Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have opened as slight favourites over the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup.
The Riders are favoured by 2.5 points as of Sunday morning, after they came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. Head coach Corey Mace made two controversial decisions to trust his defence in the final three minutes, but it paid off both times, as Trevor Harris eventually found Tommy Nield for the winning touchdown with 11 seconds remaining.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, securing a walk-off field goal from Jose Maltos-Diaz. Montreal has been white-hot down the stretch and was favoured in that game despite playing on the road. However, they face serious questions entering Grey Cup week after quarterback Davis Alexander reaggravated his hamstring injury late in the victory.
Saskatchewan had the best regular-season record in the CFL this season and secured the top seed in the West Division, while Montreal was the second seed in the East and had to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first round of the playoffs. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Alexander missed both games due to his aforementioned hamstring injury.
The Montreal Alouettes (12-8) and Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.