Brian Swane, Special to Canada West

EDMONTON - You can look far and wide, but you’re not likely to find any better men’s hoops action than what Canada West has on tap this weekend.

The 2018 best-of-three semi-final playoff series feature three of the top five teams in the U Sports Top Ten rankings. Only two can make it to next week’s Canada West best-of-three championship series, and at stake is no less than an automatic berth to the 2018 UI Sports Final 8 national championship tournament, next month in Halifax.

Defending champion Alberta is No. 2 in the U Sports rankings, while nine-time champs from UBC are fourth, followed at No. 5 the 2015 Canada West gold medalist Calgary Dinos. The upstart Lethbridge Pronghorns, who have not advanced this far into the post-season since 2001, haven’t cracked the Top 10, but own wins over both UBC And Calgary.

All four teams arrive having swept their best-of-three quarterfinal series last weekend, and weren’t messing around: Alberta out-scored UNBC by a 73 points over two nights, UBC defeated Manitoba by 25 and 32 points, Calgary’s wins over Saskatchewan were both by at least 24 points, and Lethbridge’s average margin of victory against Regina was 27 points.

One of the nation’s top scorers and rebounders, U19 world champion freshman Conor Morgan, will look to lead the T-Birds to an upset in Calgary, where the home team has lost just once this season. The Dinos are seeking a third consecutive trip to Final 8.

Lethbridge, on the other hand, last appeared at Nationals in 2000. Alberta reached Final 8 last year, but not before surviving a best-of-three quarterfinal against the Pronghorns, who again played the Bears tough in a pair of close games in Lethbridge this month.

(1) ALBERTA vs. (4) LETHBRIDGE 

At Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton

• Game 1 – Friday Feb. 23, 8 p.m. MT
• Game 2 – Saturday Feb. 24, 7 p.m. MT
• Game 3* - Sunday Feb. 25, 5 p.m. MT

Golden Bears (19-1 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)

• Season leaders: Austin Waddoups (15.0 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.4 spg), Brody Clarke (8.3 rpg), Mamadou Gueye (1.1 bpg)
• Key stats: 85.3 points for (4^th), 44.6% field goals (4^th), 66.7 points against (1^st), +12.3 rebound margin (2^nd)

Pronghorns (12-8 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)

• Season leaders:  DeJon Burdeaux (19.3 ppg, 3.3 spg), Zac Overwater (7.3 rpg, 0.7 bpg), Kyle Peterson (4.4 apg)
• Key stats: 89.8 points for (2^nd), 44.8% field goals (2^nd), 87.0 points against (16^th), -5.8 rebound margin (17^th)

Regular season (Golden Bears 2-0)

• Feb 2 – Alberta 93 at Lethbridge 88
• Feb 3 – Alberta 97 at Lethbridge 96

Recent playoff meetings

• 2017 best-of-three quarterfinal: Alberta 2, Lethbridge 1

(2) CALGARY vs. (3) UBC 

At Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary

• Game 1 – Thursday Feb. 22, 8 p.m. MT
• Game 2 – Friday Feb. 23, 8 p.m. MT
• Game 3* - Saturday Feb. 24, 7 p.m. MT

Dinos (16-4 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)

• Season leaders: Mambi Diawara (22.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg), David Kapinga (4.2 apg, 3.0 spg), Connor Foreman (0.8 bpg)
• Key stats: 87.3 points for (3^rd), 44.4% field goals (5^th), 72.7 points against (2^nd), -0.8 rebound margin (10^th)

T-Birds (17-3 regular season, 2-0 playoffs)

• Season leaders: Conor Morgan (23.9 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg), Mason Bourcier (4.0 apg, 1.6 spg)
• Key stats: 94.2 points for (1^st), 48.8% field goals (1^st), 74.0 points against (3^rd) +12.6 rebound margin (1^st)

Regular season (Dinos 2-0)

• Nov 3 – UBC 76 at Calgary 100
• Nov 4  – UBC 74 at Calgary 92

Recent playoff meetings

• 2009 championship game: Calgary 80, UBC 76