Lions will travel to Regina to face Riders in the West Semifinal

BC Lions

The playoff picture in the CFL was settled over the weekend. While the BC Lions playoff opponent was already determined prior to the final week of the regular season, a loss to the Calgary Stampeders in week 18 determined that the Lions would be on the road for their playoff matchup.

The Leos are going to be facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Semifinal on Saturday afternoon in Regina, Saskatchewan.

The Riders are pumped, the city and province as a whole are jacked. It took all of 35 minutes for the tickets to sell out once they were made available to the general public Monday morning. 30,945 screaming fans will be on hand, the 18th consecutive sellout at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, dating back to last year. It’s probably not difficult right now to find cars in Saskatchewan sporting Roughrider car flags and other memorabilia.

The Riders will also be hosting a playoff game for the second straight season after going 18 years without one. They are the defending Grey Cup Champs, and they upset the Lions in the playoffs last season.

The Lions have matched up fairly well against the Riders this season sporting a 2-1 record including winning both games of a home and home series in September.

Obviously, the playoffs are an entirely different story and we will see this Saturday if the Lions can avenge the loss from last year. The matchup takes place at 1:30pm Pacific Standard Time, with the winner of the game heading to Calgary to face the Stampeders in the Western conference final.

The East semifinal will showcase the Winnipeg Bluebombers playing host to the Edmonton Eskimos, who have crossed over from the West to take the low seed in the East. That game will be played on Sunday, with kickoff at 10am Pacific. The Montreal Alouettes will be waiting at home to take on the winner in the Eastern final.

-by Aleem Peermohamed