1973 CFL season


The 1973 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 20th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 16th Canadian Football League season.

CFL News in 1973

Both the Western and Eastern Conferences adopt the same playoff procedure, consisting of the second place teams in each conference hosting the third place teams in the conference semifinal games and the first place teams hosting the semi-finals' winners in the conference finals. All rounds now consisted of single-game playoffs, as opposed to a two-game total point series ; the West adopted this format the previous year. Other than the addition of the crossover rule in 1997, this playoff format is in still in use to this day in the CFL.
This was the final season where the conferences would play seasons of different lengths. The Eastern Conference would expand its schedule to sixteen games for 1974. Somewhat ironically, this was also the most recent season where a fourth-placed Eastern team would earn more points than the third placed Western team - the scenario which triggers a "crossover" under the current playoff format.

Regular season standings

Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Edmonton Eskimos1695232928420
Saskatchewan Roughriders16106036028720
BC Lions1659226132812
Calgary Stampeders16610021436812
Winnipeg Blue Bombers1641112673159

The Ottawa Rough Riders are the 1973 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos, 22–18, at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Ottawa's Charlie Brandon was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player, while Edmonton's Garry Lefebvre was named Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

Playoff bracket

*-Team won in Overtime.

CFL Leaders

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