CFL 2022
season preview
The 9 teams in the CFL are divided into
2 divisions and play 18 games each over
a 21-week regular season
Every combination of teams will meet at least once, with some playing up to four times
The 3 highest-ranked teams in each division will then contest the play-offs for the Grey Cup
How does the CFL work?
WEST
EAST
Semi-finals
Finals
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
2nd
Which teams have the best pedigree?
Finishing positions in the 7 seasons since the CFL was expanded to 9 teams in 2014
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Winnipeg
Edmonton
BC
West Division
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
4
1
1
1
0
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
0
1
1
2
3
0
2
1
2
2
Ottawa
Hamilton
Toronto
Montréal
East Division
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
3
2
2
0
1
4
0
2
0
1
3
3
3
0
2
2
Over the last 3 seasons each team has played 50 regular season games, but how many have they won?
Which teams have performed best?
Saskatchewan
Calgary
Winnipeg
Hamilton
Montréal
Edmonton
BC
Ottawa
Toronto
Wins
Losses
16
17
18
19
28
30
31
33
33
34
33
32
31
22
20
19
17
17
… and how many points has each team scored and conceded on average?
Winnipeg
Hamilton
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Montréal
Edmonton
BC
Ottawa
Toronto
28.2
27.5
26.4
24.5
23.6
22.7
22.9
20.0
21.0
For
Against
Average points
20.3
20.9
20.7
22.3
25.8
25.0
25.5
27.4
28.8
5/1 or shorter
71 to 9/1
11/1 or longer
Game order
Winnipeg
Saskatchewan
Hamilton
Toronto
Calgary
Montréal
BC
Edmonton
Ottawa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Favourites Winnipeg should get off to a good start, with 4 of their first 7 games against one of the 3 weakest teams according to the market
Ottawa are expected to struggle this season and their troubles could start early, with 4 of their first 5 games against one of the three favourites for the Grey Cup
Which teams have the toughest - and easiest - games in the first half of the regular season?
We have used our Grey Cup winner odds to assess the strength of each team’s first 9 opponents, which are colour-coded as follows
Who has the best opening schedule?
Teams are listed in descending order of their Grey Cup odds
Since the CFL was expanded to 9 teams in 2014, the following match-ups have seen one side win at least three quarters of the time
Which games have been the most one-sided?
Calgary
Calgary
Edmonton
Calgary
BC
Calgary
Toronto
Wins
Toronto
Hamilton
Montréal
BC
Montréal
Saskatchewan
Ottawa
12
11
11
14
10
13
13
1
2
2
4
3
4
4
Since the 2014 expansion, the following combinations have seen the most extreme total points averages
Which games have seen the most - and fewest - points scored?
Most points per game
Edmonton
Ottawa
Hamilton
Montréal
BC
Hamilton
Saskatchewan
Toronto
Winnipeg
Hamilton
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
56.6
56.4
55.6
55.4
54.5
Hamilton
Montréal
Calgary
Edmonton
Montréal
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Montréal
Ottawa
Toronto
42.9
42.9
43.2
43.9
44.4
Fewest points per game
Grey
Cup
13
19
3
0
0
26
7
1
0
1
31
3
1
0
0
come from?
Super Bowl LVI champions
Where could the
We’ve analysed every season since the current format was established in 2002.
Which division’s teams
have reached the
most Super Bowls?
AFC East and NFC West have been the best-represented in Super Bowls.
Ties have been broken in favour of the division with the most recent finalist.
AFC
8
NFC
East
West
North
South
5
4
2
2
4
6
7
West
South
East
North
Which divisions have met the most often in the Super Bowl?
There are five pairs of divisions whose teams have met more than once under the current format.
Ties have been broken in favour of the divisions with the most recent meeting.
AFC
East
North
West
East
East
3
3
2
2
NFC
East
West
South
West
South
Which playoff combinations have been the most one-sided?
Combined outcome of inter-divisional matches within each conference under the current format.
East
South
East
South
North
North
American Football Conference
14
10
8
8
6
5
South
North
West
West
East
West
5
5
5
8
6
5
National Football Conference
Teams from the Eastern Division have won 14 of their 19 playoff meetings with those from the Southern Division under the current format.
Teams from the Western Division have won 8 of their 10 playoff meetings with those from the Eastern Division under the current format.
2
West
South
West
East
South
South
East
North
North
North
East
West
8
7
9
8
8
10
2
4
6
6
6
10
Does conference ranking matter?
Only four of the 19 Super Bowls under the current format haven’t featured a team that finished 1st in their conference …
… however only five saw two 1st-placed teams face each other.
vs
vs
vs
vs
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
2nd
3rd or lower
2nd or lower
5
4
6
4