A week ago in the Canada West, for the most part, everything held steady with respect to playoff positions in hockey, basketball and volleyball.

This week? Not so much.

Friday and Saturday proved to be a fairly significant swing weekend on a few fronts, with a number of Manitoba-based teams watching their situation worsen as we get closer and closer to the final games and matches of the season.

This column was originally to be a post about the biggest winners and losers among Manitoba schools from this weekend until, upon further examination, it was hard to make a case that any of the 11 Manitoba-based teams still in the hunt for the post-season could be considered to have gained anything from the various results around the conference.

Indeed it was a bleak weekend for this province, with only Manitoba’s sweep of No. 1 Trinity Western in Friday night men’s volleyball standing as a notch. That, however, was tempered somewhat by Trinity returning the favour on Saturday to make the weekend a wash.

First, for the Manitoban teams still hunting, an informal list ranking them from “nothing to worry about” to “if you’re not worried right now, you may not be conscious.” This isn’t about who’s in the best situation, really, but rather who is the most comfortable given the results of this past weekend:

1. • Bisons men’s volleyball
2. • Bisons men’s hockey
3. • Bobcats men’s volleyball
4. • Wesmen women’s volleyball
5. • Bisons women’s volleyball
6. • Bisons men’s basketball
7. • Wesmen women’s basketball
8. • Wesmen men’s volleyball
9. • Bobcats women’s volleyball
10. • Bisons women’s hockey
11. • Bobcats men’s basketball

So, in saying that, let’s look at who took the biggest hits from the results of the past two days. Because of the copious possibilities for fluctuation in the standings, from here on we’ll do our best to just deal in ‘likelihood’.

GLANCING SHOT

Bisons men’s volleyball
Damage: Minimal.
The Bisons surely didn’t like how they went out Saturday with TWU, but that sweep (26, 24, 22) was as competitive a three-setter as you’ll see. The Bisons should have at least gone four, you could argue, what with having a 24-22 lead in the second set before surrendering the next four points. Yet you can’t nitpick too much with the Bisons this weekend. They knew going in that a split would not gain them much ground in their quest to be the top seed in the conference, but if you had proffered them a 1-and-1 with the previously-undefeated defending champions they’d have been hard-pressed to turn it down.

So in the end, not a ton of damage was done to the Bisons who, thanks to that Friday win, are still two matches up on third-place Alberta and in no danger of falling out of one of the hosting positions.

Bisons men’s hockey
Damage: Self-inflicted
Oh the glorious chance the Herd had to close out the weekend sitting atop the Canada West conference if not for a stunning letdown Saturday night. The Bisons held a 4-2 lead after two, but watched as the Lethbridge Pronghorns pulled to within a goal and then, in the final four minutes, snapped two past Joe Caligiuri in the span of 2:26 to end Manitoba’s five-game win streak.

So instead of pulling into a tie with Alberta (upset by UBC on Saturday) for first, the Bisons are instead tied with Saskatchewan for second, two points back. There should be no panic, however: The Bisons hold two games in hand on the Golden Bears and own tiebreakers over both Alberta and Saskatchewan, giving them a slight edge in the quest for first or second.

ROPE-A-DOPE

Bobcats men’s volleyball
Damage: Time to start swinging
The Bobcats are in this lofty standing in large part because they had the benefit of standing by and watching the other teams punch out. Winners of seven in a row, the Cats find themselves suddenly in a three-way tie for fourth place with Calgary and UBC, which BU visits this weekend in a doubleheader that you have to consider must-win if you’re looking for Brandon to be in the top four. The Bobcats close out the conference season next week at home against Alberta. Once 2-7, that the Bobcats can even entertain thoughts of hosting a first-round series is a feather in their cap.

BODY BLOW

Wesmen women’s volleyball
Damage: Rattled, but still on feet.
The Wesmen, who have officially clinched a playoff spot, lost their fourth straight match with juggernaut UBC handing U of W a pair of L’s at the Duckworth Centre. The results weren’t that surprising considering the T-Birds’ current run as No. 1 and four-time defending champion, but the Wesmen nevertheless escaped this weekend with only a few minor scars in their conference standing. Thanks to two losses by Manitoba, currently on a coinciding four-match swoon, the Wesmen maintained a two-match lead over the fifth-place Bisons for the final hosting position.

Still, over these past two weeks, the Wesmen have watched their standing slip from second to fourth and even the grasp on that position is tenuous with the Bisons and third-place Alberta Pandas both holding two matches in hand. At this point, it may not matter much. It looks as though U of W, which has just two matches left, both against U of M, is destined for either fourth or fifth place and that first-round playoff series could very well be held at U of M’s IGAC or U of W’s Duckworth. Point being: The fervor over home-court advantage is diminished by the fact that road trip is a 15-minute car ride. There exists a real chance a 4-5 series could be between Alberta and Winnipeg with the Wesmen heading to Edmonton.

Either way, Winnipeg has not done itself any favours in the past two weeks and is currently surviving off the efforts of its tremendous start to the season.

Bisons women’s volleyball
Damage: Momentarily stunned
There is no shame in losing to the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, but the Bisons have, two weeks in a row now, failed to take advantage of losses by their crosstown rivals and have instead left themselves with work to do to climb into the top four. The crucial series against Winnipeg this weekend will determine, for all intents and purposes, who will finish fifth. After all, the Wesmen will be done their matches and the Bisons have two gimmes against Saskatchewan to close the season. So, sure, there’s been some missed opportunities for the Bisons, but they can easily regroup and make a late surge. With, at the least a split, Manitoba, which trails Winnipeg in the sets won/lost tiebreaker (+12-+6), could conceivably still pass the Wesmen, but that would likely put the onus on the Bisons to score a pair of sweeps the following week. Score two this weekend, however, and the Bisons are in the catbird seat.

1-2 COMBO

Bisons men’s basketball
Damage: Bloodied but still strong
Here’s the thing: The Bisons are to be blamed for the conundrum they’re currently in as much as they’re to be acclaimed for their six-game win streak in the middle of the season that turned things around and got them to 8-4. Now 8-8 following four straight defeats, the Bisons still have their hands on the wheel, but the Calgary Dinos have sped up and are in position to jack that ride — not to mention pursuers Regina, Brandon and Trinity Western (in wild-card crossover) who each still have mathematical shots at getting in. Now the Dinos come to town for the most critical weekend of the season. Even if the Bisons fend off Calgary this weekend — a split? a sweep? — it doesn’t solve anything with a tough road trip to Saskatchewan following. Calgary and Regina can max out at 10 wins (keep dreaming, Cougars), Brandon at nine. You do the math — Manitoba has to find a W or two to salt this thing away, but the Bisons can at least say they’re a half-stride ahead in this race.

A STIFF HOOK

Wesmen women’s basketball
Damage: Staggered but going the distance
Thanks to a three-game losing streak coinciding with Calgary’s four-game win streak, hopes of getting in via the Prairie Division route are all but dead (not toe-tagged, but the coroner has been alerted). So U of W’s main hope is through the crossover wild-card and trying to beat out the fourth-place Pacific team, the Victoria Vikes, whom the Wesmen (8-8) beat in their one meeting a little over a week ago. Victoria, at 6-8, had the bye and now has doubleheaders with UBCO and UBC left on the schedule. The Vikes, who lose the tiebreaker of head-to-head should they only get to eight wins, have to find a way — assuming a sweep of lowly UBCO — to pull an upset of 12-2 UBC in one of the final two games of the season.

Winnipeg’s final four games are against teams above them in the standings — vs Saskatchewan (11-4) and at Calgary (11-5) — and the Wesmen could make their breathing room a whole lot airier with even one win in those four.

Wesmen men’s volleyball
Damage: Wobbling
The Wesmen are by no means a lock for the post-season and, as it is, they may need some help to stay in that seventh and final playoff spot. At 7-11, the Wesmen have two matches remaining against Manitoba while 5-11 UBC-Okanagan has four matches left to try and get a berth in its first season in the Canada West. The Wesmen have enough of an edge in sets won/lost that the pressure is on UBCO to find three wins and surpass Winnipeg outright (assuming U of W can’t pull one upset of Manitoba). With Saskatchewan and Thompson Rivers left on the Heat schedule, the task is tough but not out of the question.

HAYMAKERS

Bobcats women’s volleyball
Damage: Eyes swollen, vision blurry
The damage unloaded on the Bobcats (8-8) was done the previous weekend in Kamloops, B.C., when BU went 0-for-2 in a doubleheader against Thompson Rivers, the team that now stands in position to usurp the final playoff spot. The Bobcats have but four matches left and two of those are on the road against UBC, so you might as well just say they have two matches left — the season-ending doubleheader at home against Alberta. Because they have played less matches than 8-10 Thompson Rivers, the Bobcats are currently in seventh by percentage points, but without a win in their final four (and some help), they’re likely to lose the tiebreak to TRU, which has two matches against UBCO remaining and an edge in sets won/lost.

Brandon spent its bye week hoping Saskatchewan could score even just one win, but more nails were put in the Bobcats coffin as the Wolfpack won two and stretched their string of wins to four. It seems quite likely that the Bobcats will come home Feb. 10-11 needing a sweep of No. 4-ranked Alberta to squeak in.

Bisons women’s hockey
Damage: The cutman is busy
An absolutely debilitating weekend for the Bisons on home ice where they lose two to fourth-place Lethbridge despite outshooting the Horns 67-38, including 30-13 in a 1-0 Friday loss. As a result, the Pronghorns are now five points clear of the Bisons who, despite having two games in hand, are now in the position of needing wins and help to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Lethbridge has two games against Regina (6-13-1), so the Bisons don’t exactly have the most reliable horse to rely on in that race.

To catch Lethbridge, the Bisons need a minimum of six points in their final four games, but that would also require Regina scoring two upsets. A four-game win streak, which would mean taking conference-leading Calgary down twice, would put Manitoba at 31 points, but even that would require Regina stealing a point from Lethbridge. The other outside possibility is catching third-place Saskatchewan, which sits at 14-4-2 with 30 points. In that scenario, Manitoba could get in by scoring seven points out of a possible eight and hoping the Huskies don’t earn a point in their final four games, thereby giving Manitoba the tiebreak. Not easy.

Bobcats men’s basketball
Damage: Mouthguard just got knocked into the 18th row
We can break down every possible scenario in a playoff race that legitimately includes five teams racing for two spots and we can lay out every tiebreaker and crunch every number that would get the Bobcats into the playoffs, but the reality is Brandon had better win all four of its games if it wants to dance. No one expected the Bobcats to go into Saskatoon and get wins this weekend and the Huskies showed them how far they are from the elite of the conference. They are much improved from a season ago, but the injury to Emerick Ravier a few weeks back was crippling to a team that doesn’t boast a lot of depth as it is. So here’s your reality Brandon Bobcats: You are mathematically still in the playoff hunt but, if I may be so bold, you’re not really a playoff team. You see, playoff teams beat good teams. Playoff teams don’t split with teams that had two wins coming in. Playoff teams, even the ones on the fringe, find a way to steal one here and there. Playoff teams don’t go on five-game losing streaks at the most important time of the season, as you have done. And none of this is meant as any slight to the Bobcats who, as I said, are light years ahead of where they were last season. It’s just not your year.

But, if after all of that, you still don’t believe me, then the grim truth is that you need (and I mean NEED) four wins. And then hope to whatever gods you believe in that ’9′ is somehow the cutoff point for getting in. (Irrespective of tiebreakers for a moment, that would mean this would have to happen: Manitoba 0-4; Calgary 2-2, Regina 3-2).

For now, just get started this weekend and send the BU Gym, in its last season of operation, out in style with two must-haves against Lethbridge. If you do that, we’ll re-evaluate your condition. Anything less, however, and the ref will be standing over you waiving his arms and yelling “it’s over!”

—feed—

Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

You often need at least a couple of years before you can truly grade the quality of a recruiting class, but after 26 years, Ken Bentley has probably earned the benefit of the doubt.

The head coach of the Manitoba Bisons women’s volleyball team announced five members officially of his 2012 class, headlined by left side Taylor Pischke, the Winnipegger who spent the first part of this school year at NCAA Division I UC-Santa Barbara before transferring back home. 

Libero Caleigh Dobie, the daughter of U of M football coach Brian Dobie, Winkler’s Sarah Klassen and Katelyn Falk, and Oak Park’s Becka Kohler are also to join the Bisons, with Kohler red-shirting next season. 

Bentley’s team loses fifth-years Tricia Mayba and Kristi Hunter after this season and the Bisons will suddenly be a squad of in 2012-13. Still, he’s confident in the amount of volleyball played by his recruits as well as the youngsters already in the program. 

“It’s funny. We really don’t have much layering in terms of eligibility because next year we’re gonna have one fifth-year player, one third-year player and we’re gonna have 12 first- or second-year players,” he said. 

“I think that layering in terms of experience is probably the better way to put it because the kids from Winkler, for example, are coming without the same level of club training that, let’s say, the other kids have had. So there’s layering in terms of volleyball acumen. But in terms of eligibility it looks like a complete rookie roster, but the kids I’m starting now I’ve coached since they were 15, so it’s not like we aren’t down the road a fair bit with these guys already.”

Klassen, a 6-foot middle blocker, began thinking of post-secondary playing opportunities when playing in Grade 10 for coach Al Yeo. 

“After the practice,” she said, “I went to talk to my coach Al Yeo and we sat down on the bleachers and I said ‘Mr. Yeo, I think I want to be a good volleyball player.’ And then he said ‘OK,’ and from then on we worked on it and I was like ‘I think I can move on one day,’ and now it’s happening.

“I always thought it would be super-cool to play university sports and you don’t ever really think it’s gonna happen, but then as soon as it does you’re like ‘Wow.’ So it hasn’t really sunk in yet but this is helping with that. It’s real now, and I’m really excited.”

During a press conference Tuesday, Bentley remarked that Falk, a 6-foot-1 left side, hadn’t realized how athletic she can be. She’s looking forward to the challenge of playing at the faster, more physical level that the CIS provides. 

“It’s a much higher level and it’ll be good to just improve and get there and experience it,” Falk said. “It’ll be totally different than high school for sure.

“At the very beginning I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to pursue volleyball, but that only lasted a little while and then I decided I really wanted to.”

Kohler has fought through two significant knee injuries in the past two years but doesn’t wear a knee brace because she’s more comfortable without it. And she’s feeling more assured about her health after two separate knee surgeries. 

And she has high regard for the four other players coming in. 

“It’s a really good group,” Kohler said. “I love the girls. I’ve played with most of them, too, so that’s really exciting to all be developing together, too.

“I’ve been coached by Ken since I was in Grade 8, so basically when Grade 10 rolled around we really started talking about U of M, U of M, so it was my biggest option of what I wanted to do, really.

Dobie, at 5-foot-7, has had to embrace the role of the defensive specialist and now she’ll have a chance to learn under incumbent Nicole Hall, currently in her fourth year. Dobie won a provincial 4A championship in her Grade 11 year and verbally committed to the Bisons in October. 

“I’ve had great coaches who have gotten me those successes and those great teammates, but it takes a load off me,” Dobie said. “I’m used to winning — which sounds bad — but I know the group I’m going in to play with is used to winning too and we wanna win and we’re gonna work hard to win.”

Bentley is certainly known for a fiery personality during matches and Dobie is more than fine with that. 

“He’s not expecting you to pass a ’3′ every time but he’s expecting you to try and do that. To work hard, dive into the wall and stuff like that, so I really respect him that way. He wants that because he knows that you can.”

Pischke, meanwhile comes from well-known Bison volleyball bloodlines with her dad coaching the U of M men and her brother Dane a standout on that team. 

She went to UCSB on a beach and indoor volleyball scholarship but when the Gauchos beach team opportunity was snuffed, Pischke began rethinking her options. The chance to play both beach and indoor was what took her to California in the first place, so without that she felt a return home was best. 

The beach game often helps players hone their skills for the indoor game and with Pischke that’s no different. 

“They’re different, the passing is completely different but the ball control has definitely helped me a lot playing beach and the court awareness,” Pischke said. 

“I’m just going to work really hard and push to try to start, obviously, but I know there’s a lot of good athletes on that team, so I can’t expect anything, but I’m just gona work hard.”

Bentley hopes a breakthrough is forthcoming.

“We’ll just keep kicking at the door until we finally kick ‘er down a few times,” he said. “That’s just what we’ll keep doing, which I’m happy to say I’m confident this group will help us do.”

Garth Pischke has seen a lot in his 31 years on the sideline with the Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball team, but this weekend might just provide the longtime coach with a plot even he hasn’t come across.

For the first time in more than eight years, a No.1-vs.-2 match will take place on a Manitoba court as Pischke’s second-ranked Bisons host the defending national champion Trinity Western Spartans.

A match-up of the nation’s top two teams isn’t totally unheard of in the Canada West, where a bulk of the top-ranked teams annually reside, but the last time a similar match took place in Winnipeg was in February 2003 when the top-ranked Bisons played No. 2 Alberta and split the final weekend of conference play.

One month later they were winning their ninth, and last, national title under Pischke.

If you need more convincing that this is the biggest weekend of the Canada West season, consider too that the doubleheader that goes Friday and Saturday at the Investors Group Athletic Centre will go a long way to determining which of the two teams earns the top seed for the conference playoffs, and the hosting privileges of the CW final four.

For Pischke, there’s an added personal angle: one win will give him 1,200 for his career, although you’ll be hard-pressed to hear him talk much about that in the lead up.

So, as you would expect, you really don’t have to tell anyone associated with the program, least of all Pischke, about the drama associated with this weekend.

“We’re put in a position to challenge for the top team in the conference, and we’re really excited about it,” Pischke said Tuesday. “We know Trinity’s a very good team. They’re defending champions from last year, they’re a stronger team this year and they run an offence that we really haven’t seen anybody else in this country do with the options that they have because of their talent, so it’s a chance for us to take another step forward.

“We’re a very good blocking team, but they’re an exceptional attacking team, so hopefully we can learn a few things and get used to the type of offence they’ve got.”

The Spartans indeed return most of the team that won the national title on its home floor over Brandon last March, and Pischke spoke specifically about what TWU does that other teams in Canada simply can’t.

“It’s because of their weapons,” Pischke said. “They have the talent on the floor to take things to another level. It’s specifically their backcourt attack. We don’t see a backcourt attack that fast and with that amount of variety from anybody else in the country and it’s totally because of their talent.”

Lest anyone show up at the IGAC at 8 p.m. both nights and miss the prelude, the two women’s teams promise to provide a heck of an undercard.

Coming off two losses to top-ranked UBC in Vancouver last weekend, the Bison women (9-5) are looking to get back in the win column against No. 3-ranked Trinity, which swept Winnipeg to move to 10-4 and into sole possession of third place in Canada West.

The Bisons, with hopes of finishing in the top four and hosting a first-round series very much within reach, got a taste of the best in the land last weekend and head coach Ken Bentley said having the four-time defending national champion T-Birds as a precursor was good for his team.

“I think it certainly didn’t hurt us,” Bentley said. “Going there lately has been a pretty tough place to play. They’ve kinda had the run of the place the last few years. It didn’t seem to faze us at all, so yeah I would agree, I think we’ve proven ourselves to be a viable candidate for being one of the top teams in the country.

“We have to follow up Trinity with playing Winnipeg shortly after that, obviously, and they’re having a great season … so it’s a real important string for us. But I think the UBC weekend was real good for us and will help us be really prepared for Trinity.”

Bentley was frank when discussing how he has approached coaxing the most out of this group that has only two fifth-year seniors in Tricia Mayba and Kristi Hunter, and has gone much of the season without sophomore starter Rachel Cockerill, who’s out for the season with a stress fracture in her shin.

“The preparation’s much more specific now,” he began. “Our first full game plan wasn’t until when we played Alberta at the end of November. I just didn’t think we were ready for the full ‘here’s everything.’ I think we’ve kinda grown to the point where I think I can watch film now and be really specific about each rotation, and now specific players and how we’re gonna defend, how we’re gonna score. So we’re at that point now and I, frankly, wasn’t sure we would get there this year, to be able to say ‘here’s what we need to do’ very specifically.

“I’m very happy that we’ve grown to that point as a team that I can give them that kind of information because ultimately it’s necessary to win, but you can’t overload them if they’re not ready for it.”

The Bison women first serve against TWU goes at 6 p.m. both nights.

Elsewhere, the 12-4 Wesmen are also in action on home floor hosting the T-Birds for a pair of matches Friday and Saturday. Winnipeg has only Manitoba left on its schedule after that. The Wesmen men are in seventh place at 6-10 and have a magic number of 5 to clinch a playoff spot over eighth-place Regina.

The Brandon Bobcats, now 8-8 after two losses to Thompson Rivers in Kamloops, B.C., last weekend, are on a bye week with UBC up next weekend in Vancouver.

For a weekend that provided plenty of intrigue for swing games and crucial contests, here we are on Sunday noticing that not much was established in the Canada West conference the past two days.

As it relates to the Manitoba schools, here’s what we do know after action from Friday and Saturday: Manitoba’s men’s volleyball and hockey, and Winnipeg women’s volleyball are all surely in the playoffs with the clinching ‘X’ now officially next to their names.

For everyone else, there remains work to do.

Let’s break down the possibilities, sport by sport, alphabetically:

BASKETBALL (MEN)

BRANDON: Now losers of their last three games, following defeats to Trinity Western and Fraser Valley in Brandon on the weekend, the Bobcats find themselves at 5-9 and a full two games back of Lethbridge for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Prairie Division. They face the Pronghorns in two weeks, but up first is a roady to Saskatoon to take on the second-place Huskies.

After surrendering 105 to Trinity, the Bobcats are about to see another up-tempo team that can fill it up and test their defensive abilities. Saskatchewan has scored at least 90 points in each of its last three games and, in their last eight wins, they’ve hit that figure five times. While Brandon has that challenge, the Bobcats will be hoping for help from a provincial rival as the Manitoba Bisons take on the Pronghorns (7-7).

The Canada West is employing a wild-card format for its final playoff participant (either the fifth-place team in the Prairie, or the fourth-place team in the Pacific), but the Bobcats have little hope of retaining that with Trinity Western (8-6) currently fourth in the Pacific. Translation: Get busy winning.

MANITOBA: After this weekend, during which the Bisons suffered their first conference loss since Nov. 19 and their first home loss since Nov. 4, Manitoba now leads the conference in scoring at an eye-popping 87.1 points per game. The flip side, however, is that the Bisons are also allowing more points per game than anyone in the conference not named Regina (85.6). A split this weekend would have been more than acceptable for U of M, which was full marks for pushing UBC to overtime on Friday and appeared running on E in Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Victoria. Instead, the Bisons (8-6) will regroup and go into a tough environment in Lethbridge trying to get back in the win column.

The Bisons are comfortable for making the playoffs — they’re three games ahead of Brandon — but their goal right now is trying to creep into that No. 2 spot in the division, which would mean hosting a first-round playoff series against the No. 3 team in the Pacific. Otherwise it’s a west-coast trip for the Bisons, who are 2-4 against B.C. schools this season, and the opponent could very well be the same Victoria squad that just finished a 101 on them.

BASKETBALL (WOMEN)

WINNIPEG: By virtue of their split this weekend, which included a critical Friday-night win over Victoria, plus Calgary’s two expected wins over Lethbridge, the Wesmen lost a game on the Dinos for fourth place, but nevertheless took a big step toward earning a post-season berth. The fourth-place team in the Pacific is Victoria, at 6-8, and Winnipeg not only has the better record (8-6), but also the edge in the first two criteria for declaring a wild-card winner — winning percentage and head-to-head. However, with their final six games coming against three of the Prairie’s top four teams (Regina, Saskatchewan and Calgary), the Wesmen are far from a lock.

Because of the incongruous scheduling this season (Prairie teams play 20 games, Pacific teams 18), the Vikes only have four games remaining — UBC-Okanagan and UBC. The Vikes would have to go 3-1 to get back to .500 (the games against UBCO should be gimmes), which is a tall task with UBC on the menu. If they were to pull that off, it would force Winnipeg to find two wins in its final six games. Vic going 2-2 would mean Winnipeg would only need one win its final six because, even though both would be two games below .500, a 9-11 record bests an 8-10 record by percentage. And in saying ALL of that, fourth-place Calgary sits just a game ahead of the Wesmen and the two will close the season Feb. 10-11. So, there’s that.

HOCKEY

MEN: Yes, the Bisons did officially clinch a playoff spot with an impressive sweep of Saskatchewan, but you’d have to think that’s not all their in search of. Manitoba is in prime position with eight games left to play. Currently in third place, the 14-4-2 Bisons have the benefit of not only having two games in hand on conference leaders Alberta and Saskatchewan (both 15-5-2), but they also own the tiebreak over both of those teams by virtue of their 2-1-1 record in head to head with the Huskies and Golden Bears. Still left on the schedule is a road trip to Lethbridge (5-14-3) this weekend, a home weekend with UBC, a roady to Calgary and yet another home doubleheader against the T-Birds to close the season. When it all shakes down, the Bisons could be looking at this sweep of Saskatchewan as the biggest wins of their season.

WOMEN: Pretty much a wash for the Bisons, who took three out of a possible four points from first-place Saskatchewan but watched as fourth-place Lethbridge did the same against Alberta, rallying from a 2-0 deficit on Friday night with two goals in the final 5:27 to eventually win in a shootout. So the Pronghorns come to Winnipeg this weekend with a one-point lead on U of M for the final playoff spot, setting up another massive weekend for both teams. It should also be noted that the Bisons, who have six games left, hold two games in hand on the Pronghorns, who will close their season Feb. 3-4 at home against Regina.

VOLLEYBALL (MEN)

BRANDON: With four matches left on the schedule, the Bobcats have surged with a seven-match win streak that they’ll put on the line in Vancouver this weekend against No. 5 UBC. Brandon welcomes Alberta for the final series of the regular season in two weeks and likely anything short of a sweep of the final four matches will mean the sixth-place Bobcats will be on the road for the first round of the post-season. If the season ended today, the Golden Bears would be BU’s dance partner for the first round and, with the three teams directly above Brandon all holding two matches in hand, it will be real hard for Brandon to move up much more.

MANITOBA: Truthfully, the Bisons have known for weeks that they’re going to be in the playoffs, so the fact that they officially clinched this past weekend was a mere formality. At 13-1, the Bisons will most certainly be at home for the first round of the post-season, but the goal of being the top seed is still very much in reach with Trinity Western one match ahead, undefeated at 14-0. And did we mention that those No. 1-ranked Spartans are in Winnipeg this weekend? By Saturday at about 10 p.m., we’ll know almost surely who will be getting that first-round bye and final-four hosting privileges.

WINNIPEG: The Wesmen had their best effort of the season on Friday night in Langley, B.C., putting a real scare into Trinity before falling in five sets (15-10 in the fifth after being tied at 10). The seventh-place Wesmen are unlikely to see their lot change much in the final two weeks. They’re two matches clear of Regina and three back of Brandon. Winnipeg will be interested in what happens at U of M this weekend — the second-place team is almost certainly its first-round opponent.

VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN)

BRANDON: Bleh.

A complete disaster of a weekend for the Bobcats, who were swept at Thompson Rivers, fell to 8-8 and gave the Wolfpack new life in the playoff picture when even one victory could have gone a long way to snuffing TRU out. Instead, the Wolfpack are now two matches behind Brandon for seventh and while the Bobcats have a gruelling at UBC, vs Alberta close to the season, the Wolfpack get the significantly easier tandem of Saskatchewan and UBC-Okanagan — combined record 3-25. There are only two saving graces for Brandon right now: The edge in the standings, and the edge in the first tiebreaker of sets won/lost. But that edge in the standings means very little considering TRU’s upcoming opponents and the tiebreaker may mean diddly if the Bobcats can’t find a win or two. The Wolfpack are almost assuredly winning at least three of their final four and the Bobcats had better add to their win total if they want to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

MANITOBA: Two losses at UBC combined with Trinity Western’s two wins over Winnipeg dropped the Bisons into a tie for fourth with Alberta at 9-5 and suddenly in jeopardy of having to go on the road for the first round. While Manitoba has TWU, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan remaining, the Pandas get Calgary, Regina and Brandon. Similar schedules in terms of degree of difficulty, meaning it looks like this little battle could go down to the final weekend. A win this weekend would officially clinch a playoff spot for the Bisons.

WINNIPEG: This is the first bit of adversity the Wesmen have faced as front-runners this season, after getting swept in Langley. Now Winnipeg has to face No. 1 UBC and No. 5 Manitoba to close the season, making it entirely plausible the Wesmen could go into the post-season on a six-match losing streak. That’s by no means a given and their play to date has given the Wesmen (12-4) the benefit of the doubt. Still they have to find a way to regroup quickly, now holding just a one-match lead over TWU (10-4) and two matches over Manitoba and Alberta. They are still in the driver’s seat to host a playoff spot — very much so — but the slope is slippery from here on out.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

Brandon University has trimmed its women’s basketball coaching search down to a short list of three applicants and interviews will begin on Monday, the Winnipeg Sun has learned.

Ryerson men’s assistant coach Fatih Akser, Alberta women’s assistant Erin McAleenan and former men’s national team member Novell Thomas are the three applicants who have been selected as finalists for the position, according to multiple sources who requested anonymity.

Longtime Wheat City coach Ritchie Jacobson is currently coaching the team on an interim basis, a position he took over in November, 2010 after then head coach Jaime Taggart went on a medical leave that extended through the rest of the season as she carried out a pregnancy. A source said Jacobson had some interest in continuing the job but did not have the required academic criteria. The university requires its coaches to have a Masters, or be pursuing one.

Jacobson has garnered a measure of acclaim around the Canada West for the job he has done in a difficult situation. Taggart, who had originally been granted an extension on her tenure application last spring, decided in July that she no longer wanted to return to the program and Jacobson was installed as the coach for this season before the university opened it up to a national search in December. The applications process closed on Jan. 6.

Here is a closer look at the three finalists:

FATIH AKSER
Akser is the applicant with the most coaching experience of the three. A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Akser has spent the last three seasons as head coach Roy Rana‘s lead assistant with the Ryerson Rams men’s team. Prior to that, Akser spent a season as an assistant coach with Ken Murray‘s Brock Badgers. He has also coached at the high school level in Ontario and spent a season as the head coach of Toronto’s Centennial College. Akser, who has his National Coaching Certification Program Level 4 and is working on his Level 5, has worked at the national and provincial level.

In 2010 and 2011, Akser worked with the national team as a video co-ordinator. In both summers he worked with the junior men’s national team and, in 2010, was the video co-ordinator for the senior team that played at the Worlds in Turkey.

Akser has also worked as a head coach in Canada Basketball’s Centre for Performance and in Basketball Ontario’s provincial program at the U17 and U15 levels.

ERIN MCALEENAN
A former Acadia Axewomen guard, McAleenan has been an assistant on the Alberta Pandas bench since 2010 and has worked at the provincial level in both Ontario and Alberta. Last summer, McAleenan was the head coach of the Alberta U17 girls’ team that competed at the Canada Basketball nationals in Winnipeg last August. In 2008 and 2009 she was the lead assistant with the Ontario U17 women’s team, and she spent four years coaching in Ontario’s juvenile provincial program. Mcaleenan worked as an assistant with the national women’s team at last October’s Pan-Am Games in Mexico and previously was a manager with the national junior women’s team at the FIBA Americas tournament in 2010.

NOVELL THOMAS
Currently on Basketball B.C.’s Board of Directors for Richmond, Thomas has a decorated career as a player at the collegiate level and internationally. A B.C.-raised talent, Thomas came out of Richmond’s Steveston-London Secondary and went on to a celebrated career first at Simon Fraser and later with the senior men’s national team and professionally. Thomas competed for Canada on the senior national team that went to the 2002 World Championship and the 2003 team that competed in the FIBA Americas. Thomas played overseas for a couple of seasons with the Feldkirch Baskets of the Austrian Bundesliga and also had tours of duty in the semipro ranks south of the border, playing with the Buffalo City Thunder of the defunct XBA/Midwest Basketball Association and the Kern County Vipers of the XBL.

Thomas is currently coaching Richmond’s J.N. Burnett Secondary Breakers. For a number of years he has worked for EA Sports as a producer on the video game manufacturer’s NBA and NHL series.

Of interest, he is a close friend to BU men’s coach Gil Cheung.

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Here are a few links of note from the Winnipeg Sun in the past week:

• Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey coach Jon Rempel and Winnipeg Wesmen men’s volleyball coach Larry McKay talk playoff hopes in this Sun Radio hit.

• A shorty on Bisons Evan Gill and Anthony Coombs suiting up for Team World at USA Football’s International Bowl, Feb. 1.

• Bisons hockey and volleyball setting up for a huge weekend in their pursuit of the post-season.

The headline is a rhetorical question, of course, because it’s never too early to talk about playoffs.

So this week’s weekend wrap-up we take a look at what happened and what it means for the three Manitoba schools as they each look to crack the post-season, which is essentially a little over a month away.

Let’s go ahead and break it down by sport, starting on the ice, and let’s keep this in mind: You know how during the final weeks of the NFL regular season, TV networks show graphics with the playoff picture including “in,” “wild card,” and “on the bubble,” but don’t include teams that are too far on the fringe? Well, in this case that mean’s Winnipeg men’s basketball, and Brandon and Manitoba women’s basketball. Everyone else is in play. Let’s go:

MEN’S HOCKEY

MANITOBA (12-4-2, third place)
What remains: 10 games
Of note: Jan. 20-21 vs Saskatchewan, Feb. 10-11 at Calgary
The facts: With a huge weekend at home up next against Saskatchewan, the Bisons got arguably the best results they could this weekend with the Huskies sweeping the Alberta Golden Bears in a doubleheader that kept U of A just two points up on Manitoba for second place (and one of two first-round byes). … First place isn’t impossible, but it’s looking more and more out of reach with Sask six points up and already holding a 2-0 edge on U of M in the head-to-head, which is the first criterion in tiebreaking, and a three-game advantage in the W column, the second criterion. … The controversial overtime loss in October to Alberta is looming large. U of A and Manitoba are 2-2 head-to-head, with one of the U of M losses coming after the conference surprisingly overturned a Bisons victory Oct. 15. … It would take a collapse of sorts for the Bisons to drop further in the standings, with them already holding a five-point edge (and 4-0 head-to-head) with fourth-place Calgary.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

MANITOBA (9-5-2, fifth place)
What remains: 8 games
Of note: Jan. 20-21 at Saskatchewan, Jan. 27-28 vs Lethbridge
The facts: Similar to the men’s team, the women got a best-case scenario with the results in their bye week as well, with Saskatchewan splitting with Alberta and leaving first-place Saskatchewan still in striking distance seven points back. … Similarly, the Bisons are benefiting greatly from Lethbridge’s freefall, which is now at four straight losses (and six of seven), and Alberta due up this weekend. Manitoba, one point behind the Pronghorns for the fourth and final playoff spot, has won three in a row. … To make the playoffs, the Bisons likely have to find a minimum four more wins to get to 13, which obviously would also require Lethbridge (10-7-1) losing some as well.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MANITOBA (8-4, tied first place)
What remains: 8 games
Of note: Jan. 27-28 at Lethbridge, Feb. 10-11 at Saskatchewan
The facts: A six-game win streak has put the Bisons in a tie with Alberta for first place, and a half-game up on Saskatchewan. … No one is arguing the Bisons’ ability to score the ball. When scoring 80 points or more Manitoba, now leading Canada West in scoring at 88.1 points per game, is 8-2, including the last six. … In the past six games they’ve averaged 93.7 points and allowed only 77.2 … Time to temper things momentarily: In their last eight conference games (dating back to November), the Bisons have played five opponents with a .283 winning percentage and no one with a record above .500. That will change this weekend with UBC and Victoria coming to town, which will be Manitoba’s stiffest test since its first road trip of the season back in November to Fraser Valley and Trinity Western. … The top four teams in the East Division make the playoffs, so the Bisons are sitting pretty even though the toughest part of their schedule still remains. Manitoba sits three games up on Lethbridge and Brandon, who are tied for the final playoff spot. … Six of the Bisons final eight games are in division (Lethbridge, Calgary, Saskatchewan), so crunch time will arrive quickly.

BRANDON (5-7, tied fourth place)
What remains: 8 games
Of note: Jan. 27-28 at Saskatchewan, Feb. 3-4 vs Lethbridge
The facts: The glaring, unavoidable truth for the Bobcats is Friday’s loss at Winnipeg is probably more significant than any win they’ve had this season. Quite simply, in a quest to be a playoff team, you cannot be excused for scoring 61 points against (at the time) a 2-8 team. … With tough games against Fraser Valley, Trinity Western, Saskatchewan, Lethbridge and Alberta on the sked, the Bobcats will lament that defeat … When looking at that 61, one need search no further than the season-ending knee injury to Emerick Ravier as a major contributor to the offensive woes. Brandon will have to adjust how it attacks teams with one less penetrator/scorer on a team that was thin on them already … Realistically, the Bobcats have to find a couple of upsets and even a split this weekend at home with UFV and TWU would be huge. … If they don’t sweep Lethbridge, it probably doesn’t matter what they do elsewhere.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WINNIPEG (7-5, tied fourth place)
What remains: 8 games
Of note: Feb. 3-4 vs Saskatchewan, Feb. 10-11 at Calgary
The facts: The home-and-home with Brandon came at the perfect time for the Wesmen, who needed a confidence boost and now have a three-game win streak heading into a tough weekend against UBC and Victoria. … On one hand, Saskatchewan’s sweep this weekend put the Huskies (7-4) percentage points above the Wesmen in the standings, but on the other hand it drew Calgary (7-5) back down and now made it a three-team race for two final playoff spots. … Winnipeg has no gimmes left on the schedule, while Calgary has Manitoba for two, and Saskatchewan has Manitoba and Brandon … In saying that, the final four games of the season may not end up all being must-wins, but it’s close. Winnipeg will likely need four wins in the final eight, and would be hard-pressed to get in with a 2-2 record or worse in those final four.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

MANITOBA (11-1, second place)
What remains: 8 matches
Of note: Jan. 20-21 at UBC, Jan. 27-28 vs Trinity Western
The facts: In their return to the court after the holiday break, the Bisons took care of business with a weekend sweep of Regina (in the process helping their crosstown rivals greatly) … Third-place Alberta is suddenly in a three-match losing streak and three back of Manitoba … The Bisons sit a match back of No. 1-ranked Trinity Western with the Spartans coming to Winnipeg in less than two weeks … In Canada West volleyball, the top seven teams make the post-season, with the No. 1 seed earning a first-round bye and home court advantage for the final four, meaning the Bisons results against TWU will likely determine if they’re a first- or second-place team … That’s not, of course, to overlook No. 5-ranked UBC, which is a solid 8-4, gets Manitoba on home floor at War Memorial Gymnasium and recently split with the Golden Bears.

BRANDON (7-7, sixth place)
What remains: 6 matches
Of note: Everything
The facts: The Bobcats, winners of five straight, have an absolute bear of a schedule remaining and not as many games left as the five teams above them, making it likely that they won’t be moving up in the standings, but could easily move down … Here’s what’s on the BU plate: at Thompson Rivers, at UBC, vs Alberta. … The bright side is the Bobcats are three matches up on Regina, which is the only team that could catch them to knock them out of the top seven, and Regina has to contend with Calgary and Alberta still … Mathematically (especially considering BU still gets UBC and Alberta), the Bobcats could move up as high as third, but the T-Birds and Golden Bears are two matches clear of Brandon. Calgary, at 7-5 however, is a realistic stepping stone if BU can log a few Ws.

WINNIPEG (6-8, seventh place)
What remains: 6 matches
Of note: Jan. 27-28 vs UBC, Feb. 1, Feb. 4 home-and-home Manitoba
The facts: Truthfully, every match from here on out is critical for the Wesmen, who are two matches up on Regina for seventh and own a slight edge (-6 to -16) in sets won/lost, the first tiebreaker criterion … It’s entirely plausible that U of W could lose every one of its final six and still get into the playoffs because it seems unlikely that the Cougars can find three wins in their final six (at UBCO, at Alberta, vs Calgary) … Winnipeg had to grind out two wins over No. 10-ranked* Saskatchewan this weekend (in five sets Friday, four on Saturday) and those wins were critical.

* Quick rant: The wins over Saskatchewan could easily put the Wesmen in the top-10 rankings on Tuesday. I don’t have a problem with a 6-8 Canada West team being in the top 10 because I’ll take a 6-8 CW team over, say, a 9-4 OUA team such as Windsor. The Canada West has decades of evidence to back up its status as far and away the best conference in Canada and its teams get that benefit in rankings. Where my beef stems, however, is the possibility that wins over Saskatchewan could put a team in the top 10 based on the element of “it’s a victory over a ranked opponent.” Saskatchewan has admittedly played teams tough, but the Huskies have no business — repeat: NO BUSINESS — being anywhere near the top 10 with a 1-11 record (especially considering four of the CW teams ahead of them aren’t ranked) and Winnipeg’s wins shouldn’t carry any more merit. Even at 6-8, I’m not convinced U of W’s body of work is worthy of a ranking, but the Wesmen certainly shouldn’t get any more love this week just because they beat a team the nation’s coaches foolishly and illogically voted in a week ago.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

WINNIPEG (12-2, second place)
What remains: 6 matches
Of note: Jan. 27-28 vs UBC, Feb. 1, Feb. 4 home-and-home Manitoba
The facts: It has indeed been a tremendous run to this point for the Wesmen, but it’s really going to heat up now with stern tests in the final three weekends, against the No. 1, 6 and 8 (Trinity Western) teams in the country. … Winnipeg is two matches up on Manitoba for second, but is nevertheless in a comfortable stead for hosting a first-round playoff series. Additionally, the Wesmen are a match back of UBC for first … You simply cannot fault Winnipeg for anything to date and yet you have to see these matches upcoming as litmus tests. That’s just the nature of the beast when considering a team that for most of the past 12 years has been sub-.500 — you have to keep proving yourself. … Winnipeg will be in the playoffs, could very likely be hosting playoff matches and yet I’m not quite willing to proclaim anything of grandeur for U of W just yet. It may be unfair. I don’t know. But for that, my apologies to coach Diane Scott.

MANITOBA (9-3, third place)
What remains: 8 matches
Of note: Jan. 20-21 at UBC, Jan. 27-28 vs Trinity Western, Feb. 1, Feb. 4 home-and-home Winnipeg
The facts: The benefit the Bisons have over their crosstown rivals is two extra matches on the schedule … I hate writers and broadcasters who use “control their own destiny” as a term for a team that could make an imprint with wins in certain games. You can’t control destiny, so you can’t control your destiny. (Cue Larry David quote): Now, having said that, the Bisons are in a position of power considering, of their final eight matches, six come against the teams surrounding them in the standings — first-place UBC, second-place Winnipeg and fourth-place Trinity. So while the harsh rules of earthly reality will never allow for any of us mere mortals — nor the mighty Bisons — to control our respective destinies, Manitoba has nevertheless found itself in a position to seize some choice opportunities with respect to improving its lot in the conference standings.

BRANDON (8-6, sixth place)
What remains: 6 matches
Of note: Feb. 3-4 at UBC, Feb. 10-11 vs Alberta
The facts: Much like the men’s team on the BU campus, the women’s squad has turned things around by way of a lengthy streak, its string taking the Bobcats from 2-6 in mid-November, to 8-6 today and firmly entrenched in the post-season fandango. … In fact, one win over Thompson Rivers this weekend would essentially clinch a spot for Brandon, which holds a sizable edge over eighth-place TRU in sets won/lost … Working for the Bobcats is the fact they have the same amount of wins as Trinity and Alberta (fourth and fifth, respectively) and one less than Manitoba. Working against them? Each of those teams have two matches in hand, making it a tall order for the young Bobcats to rise into one of those 2-through-4 spots. … Brandon is 6-1 at home and 2-5 on the road, and four of its last six are on the road … Considering this was a team replacing veterans at setter, left side and right side, plus the national libero of the year, if the Bobcats managed to get out of the regular season at 10-8, they should consider that outstanding, take it and run, and be elated with whatever playoff spot it gets them.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

I thought that maybe, just maybe, we might have learned something about some teams, their abilities and their prospects after games from Friday night.

Then Saturday happened.

In the case of the Brandon Bobcats men’s basketball team, Friday at around 8:05 p.m. happened. We’ll get to that in a minute. Here’s a wrap up of the weekend, in alphabetical order as always, and what it might all mean for the three Manitoba schools as Canada West returned to action:

BRANDON BOBCATS

So the Bobcat men were feeling pretty good about themselves Friday following a 96-73 waterboarding of the Regina Cougars that brought their record to .500 and in a tie for fourth in the conference. They did this, it should be noted, despite playing most of the game without their leading scorer Emerick Ravier, who hurt his knee and played only four minutes of the contest. Ravier, it would turn out, wouldn’t play again on the weekend and right now is out indefinitely with a sprain that will be reevaluated this week. His loss is huge for the hopeful Bobcats, who now must go forward without one of their best attackers and creators.

And, as aforementioned, Saturday happened.

The Cougars were so out of sorts Friday while Brandon played perhaps its second best game of the season (Calgary in November ranks higher) that I actually tweeted this on Friday:

“To say the rivalry of Reginacougars & BUBobcats has lost its luster is an understatement. It exists but not w/ same implications/energy.”

That, of course, was your prototypical reactionary comment that, quite honestly, should have never made it through the censors. Problem being, the censors in this case are in my brain and, as such, are rarely held accountable.

I stand by the point that the Cougars-Bobcats rivalry, which was fostered by spending years in the same four-team Great Plains Athletic Conference, and later in the Great Plains Division of the Canada West, has had some water thrown on it. So when expansion and realignment hit the CW and the regular guaranteed two meetings per season and likely playoff clashes were wiped out with it, the rivalry most certainly lost some luster. Add in that neither BU nor Regina is carrying the same quality of team that they did, say, six to eight years ago and for sure it’s not the same.

But what I thought I learned from Friday was obliterated Saturday when Regina returned the favour by playing a much better game and scoring a much-needed split via an 84-73 victory that featured a late Brandon run. That BU loss coincided with a stunning Lethbridge upset of No. 9 Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., that kept the Pronghorns one game up on Brandon for the final playoff spot, with Regina still lurking as well.

The rivalry doesn’t exist in the same form it once did, but it’s still there in flashes. And if the Bobcats aren’t able to make a push to the post-season, they might just end up looking back at their longtime nemesis as a major reason why.

MANITOBA BISONS

BASKETBALL
Well, don’t look now but the U of M men’s team has won four in a row and now suddenly finds itself just a half-game behind first-place Saskatchewan. The Bisons went west and handled their business nicely with wins over UBC-Okanagan and Thompson Rivers. If the Bisons are to consider themselves a true playoff team, those games were must-wins and they were decisive in getting their record to 6-4. Winnipegger Kevin Oliver had a monster weekend, going for 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals on Friday against UBCO, and backing that up with an even more impressive 19/7/8 with five assists on Saturday.

Looking forward, a very challenging schedule still awaits the Bisons, who get Regina at home this weekend, but then have a daunting UBC-Victoria weekend, followed by a critical road trip to Lethbridge, then the dumbfounding Calgary Dinos and division-leading Sask to close the season. That means the home games against Regina are imperative because it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest a record of 2-6 through the rest of those games. I also wouldn’t be surprised, with the confidence that the Bisons are playing with right now and their many scoring options, to see them score sweeps of Lethbridge and Calgary and perhaps go .500 or better in that stretch.  Either way, their mettle will be tested in the final month and a half.

For the women’s team, two more losses ran the losing streak to four and the record to 3-7, a game and a half back of Saskatchewan for fourth. The Bisons are truthfully a bottom-third team in this conference this season and already slim playoff chances took a major hit with two defeats in B.C. For them to make a push to the post-season, anything less than .500 the rest of the way is likely not enough. And, let’s be truthful, two of those games are against No. 1-ranked Regina, meaning the Bisons would have to find minimum three wins in the final eight contests and then hope for massive losing streaks from Winnipeg and Saskatchewan.

HOCKEY
Starting with the women’s team, you really could not have drawn up a better weekend as far as the standings are concerned. Not only did the Bisons get two needed wins at home over Regina, allowing only one goal in the process, they also got help from the Saskatchewan Huskies, who swept Lethbridge, and a split from Calgary and Alberta, which allowed the Bisons to slip into a tie with the Dinos in search of the final playoff spot. I think more than one person in the conference believed the Pronghorns would fall back down to earth after winning seven of their first eight games and that’s started to happen with Lethbridge now 3-3-1 in its last seven contests. So now four points separate first from fifth in the conference with the Bisons taking a bye week before heading to Saskatoon. This week’s inactivity means they’re likely to slip temporarily to the outside of the playoff picture, which puts a premium on a good road trip the final weekend.

The men’s team also scored a pair of wins, and in so doing, stretched the gap between the Bisons and fourth-place Calgary to three full games with Manitoba also possessing four wins in as many games over the Dinos this season. At the same time, with Saskatchewan getting upset by Lethbridge, the Bisons are a mere two points back of the Huskies and Alberta Golden Bears for first place. Bisons forward Blair Macaulay continued to stay atop the conference goal-scoring category, notching two goals on the weekend to sit at 15. The home weekend against Saskatchewan Jan. 20-21 is a big one as the Bisons keep their eyes on one of the top two spots and a first-round playoff bye.

WINNIPEG WESMEN

Tanya McKay‘s Wesmen needed a win badly this weekend and, with a loss on Friday, that need was amped up heading into Kelowna on Saturday. So the Wesmen got a big performance from fifth-year forward Amy Ogidan, who went for 15 points and 14 rebounds, and sophomore guard Yael Kaplan, who dropped 23 points with a career-high 20 shots from the field. The Wesmen are now 5-5 and a half game back of fourth-place Saskatchewan, but U of W gets a home-and-home with Brandon (AKA two wins) before a very challenging final stretch (vs Vic/UBC, at Regina, vs Sask, at Calgary). The Huskies (5-4), meanwhile, have a significantly easier road to take with Brandon, UBCO, Thompson Rivers and Manitoba each on the docket. The Wesmen need to find a winning streak and make sure a sweep of Saskatchewan Feb. 2-3 is worked in.

The Wesmen men were also in desperation mode, but got zilch out of their west-coast swing, which ended with an unsightly 79-70 loss to the Heat in Kelowna. In that game, the Wesmen had a six-point lead at halftime, but shot a measly 30 per cent from the field in the second half, allowing UBCO just its second win of the season. Winnipeg fell to 2-8 in the process, three games out of the final playoff spot. Even with a sweep of the home-and-home with Brandon this week (which would be hard to fathom right now), the Wesmen would still need a remarkable run in the final eight games, plus some help, to get in contention for the post-season. It’s hard to think that this could ever have been considered a hopeful season for the Wesmen because they never really got on track. A 2-3 start was promising, considering one loss was to Alberta and one was a one-point defeat at Trinity Western, but it’s been downhill the rest of the way, with injuries and a lack of depth really hurting U of W. Mike Raimbault will be back to the drawing board needing a big recruiting haul to right the ship for 2012-13.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun

The Canada West conference season largely resumes tonight and Saturday as athletes in basketball, hockey and volleyball get back to work after what was, for many, a pretty busy holiday.

Yes there’s a break in conference play over most of December, but there’s hardly a rest for the teams that know the ones who don’t prepare properly during the time off are the ones who end up being sluggish out of the gates in the new year, which also happens to be a critical stretch. So here, looking forward, are some things to watch from all three Manitoba schools, in alphabetical order

BRANDON BOBCATS
BASKETBALL
Break time: The women’s team took the holidays off from competition, while the men were in Winnipeg just after Christmas, where they finished second at the eight-team Wesmen Classic.
This week: vs Regina
Next 3: vs Regina, vs Winnipeg/at Winnipeg, vs Trinity Western/Fraser Valley

Men: It’s not a stretch to suggest that this weekend’s games against the Cougars represent the most crucial series the Bobcats have had since Gil Cheung took over as coach in the summer of 2010. Let’s face it, the Bobcats were out of real playoff contention early last year and a 14-game losing streak to close the campaign saw to it that very few of the games they played had any importance. Now? Different story. At 3-5 and in fifth in the East Division, the Bobcats have a playoff spot (top four in the East make it) in their reach with the 2-5 Cougars not far off. There is a chance to gain a bit of breathing room from the chasers like Regina and Winnipeg (also with two wins), with victories in the coming two weeks and a hot start could vault them over 4-4 Lethbridge, which currently holds down fourth. This is an improved team from 2010, but not one to consider a Canada West juggernaut. The Bobcats, however, are heading in the right direction, playoff spot or not.

Women: The school advertised its head coaching position recently and perhaps interim head man Ritchie Jacobson wishes he could fast forward to a time when they name the coach and move on from this trying season. Jacobson sunk his heart into this group last season in relief of Jamie Taggart and has done all he possibly can after being unexpectedly handed the interim title very late in the summer. To be sure, the Bobcats knew they weren’t going to be given a punchers chance in many games this season and, statistically speaking, it’s the worst season in years for the squad. An injury to fifth-year senior Jayla Bousquet didn’t help things, but there have been bright spots: Freshman Aimee Johnston has been a pleasant surprise, leading the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game straight out of Vincent Massey-Brandon. And the improvement of forward Jaynell Gillett, who was recruited last season after not having played basketball the year before, has been perhaps the most note-worthy item for BU. Now the school needs to handle its hiring of a new coach the right way this time and — I’m telling you it’s true; I swear — this program can one day have more to cheer about.

VOLLEYBALL
Break time: The women’s team hosted its first ever Conferences of Canada Challenge, a novel concept that invited a team from each conference to Brandon, with Guelph, McGill and Dalhousie taking part. The BU men went to warmer climes and enjoyed a competitive and sight-seeing trip in southern California, undoubtedly the envy of all of their schoolmates.
This week: Bye.
Next 3: vs UBCO, at TRU, at UBC

Men: Winners of three in a row and four of their last five, the Bobcats were beneficiaries of a lighter schedule to close out 2011. There’s no doubt this is not the same team as the one that won a national silver medal last season, but BU should be a playoff team and its next three matches will be huge (read: HYYYUUUGE) in getting there. Brandon, now 5-7, sits in sixth place just one match ahead of Regina and Winnipeg, both of whom the Bobcats have split with already, and two matches ahead of the Heat. A sweep next weekend potentially gives them some breathing room heading into the rare, and tough, B.C.-back-to-back trips. UBCO and TRU should be winnable matches but the Bobcats know going into Kamloops against the Wolfpack Jan. 20-21 is not a gimme by any extent. There’s a great chance to be at least .500 after this stretch and heading into the final weekend of the season.

Women: Similar to their male schoolmates, the BU women also had a crucial surge to end the first semester, winning their final four matches to pull up to 6-6 and hold the seventh and final playoff spot. Where it differs for the women’s team is that this next stretch of matches is devoid of any locks, but rather a couple of should-bes and a few longshots. Yes, Brandon should beat the 2-8 Heat at home, but UBCO has wins over Winnipeg and Manitoba in conference season, and Brandon in pre-season. And yes, the Bobcats should go into Kamloops and sweep TRU, but don’t forget that it’s a Wolfpack team that earned a home split with Manitoba early in the season. After that it’s the UBC Thunderbirds on the road and the Alberta Pandas at home (Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation, just FYI) to close the season. TRU sits two matches behind Brandon for that final playoff spot, but the Bobcats would be well-advised to not dally in the first two weeks of play and get the wins when they absolutely can.

MANITOBA BISONS
BASKETBALL
Break time: The women’s team went west and took a couple of non-conference losses at Division II Simon Fraser and Trinity Western. The men went 2-1 at the Wesmen Classic and finished fifth.
This week: at UBCO/Thompson Rivers
Next 3: at UBCO/Thompson Rivers, vs Regina, vs UBC/Victoria

Men: The Bisons should be fairly content with being 4-4 through the first half, although a loss at Brandon — where they allowed 98 points to a team that averages 76 — might be one that head coach Kirby Schepp would like to have back. Still, the Bisons won three of their last four, swept crosstown rival Winnipeg, and earned a quality split at home with Alberta. Now there’s a four-game winning streak sitting there for them to start 2012. Of course it’s not that easy, but the schedule does set up favourably for the Bisons, who should welcome forward Richard Reimer back and have also added the services of Turkish post Yigit (Yogi) Ozsayiner. Schepp calls Ozsayiner the protypical Euro big and he showed flashes of that during the Wesmen Classic when he was 7 of 11 from three, 16 of 28 from the field and averaged just under 14 points in three games. Manitoba is a plum position to be top four in the East and the Bisons can certainly improve their lot even further with a hot start to the new semester.

Women: Regardless of how they got them (two against Brandon, one against Trinity Western), the Bisons are at three wins for the season and sniffing at a playoff spot, a game and a half back of fourth-place Saskatchewan and a game back of fifth-place Winnipeg, although the Wesmen own the head-to-head tiebreaker there. So now the Bisons have to start looking at the schedule and seeing where the wins might pile up and, to be frank, there’s not a lot out there. After this weekend, the Bisons face teams with a combined 16-5 record, including undefeated No. 1-ranked Regina, before getting Lethbridge on the road. One upside is U of M closes the season against Saskatchewan — now it’s a matter of if they can stay competitive enough to make that weekend mean something.

HOCKEY
Break time: The men’s team shut it down for the break, while the women’s team got top-flight competition at the McGill Martlets Invitational, where the Bisons went 1-2.
This week: Women host Regina, men at Regina
Next 3: Regina, bye week, Saskatchewan

Men: The Bisons deserved a break over the holidays, considering they’ve been playing since August, when they toured Europe for nearly two weeks. Winners of four of their last five, the 10-4-2 Bisons have successfully created a gap between themselves and the fourth-place Calgary Dinos, whom they’ve already beaten four times in four outings, and find themselves just two points back of conference-leading Saskatchewan and Alberta. They open 2012 at Regina, where they’re certainly looking for a better effort than the last time the teams met, a split in Winnipeg that included a humbling 6-1 loss after the Bisons had opened the season with wins in three of their first four games (against Calgary and Alberta). The focus going forward has to be a finish in the top two, especially considering the Bisons, in their final 12 games, get four against UBC (7-7-2), two against Lethbridge (3-10-2) and this weekend’s pair against 4-10-2 Regina.

Women: There was an acceptance that this edition of the Bisons was perhaps not going to be the powerhouse that we’ve seen in years past, but there was no feeling that U of M was going to be any kind of slouch. And so the 7-5-2 record looks about right for the Bisons, who find themselves in fifth place (top four make the post-season) in a Canada West conference that is right now perhaps the most competitive, top to bottom, it has ever been. So the pressure is most certainly on Manitoba to have a standout second half in order to catch the likes of Alberta or Calgary, which has two games in hand, for one of the final playoff berths. In many years, playing two games above .500 would be enough to get you in the fourth playoff spot, but it’s clear it’s going to take more than that if the Bisons are to avoid being on the outside looking in for the first time since 2003-04. There are six wins out there to be had (Regina, Lethbridge, UBC), and another four swing games (Saskatchewan, Calgary) that will determine their fate.

VOLLEYBALL
Break time: The men’s team also went to California and, to date, has stayed down there. The women’s team returned to a Florida tournament it has become familiar with, going 3-1 against CIS and CCAA competition in Fort Lauderdale.
This week: Bye
Next 3: At Regina, at UBC, vs Trinity Western

Men and Women: Let’s just go ahead and include both teams in the same paragraph, because there’s some similarities in what lay ahead. In both cases, we’re about to see the mettle of both squads, specifically after next weekend’s games against the Cougars. That’s not to say the Bisons haven’t proven themselves worthy — a 9-1 first semester for the men, and 7-3 start for the women most certainly has done that — but both teams get the conference leaders in the coming weeks, with the women taking on four-time defending champion UBC in two weeks, and the No. 2 men hosting No. 1 Trinity in three weeks. A goal of a first-round bye and home-court advantage for the final four is very much in the grasp of the men’s team. The women sit in third place and also have that goal within reach, but a first-round hosting opportunity is more likely.

WINNIPEG WESMEN
BASKETBALL
Break time: The women’s team was quiet, while the men’s team went 2-1 and finished third at the Wesmen Classic.
This week: at Thompson Rivers/UBCO
Next 3: at Thompson Rivers/UBCO, at Brandon/vs Brandon, vs Victoria/UBC

Men: The Wesmen aren’t the only team to go through injury issues, but on a team that isn’t boasting a ton of depth, the injuries have been felt a bit more. Point guard Andrew Cunningham returned to the lineup at the Classic and, for the most part, showed exactly why he’s so crucial to the Winnipeg fortunes, most notably in the tournament opener when he scored 13 points and added seven assists and five steals off the bench. But the Wesmen went out and struggled to a 2-6 record in the first semester, making their quest for a playoff spot that much more difficult. Head coach Mike Raimbault had the Wesmen playing their best basketball at the end of last season and he’s going to have to hope for more of the same in these first two weeks. Truthfully, if the Wesmen have any hope of being in the top four, they likely can’t do any worse than 3-1 in their first four games, an attainable goal. Anything less, however, and the Wesmen are going to have to searching for upsets and, with the quality of opponents on the horizon, that would be a tall order.

Women: After having a turnaround season in 2010-11, the Wesmen have been up and down in getting to 4-4 thus far in 2011-12. They’ve done so without the services of their super sophomore, Stephanie Kleysen, has been injured for most of the season, and the team’s offensive production has suffered. It is a younger group than a year ago, and the injury to Kleysen, means head coach Tanya McKay has essentially had to replace three starters from last year (considering the graduations of Caitlin Gooch and Alex McIvor). The Wesmen sit a half-game back of fourth-place Saskatchewan for the final spot and the teams have similar schedules in the eight games leading up to their head-to-head weekend Feb. 3-4. That doubleheader looms very large in determining the final playoff spot in the East.

VOLLEYBALL
Break time: All quiet on the Wesmen front.
This week: Men vs Sherbrooke in non-conference
Next 3: at Saskatchewan, at Trinity Western, vs UBC

Men: In a season where not a lot was expected, the Wesmen have quietly gotten to 4-8 (winners of their last two) and sit on the fringe of the playoff picture. The schedule from here on out, however, is a bear. The Wesmen do get to face 1-9 Saskatchewan to resume conference play, but after that it’s a murderers row: No. 1 Trinity, No. 4 UBC, No. 2 Manitoba. Still Regina, also at 4-8 and tied with Winnipeg for the final playoff spot, doesn’t have it easy either, making it conceivable that a tiebreaker could come into play to give out the final playoff berth. In one of Canada West’s more peculiar (or ridiculous) rules, head-to-head doesn’t play into the tiebreak. The first criteria is sets won and lost and currently it’s Regina with the slight edge at 17/28 to Winnipeg’s 18/27. In other words, let’s just check in on this in a month or so.

Women: There’s no arguing that the story of the conference thus far is the turnaround of the Wesmen program from six wins a season ago to 10-2 and third in the nation. Similar to their crosstown rivals, the Wesmen will also have a chance to make their statement in the second half, with Trinity Western, UBC and Manitoba all in the mix. The Wesmen aren’t assured of a hosting spot in the playoffs, but they’ve made it almost a lock. Still, with three of their final four weekends against against top-10 teams, the Wesmen are about to be tested all over again to see if they can maintain their pace. While the tremendous play to date has surely rid any “are they for real?” questions, the fact remains the Manitoba weekend Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 still feels like a litmus test for the Wesmen. The Bisons have owned this city for years now and the Wesmen have to land a few blows on their in-city bullies before any torch is handed over. What a way to wrap up the season.

A couple of months remain — one stretch drive for everyone to figure out where they belong.

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Twitter: @LarkinsWSun