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VANCOUVER – The No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds (6-2) officially begin the second season Saturday afternoon, November 7, when they host the Manitoba Bisons (4-4) in the Hardy Cup Semifinal at Thunderbird Stadium.
A remarkably similar scenario to the last time the two battled in the playoffs, a UBC comeback victory in 2023 en route to the team's most recent Vanier Cup appearance, the Bisons head to Vancouver as underdogs with redemption on the mind while the T-Birds face a whole new level of expectation.
"Our program's actually been flying under the radar a little bit and there are expectations that the season needs to continue during the playoff run," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill, who led his squad to a first place regular season finish for the second time in the last four years. "It puts a lot of pressure on everyone associated with the program: coaches, athletes, medical people – but it's why you do it and I'm looking forward to having a good week of preparation for Coach Pierre's Manitoba program coming in."
Since the T-Birds executed a terrific defensive performance in a 31-6 victory over the Bisons in Winnipeg back on September 26, Manitoba has had a mixed bag of results, going 2-2 over their final four games, falling to the fourth and final playoff seed after last week's 26-15 home loss to Regina.
UBC followed up that win in Manitoba with a week five loss at Saskatchewan, but has since rattled off three straight victories including last Friday's dominant performance over the Huskies, outscoring the opposition by a combined 114-59.
Under Nill's tenure, the T-Birds have been known as a program which tends to build momentum over the course of the season and 2026 has been no exception. Take second-year quarterback
Drew Viotto who has seemed to have found a new level completing over 72 per cent of his passes over the last three games with a combined five touchdowns and just one interception.
"Drew has played very well, maybe his best two games in the last two so that's certainly a good sign when your quarterback is starting to feel it going into the playoffs," Nill said. "He's definitely a guy who's going to do it for us if we hope to have an extended playoff run. My hope is that he can continue to track in that direction and the guys around him are going to see that and they themselves will be inspired to elevate their performance."
Third-year receiver
Trey Montour ended the regular season with a career-high 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns, finishing the year with 841 yards, the third highest total in the conference.
Then of course there's
Marvyn Larozar who topped the conference with 891 rushing yards, 125 more than his closest rival despite not dressing in week eight.
Defensively, there's plenty to compare between the T-Birds and Bisons who closed out the regular season with the second and third lowest points against per game, respectively.
Limiting their opposition to just 108 rushing yards per game, UBC's defence also managed 10 interceptions on the year, a number only exceeded by the Bisons with 12.
"The Manitoba program over the decades has always been a very resilient bunch, you can tell they play the game the right way. They play at full speed, they execute extremely well and to be honest, we're the ones that have to match their tempo. I've been starting to bring that mindset to our program from the moment we knew who we were going to play and hoping we don't get caught off guard."
With a fresh start, so to speak, now that playoffs have arrived, it will once again be critical for both sides to limit mistakes, especially with some inclement weather expected over the course of the weekend. Special teams will be even more magnified, an area where the 'Birds have really stepped up their game.
"Coach (Pat) Tracey is totally responsible for that group and I thought their best game was last Friday. Him and his assistant, Bob Swing, break down everything that needs to be done to try to get the 12 best players on there for very specific times. It's a very challenging part of the game and it takes leadership which Coach Tracey and Coach Swing are providing and you're starting to see the results."
Looking to punch their ticket to the Hardy Cup Final for the first time since 2023, perhaps UBC's biggest benefit this week is the fact they don't have to travel. But there's also no doubt the pressure is on the home team to continue their upward trajectory having lost in each of the last two semifinal games, both to Saskatchewan.
"Whether it's Manitoba, Sask, Regina, UBC – you know there's a rivalry and you know there's a confidence on the other side that you can beat one another with the right effort and the right execution on a given day."
Kickoff for Saturday's Hardy Cup semifinal is set for 1:00 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium.
Tickets are available online now and the game will also be
streamed live on Canada West TV.
