Photo: Pascal Ratthe/Montreal Alouettes

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the home team for this weekend’s East Final but oddsmakers have made the Montreal Alouettes the favourite to win by a spread of 2.5 points.

The Alouettes are coming off a 42-33 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Semi-Final. The offence was exceptional as Davis Alexander threw for 384 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while Stevie Scott III ran for 133 yards and two scores.

Montreal lost both of its regular-season meetings with Hamilton, though Alexander was unable to play in either game due to a hamstring injury. The 26-year-old passer is 11-0 as a regular-season CFL starter, the best-ever mark to start a career, and 1-0 in the playoffs.

The Tiger-Cats beat the Alouettes by a score of 35-17 in Week 4 as Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 247 yards with touchdown passes to Kenny Lawler and Tim White. McLeod Bethel-Thompson got the start for Montreal in place of Alexander and threw for 203 yards, one score, and two interceptions.

Steeltown beat Montreal again in Week 14, this time on the road, as Greg Bell rushed 20 times for 156 yards and one touchdown. James Morgan started for the Alouettes with Alexander, Bethel-Thompson, and Caleb Evans out due to injury and struggled, throwing for 138 yards and one interception.

Hamilton finished atop the East Division standings for the first time since 2019 and are looking to get back to their first Grey Cup since 2021. The Alouettes, meanwhile, went to the Grey Cup and won with Cody Fajardo at the helm in 2023. The team hosted last year’s East Final but were upset by the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts.

The Montreal Alouettes (11-8) will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (11-7) for the East Final on Saturday, November 8 at Hamilton Stadium with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m. EST. The Alouettes defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Semi-Final by a score of 42-33, while the Tiger-Cats were on bye after finishing atop the East Division standings.

The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for a high of six degrees with a 30 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 in Montreal and the Ticats Audio Network.