BURLINGTON, Ont. โ The OUA (Ontario University Athletics) has released the 2017-18 league-based sport schedules.
As well as the release of the schedules, the OUA also announced format changes for Menโs and Womenโs Basketball, returning to an East and West conference alignment. Under the new alignment, each team will play home and away in addition to a single game, which rotates home and away annually, against each team in the opposing conference. The new format totals 23 regular season games in the East and 24 in the West.
The 2017-18 playoffs will see the removal of the RPI ranking system, and playoff qualifications will once again be determined by team records. The top six teams from each division advance to the playoffs, with the top two seeds receiving a bye to the quarter-final round. Teams remain within their conferences for the first two rounds of the playoffs, where the semi-finals will feature division crossover matchups.
The playoff format will also move away from a Final Four concept to two single game semi-finals. The championship game host is determined by annual division rotation unless two teams from the same conference were to advance from the semis, resulting in the highest seeded team hosting the Wilson or Critelli Cup Final.
The annual division rotation for 2018 is:
Gold Medal
East โ Men
West โ Women
Bronze Medal
West โ Men
East โ Women
