December 14, 2017

The Roughriders’ 2018 schedule is set

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are to open the 2018 CFL regular season against the team that ended their 2017 campaign.

According to the 2018 schedule — which was released by the league Thursday — Saskatchewan is to begin its 18-game regular season on June 15 with a home game against the Toronto Argonauts.

The Argos beat the visiting Roughriders 25-21 in the East Division final on Nov. 19, eliminating Saskatchewan from Grey Cup contention. Toronto went on to win the CFL title.

The regular-season schedule is 21 weeks in length, with each of the nine teams getting three bye weeks. The Roughriders’ byes are in weeks 5, 9 and 21.

Saskatchewan’s pre-season is to feature games May 27 (in Edmonton against the Eskimos) and June 8 (at home to the Calgary Stampeders).

Including the opener against the Argos, the Roughriders are to play their first five regular-season games against East Division teams.

After facing Toronto, Saskatchewan is to visit the Ottawa Redblacks on June 21, play host to the Montreal Alouettes on June 30, entertain the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 5, and visit Hamilton on July 19.

The Roughriders then embark on a six-game stretch against West Division teams, with contests against the visiting Stampeders on July 28, the host Eskimos on Aug. 2, the visiting Stampeders on Aug. 19, the host B.C. Lions on Aug. 25, the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic on Sept. 2, and the hometown Bombers on Sept. 8.

Three straight contests against the East follow (Sept. 15 at home to Ottawa, Sept. 22 in Toronto and Sept. 30 in Montreal), with four in a row versus the West to wrap up the regular season (Oct. 8 versus the visiting Eskimos, Oct. 13 at Winnipeg, Oct. 20 at Calgary and Oct. 27 at home to B.C.).

The division semifinals are set for Nov. 11, with the division finals to be played Nov. 18. The Grey Cup game is slated for Nov. 25 in Edmonton.

The Roughriders’ home schedule is front-loaded, with only two games to be played at Mosaic Stadium after Sept. 15.

Saskatchewan is to play its home games on Thursday (once), Friday (once), Saturday (four times), Sunday (twice) and Monday (once).

The Oct. 8 game is part of a Thanksgiving Monday doubleheader. It’s the first time the Roughriders have played a Monday home game since 2003, when Calgary visited Regina on the October long weekend.

Since that game, the Roughriders have played away games on Thanksgiving Mondays in 2006 (at Montreal), 2007 (in Calgary), 2008 (in Calgary), 2011 (at Edmonton), 2012 (at Toronto) and 2014 (at Montreal).

Saskatchewan last played a Thursday home game in 2016, when it entertained the Argos on the night before the Canada Day holiday.

The Roughriders are to play road games on Thursday (three times), Saturday (five times) and Sunday (once).

Saskatchewan’s schedule includes three weeks with five days between games, three weeks with six-day intervals, four weeks with seven-day breaks and seven weeks with more than seven days between games.

During the 2017 season, the Roughriders posted a 5-4-0 record at Mosaic Stadium and a 5-4-0 mark on the road. Saskatchewan was 6-2-0 against East Division opponents and 4-6-0 versus teams from the West last season.

The CFL released its 2017 schedule in February, so revealing the 2018 slate two months earlier than its predecessor is quite a feat.

“It is always exciting for football fans across the country when the schedule gets announced,” Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said in a prepared statement.

“We have to give credit to the CFL office and teams across the league for working together to get the schedule released earlier than ever. This is never an easy task.”

For the full schedule click here