 by UBC’s Karlo Villanueva.

• With two games this weekend at Calgary, Brandon’s Sterling Nostedt, of the Regina Cougars, will have played in 102 games in his five-year career. If he plays all six of Regina’s final games — concluding in his hometown to wrap up the conference season in two weeks — he will move into a tie for fifth all-time in games played in the Canada West.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

• With 19 points this weekend, Winnipegger Debbie Yeboah of the Victoria Vikes would move into 29th place all-time in Canada West career scoring. If she maintains her 18 points-per-game average through the final six games, she would move into 19th place all time.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

• Currently with 1069, with five kills this weekend versus Alberta, Manitoba Bisons’ Dane Pischke will move into fifth place in kills all-time in Canada West. Last weekend he passed former Bison Toon van Lankvelt for most kills in a Bisons uniform since the inception of rally-point scoring in 2000-01.  Pischke’s teammate, Chris Voth, is currently ninth all-time at 994.

• With four matches to play, Bisons setter Chris Komishon — currently averaging 37 assists per match — needs 91 assists to move into ninth all-time.

• With one ace this weekend, Voth would move into 16th in career digs with 68.

• With six blocks, Pischke would move into seventh at 277 for a career. Teammate Joe Brooks holds the Canada West career mark at 388, and counting.

• With 12 digs, Brandon Bobcat Scott Neufeld would move into second place in the Canada West career list at 739. Bisons’ libero Derek Nieroda of Headingly sits in fourth at 714 and Voth is 17th at 453. Voth needs two digs to move into 16th.

• With four digs, Nieroda would pass his own mark from last season for most in a conference campaign with 241. If he maintains his rate of 13 digs per match, he would break Blair Bann‘s mark of 283 set in 2010-11 at UBC. Neufeld, meanwhile, needs 11 to move into 10th place for a single season and, at his current rate of 11 digs per match, could move into fifth for a single season.

• With 34 points this weekend, Pischke would move into fourth for a career at 1293. Voth is next on the list, currently with 1175.5. Points began as a Canada West stat in 2002-03.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

• With six digs, Manitoba’s Nicole Hall would move into 12th for a career at 901. At her rate of 13 digs per match, Hall could move into seventh place all-time after the Bisons play their four remaining matches.

• With once ace, Winnipegger Shanlee McLennan of the Brandon Bobcats would move into third for most aces in a season with 38. She is currently four behind the single-season record of 41 set by former Wesmen Lauren Sears last season.

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@LarkinsWSun

Not really a full blog post here, just a few random tidbits. It’s like my Twitter feed, except in this case instead of unfollowing, you just stop reading.

• The Manitoba Bisons hockey teams announced their annual recipients of the Mike Ridley Award. Fifteen members of the men’s team and four from the women’s team were given the financial reward — $750 for men, $650 for women — named after the former Bison-turned-NHLer.

From the men’s team: Luke Cain, Joe Caligiuri, Del Cowan, Dane Crowley, Jesse Deckert, Tyler Dittmer, Deven Dubyk, Ian Duval, James Henry, Brandon Lockerby, Matthew Lowry, Blair Macaulay, Brendan Rowinski, Jeremy Schappert, Craig Scott.

From the women’s team: Kristin Cockerill, Nellie Minshull, Maggie Litchfield-Medd, Kayleigh Wiens.

The awards go to athletes demonstrating superior athletic ability, good academic standing and a high level of leadership.

• The Bisons announced their track and field team captains for the upcoming season, naming Elliott Cooke, 22, Karen Ferris, 22, Leah Harpelle, 22, and Wilfred Samking, 20. The Bisons host the fourth annual Bison Classic meet at Max Bell Friday and Saturday.

• The Winnipeg Wesmen wrestling teams are in action on their home floor this weekend, hosting the second annual Wesmen Invitational on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Alberta (No. 1 M/No. 1 W), Regina (NR M/No. 3 W), Calgary (No. 10 M/No. 5 W) and Saskatchewan (No. 9 M/No. 6 W) are the other teams in attendance.

• The Brandon Bobcats are offering rain-cheque night this Saturday for men’s and women’s volleyball matches.

• And, finally, here’s who is where this weekend in Canada West.

Men’s hockey: Manitoba vs UBC.

Women’s hockey: Manitoba at UBC

Men’s/Women’s basketball: Brandon at Lethbridge; Manitoba at Alberta; Winnipeg at Saskatchewan

Men’s/Women’s volleyball: Brandon vs UBC; Manitoba vs Alberta; Winnipeg vs UBC-O

As the blog headline indicates, it was a (Larry David voice) pretty preeeeetttttyyyy good weekend for teams out of the University of Manitoba.

Pretty much every team on the Fort Garry campus took care of business last weekend and some made significant leaps in the Canada West standings as conference play gets into the nitty of the gritty last few week of the schedule. To boot, one Bison was also pretty good in the pool, too, at the Canada West championships.

No more waiting, let’s see who made moves in the Canada West:

WINNERS

Manitoba men’s basketball
What they did: Swept Lethbridge; moved to 12-5.
Why it’s big: Reasonably speaking, things simply could not have played out any better for the Bisons. Not only did they impressively earn a home sweep over a Lethbridge team that had gotten early-season love as more than just a playoff contender, but they were also benefited by two Winnipeg Wesmen losses and a massive Brandon upset of Saskatchewan on Saturday. When all was said and done, Manitoba was sitting in second place a half-game up on Saskatchewan, a full game up on Winnipeg and now conceivably in striking distance of division-leading Alberta. The Bisons floundered in the second half of last season but this time around it’s the exact opposite, having won five in a row to start 2013.

Manitoba men’s volleyball
What they did: Swept Regina; moved to 12-6
Why it’s big: Because of the logjam nature of volleyball in Canada West, every weekend there can be a tectonic shift from top to bottom. To wit: Six points separates second from sixth and three teams in the middle of the pack have a 12-6 record. This is why Manitoba’s four-match win streak jumps out significantly. Two weeks ago they were mired in a four-losses-in-five-outings slump, then turned it around with season-altering victories at Trinity Western. Last weekend, they knocked off Regina and are now back in hosting position with four matches to go. Beware, however: The Bisons host undefeated Alberta this weekend and have a tough road trip to Saskatchewan to close the season. Where they wind up? Your guess is as good as mine.

Manitoba men’s hockey
What they did: Swept Lethbridge; Moved to 15-5-4
Why it’s big: With only four games left to play, first place is likely out of the question for Manitoba but the Bisons, who have won four of their last five and have earned points in 12 of their last 13, have surged into second place in the conference, one of two positions that earn first-round byes. One point separates the CIS No. 8-ranked team from third-place Saskatchewan, and the Bisons await UBC this weekend before going on the road to Regina to close out the campaign.

Manitoba women’s volleyball
What they did: Swept Regina; now 9-9
Why it’s big: It’s not so much that the Bisons climbed the ladder any more but, with their two wins against the Cougars, they put a boot on a couple of teams below them that were hoping they’d slip. The Bisons maintained a one-match edge over eighth-place Brandon (which has 17-1 UBC this weekend) and gained one match on Winnipeg, which split with Alberta. It hasn’t always been pretty for the team that is perennially playoff bound, but it would take a significant collapse for them not to be in the post-season.

NEUTRAL

Manitoba women’s hockey
What they did: Split with Lethbridge; earned three of four points to move to 10-10-4
Why it’s big: Let’s introduce the new section of the weekly wrap with a team that can’t really be dropped into a loser category after scoring three out of a possible four points on the weekend. And yet the Bisons didn’t help themselves considerably either, especially when considering the Pronghorns are now a suspect 7-14-3. So the Bisons are holding on to a playoff spot and earning a single point this weekend in Vancouver will officially book their berth in the post-season.

Brandon women’s volleyball
What they did: Swept Saskatchewan; now 8-10
Why it’s big: At least this particular weekend, the Bobcats didn’t do anything wrong. They went on the road and scored two wins that should have been wins. But this is the situation they’ve dug for themselves and in order to get into the playoffs, they are needing help in the form of the Bisons slipping. It didn’t happen and now the ‘Cats need to pull off a serious streak, meaning the likelihood of BU making a leap into the final playoff spot is very slim. With UBC in this weekend, it’s quite certain the death knell for Brandon will be sounded soon.

LOSERS

Winnipeg men’s basketball
What they did: Swept by Calgary; now 11-6
Why it’s big: Oh, no. What a time for THAT to happen. The Wesmen, who along with the Bisons have been the surprise stories of this season, are suddenly in a very precarious position after the Dinos came in and did what no one has done this season and beat U of W twice on its home floor. Their record is still impressive, but it doesn’t recuse them from the sudden dogfight that they now find themselves in. Calgary now looms 1 1/2 games back of that fourth and final playoff spot. But while the Dinos — who have a game in hand — have a fairly friendly slate of Regina, Brandon and Lethbridge (all non-playoff teams), the Wesmen must go to Saskatchewan, host Alberta and then finish with the Bisons at IGAC. A good weekend against the Huskies would be a great start for them to solidify themselves as a playoff participant. Easier said than done, however.

Winnipeg women’s basketball
What they did: Swept Calgary; now 5-12
Why it’s big: Although not mathematically eliminated, this weekend’s sweep by the Dinos was for all intents and purposes the end of post-season hopes for the Wesmen, who would need to find an upset against red-hot Sask. (winner of its last five), and then pull off an upset of Alberta the following week.

Winnipeg men’s volleyball
What they did: Swept by Alberta; now 8-10
Why it’s big: Nothing is for certain for the Wesmen, who had the feel-good emotions of winning four of six bluntly knocked out running into another Alberta juggernaut. So now U of W holds a match edge on Mount Royal for the final playoff spot with UBC-Oganagan (at home) and Thompson Rivers (road) closing the season. The good news is those two teams combined have a record of 8-28 while MRU goes on the road for TRU and UBC. You can’t ever actually control destiny (even though everyone in sports likes to tell you you can), but the Wesmen can at least do some things that set themselves up for a brighter future.

Winnipeg women’s volleyball
What they did: Split with Alberta; now 7-11
Why it’s big: You can’t take anything away from the Wesmen for bouncing back and earning a split on the road with Alberta because that was quite honestly a tremendous weekend for them. But with Manitoba winning twice, it sent U of W back even further in its pursuit. Realistically the Wesmen will have to win all four of their remaining matches and that’s not out of the question with UBCO at home this weekend and 0-18 TRU after that. The problem being, U of W will have to hope for some massive failures from both Manitoba AND Brandon if the Wesmen are hoping to unexpectedly leapfrog into the post-season.

Honourable mention: Brandon men’s basketball for a split with 10th-ranked Saskatchewan, including holding the Huskies — who average more than 87 points per game — to 69 on Saturday.

Not receiving votes: Brandon women’s basketball; Manitoba women’s basketball.

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Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson had his family there, an ample support group that is never far away when he makes these once-in-awhile trips back to Winnipeg, themselves proof that there is comfort in numbers.

So, yes, while there are surely benefits to being a university student making a trip home, for the junior point guard of the Calgary Dinos, rest is surely not one of them.

Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson found his comfort zone at Duckworth Centre on Thursday. (PHOTO: Calgary Dinos)

Ogungbemi-Jackson put his workhorse image on full display Thursday, playing all 45 minutes in a 93-86 overtime win over the Winnipeg Wesmen at Duckworth Centre, the second memorable OT game in a row the Wesmen have lost on their home floor. The Garden City Collegiate graduate, who left Winnipeg after high school and has been a starter every year in Calgary, effortlessly put together a line of 24 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals, not to mention late-game threes that both provided stomach punches to the resilient Wesmen.

Ogungbemi-Jackson’s three in overtime — after Winnipeg inexplicably found a way to rally from five down in the final seconds to force OT — essentially iced the game and it came with as cool and effortless a stroke as you can imagine, an open look from the top of the key in a gym that he’s grown intimately familiar with in his rise from high school prodigy to bona fide university all-star.

Duckworth Centre is not Ogungbemi-Jackson’s home gym, but he sure makes it look like it is.

“I guess you could say that, but it’s just a fun place to play,” he said. “I used to watch the Wesmen back in the day with Matt Opalko, Erfan Nasajpour, guys like that when I was younger, so I’ve always dreamt of having big games on this floor not only in high school but also at this level. I love playing here. It’s my favourite gym.”

To be bluntly honest, there simply aren’t game-changing or program-changing players coming out of Manitoba high school basketball every year. They exist, yes, but Ogungbemi-Jackson is near the top of the list of recruiting must-haves this province has produced over the past dozen or so years. And the man they call “OJ” has shown why it was lamented locally when he chose to carve a different path that didn’t include staying home to play.

For his career, he has averaged nearly 16 points per game, while putting up averages of five-plus rebounds and nearly four assists per contest. This season he is fourth in Canada West in scoring at 20.1 points per game, showing he has once again found his stride after having chunks of the past two seasons derailed by injuries, most notably an ankle injury that put him out for all but three games in 2010-11, a season he has gotten back with a medical redshirt.

So while he is technically a third-year player, Ogungbemi-Jackson appears and acts more like the veteran the Dinos need him to be. For evidence of his importance, one need look no further than that ’10-11 season when Calgary went 8-16 in conference play without its floor general. Now he commands a roster of younger talent hopeful of making the post-season, a goal a bit closer now after three straight wins moved Calgary to 8-7, four points back of Manitoba for the final playoff spot.

“Every year it’s different, depending on the personnel, so going into this year knowing that we had a lot of younger guys it was just trying to make the playoffs,” he said. “I think this year it’s an open league. There’s a couple teams that have great records but there’s a lot of teams that are battling for a playoff spot, so for us right now it’s getting into the playoffs.”

In Thursday’s thrilling victory, the Dinos flashed both callow youth and veteran grit — from blowing a five-point lead in the waning seconds, to finding another gear in overtime to salt away a game on the road. Ogungbemi-Jackson knows how important that was.

“This year I’d say almost all of our games have been lost by three points, four points, overtime games,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t think we’re good enough to play in the playoffs or be an elite-level team. It’s just that when you’re young you’ve gotta learn how to close out games. So a game like this is huge for us.”

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The headline of the blog references the Brandon men’s basketball team, which becomes the first team officially eliminated from consideration for this feature. After losing (expectedly) two games on the west coast to UBC and Victoria, the Bobcats have put themselves in a position that, from here on out, they won’t be mentioned in this space set aside to discuss playoff hopefuls. At 3-11 and losers of six of their last seven, the Bobcats are indeed done.

On to the movers and shakers of another week in the Canada West:

WINNERS

Manitoba men’s volleyball
What they did: Swept Trinity Western; moved to 10-6.
Why it’s big: No one had a better weekend in all of Canada West — heck, maybe even the CIS — than the Bisons. Wallowing in the muck of a dry spell, the Bisons rallied with their two biggest victories — and trust, they were HUGE — on the road at Trinity Western. The Spartans had their 26-match home win streak snapped the weekend before by Brandon, and Manitoba added to that misery by gutting out two five-set victories over the nation’s No. 3-ranked team. By doing so, the Bisons moved themselves back into the upper tier of the conference and better positioned themselves for a chance to host in the first round of playoffs. Had they taken a couple of defeats, they’d be tied with Winnipeg at 8-8 and in a serious fight just to make the playoffs. As it stands, there are now four teams tied at 10-6 behind conference leader Alberta and second-place TWU. It’s likely only two of those four teams will earn a hosting spot. The next three weeks are going to be interesting.

Winnipeg women’s volleyball
What they did: Swept Saskatchewan; moved to 6-10
Why it’s big: After an 0-5 start and some tumultuous moments within that, the Wesmen have quietly put together a more than respectable run back into contention by going 6-5 since. They’re still on the outside looking in for the playoff picture, but after Manitoba’s two losses at Trinity Western on the weekend, the Wesmen are quite surprisingly just a match out of the final playoff spot with three weekends to play. They close with a real toughy against Alberta, followed by another challenge against UBCO with very winnable matches against Thompson Rivers to close the season. The question is, will three wins in those final six be enough? Or do they have to hope for a couple of sweeps to stack enough Ws to get in the second season?

Manitoba men’s hockey
What they did: Split with Calgary; took three of possible four points to move to 13-5-4
Why it’s big: When taking on a team that was tied with you in points in the standings, you’re dang right you’ll gladly take three points out of four in a doubleheader weekend. With that, the Bisons moved into second place in the Canada West tied with Saskatchewan. The road is now paved nicely for the Bisons, whose final six games come against three of the four teams that make up the bottom half of the conference. U of M has earned its position, to be sure, having not lost in regulation since Nov. 16.

Winnipeg men’s volleyball
What they did: Split with Saskatchewan; now 8-8
Why it’s big: The Wesmen could have — and probably should have — been a bigger winner this weekend but blew a 2-0 lead in sets on Friday and lost a five-setter to Saskatchewan. As it was, Winnipeg regrouped nicely on Saturday and scored a win in four sets to earn a quality split over the nation’s No. 8-ranked team. The Wesmen sit in the final playoff spot with undefeated Alberta up next, but Thompson Rivers and UBC-Okanagan — a combined 8-24 this season — follow that. If they take care of what they should, they’ll be in.

Manitoba and Winnipeg men’s basketball
What they did: Both swept Mount Royal and UNBC.
Why it’s big: Should probably just keep these two together (as I did last week) for the rest of the season, because their results always seem to mirror each other. The Wesmen can count themselves fortunate for digging what looked to be a sure loss out of the fire on Saturday and avoiding an upset at Mount Royal. Trailing by 15 heading into the fourth quarter, the Wesmen outscored Mount Royal (3-11) 35-11 in the final frame to avoid a dubious defeat and improve to 11-4, good for sole possession of second place, percentage points ahead of second-place Saskatchewan. Likewise, Manitoba stayed in the win column with two road wins and distanced itself from Lethbridge for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Prairie Division. Winnipeg needed those wins — with Calgary, Saskatchewan and Alberta in succession starting this weekend — and Manitoba is gladly taking the Ws, too, what with Lethbridge, Alberta and Saskatchewan due up for them. Oh, and no one should forget the season-closing game: Winnipeg-Manitoba at IGAC. And likely with a lot on the line.

Brandon women’s volleyball
What they did: Split with Alberta; now 6-10
Why it’s big: The Bobcats could have easily been knocked off this list of teams to pay attention to with a poor showing at home this weekend, but as it was their impressive split with No. 3 Alberta kept their faint hopes of the playoffs alive. They’re in a similar situation to Winnipeg in that they’ve got one doozie weekend still left (vs No. 1 UBC), one sweep-worthy weekend (at Saskatchewan) and a toughy against UBCO. And, like the Wesmen, they have to wonder how many wins must they get out of those final six to give themselves a chance. Considering what Manitoba has left, they might very well need five. Still, the life support system remains pumping in the Wheat City.

LOSERS

Manitoba women’s volleyball
What they did: Swept by Trinity Western; now 7-9
Why it’s big: The spiral continues for the Bisons, who’ve now lost four in a row and six of their last seven. They’re still in sole possession of the final playoff spot but, as mentioned earlier, now there’s two teams hot on their tail whereas a week ago really there was barely one. Any worries, however, can be tempered by the fact Regina and Saskatchewan lay ahead on the schedule and those should be four automatic wins. Alberta is mixed in between, but there’s no reason why the Bisons shouldn’t be finding at least four wins in their final six.

Brandon men’s volleyball
What they did: Swept by Alberta; now 10-6
Why it’s big: This status for the Bobcats is truly not a knock on what they did, but rather just an assessment of how things shook down. With Manitoba’s big sweep and Brandon unable to take one off the No. 1 team in the nation at home, the Bobcats were thrust into that four-team logjam. With Brandon going winless, it meant Manitoba, Saskatchewan and UBC all made up ground on the Bobcats. But with Saskatchewan and UBC both on the schedule, the Bobcats have a great chance to put their foot down.

Winnipeg women’s basketball
What they did: Swept at UNBC, Mount Royal; now 5-10
Why it’s big: Losers of their last four, the Wesmen had to find a way to get one (preferably two) out of this road trip against sub-.500 teams. Instead they sit six points back of Saskatchewan for fourth in the Prairie Division and have Calgary, Alberta and the Huskies — three of the top four teams in the division — among their final seven games. The young Wesmen are about out of lives.

Manitoba women’s hockey
What they did: Swept by Calgary; now 9-10-3
Why it’s big: If you weren’t clear on this before, the Calgary Dinos are a pretty darn good team. So the fact the Bisons went 0-for this weekend against Hayley and Co. isn’t an indictment on the Bisons in anyway. In fact, keeping Wickenheiser off the scoresheet and taking a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss in which they were outshot 35-15, should be worth something. It isn’t, however, worth anything in the standings. But U of M remains comfortably in a playoff position with Lethbridge, UBC and Regina left to deal with on the schedule. With the top two seeds earning first-round byes, the Bisons have to look at getting a string of wins together here late and perhaps move into the third or fourth position for a first-round hosting honour.

Dropped out: Brandon men’s basketball

Not receiving votes: Brandon women’s basketball; Manitoba women’s basketball.

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