VANCOUVER – The No. 1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (13-0) travel twice to Burnaby this week to take on the No. 7-ranked Simon Fraser University Clan (11-2) in a battle for top spot in both the Pacific Division and the Canada West.

These will be the final CIS regular season games between the two lower mainland rivals with SFU moving to the NCAA Div. II next season.  The first tilt is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 28 and the second game follows on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at SFU's West Gym.

The T-Birds survived their toughest road trip of the season last weekend, downing a plucky Lethbridge Pronghorns (7-8) squad and the no. 5 ranked Calgary Dinos (11-4) with a pair of come from behind victories.  This week's double date in Burnaby is likely to be just as hotly contested, as the Clan's 11-2 mark have them sitting second to the T-Birds in the Canada West.

This series will have major playoff implications, as the top seed in the conference to survive the first round of the post season earns the right to host the Canada West Final Four in early March.

A look at the Thunderbirds
UBC gutted out a pair of huge road wins last weekend, coming back from double digit half-time deficits in both games.  Josh Whyte was an absolute beast for the T-Birds, tallying 50 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, and seven steals during the two contests while playing a season-high in minutes for a weekend series.  Whyte was dialed in on offence, making 18 of 30 field goals (60 per cent) and 13 of 15 from the line (86.7 per cent), but arguably his defence was his biggest contribution as it keyed the T-Birds in their win over Calgary after trailing by as many as 17.  Blain LaBranche, the T-Birds top shooter, is now averaging 50.0 per cent from three-point land after carrying the hot hand in Saturday's win with 26 points.  Brent Malish was also key off the bench as he contributed 29 points and 13 boards on the weekend.

A look at the Clan
The Canada West's most surprising team, SFU has had a dream start to their 2009-10 season and boast wins over the likes of Calgary, TWU (twice), Victoria, and Alberta.  The Clan don't have a lot of blow outs on their resume - in fact seven of their wins have come by 10 points or less.  The veteran savvy of a team that boasts three fifth-year seniors - Sean Burke, Kevin Shaw, and Matt Kuzminski - has served the Clan extremely well this season.  Shaw and Kuzminski lead SFU with 13.8 points per game and Burke isn't far behind with 12.2 per contest.  Chas Kok is also averaging in double figures with 12.7 points, and the Clan feature good depth with eight players scoring five points or more so far this season.