Brian Swane, Special to Canada West

EDMONTON – In spring 1972, the Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union split, giving birth to Great Plains Athletic Association and the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.

Beginning with a handful of member institutions from the westernmost provinces, the CWUAA would grow to become a preeminent conference in Canadian university sport, made that much stronger when it reunited with GPAC under one banner in 2000.

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For nearly half a century, the student-athletes of Canada West have awed and inspired, giving every ounce of themselves, an embodiment of the human condition in moments of heartbreak and triumph on the fields of play.

From such competition comes rivalries, friendly feuds that are essential to the university sport experience, fueling student pride while firing up the athletes to a degree that no other opponent can.

But in 47 years, not once have two of the biggest rivals played for the right to hoist the Stan Broder Trophy.

Until now. 

On Saturday night,  at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, the Alberta Golden Bears take on the Calgary Dinos in the Canada West Men's Basketball Championship Final for the first time.

"That's pretty cool and also a little bit had to believe," says senior Golden Bears guard Lyndon Annetts.

There have been nearly two dozen Canada West post-season clashes between the Bears and Dinos: quarterfinals, semi-finals, division finals. They even once played for consolation, back when such a thing existed in 1984. But never a game with the trophy in the building.

"I'm surprised that that hasn't taken place based on the quality of the two programs and the history that's there," says Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren, who played for the Golden Bears in the early 90s.

Last weekend, Calgary swept UBC in a best-of-three semi-final series, while Alberta did the same to Lethbridge, each clinching a berth at the 2018 U SPORTS Final 8, which takes place March 8-11 in Halifax.

The Bears and Dinos finished first and second, respectively, in the regular season standings, with Alberta holding a 2-0 edge in head-to-head meetings, prevailing 92-79 at the U of C's Jack Simpson Gym on Jan. 4, and 71-61 in Edmonton two nights later.

Calgary ranked third in the conference with 87.3 points-per-game during the regular season, with 30% of its offensive output coming from the beyond the arc. The Bears, who averaged 85.3 points, are a force in the paint, leading Canada West with more than 15 offensive boards per game. Defensively these are the two best teams in the conference; opponents scored just 66.7 points-per-game against the Bears, while Calgary allowed an average 72.7 points.

"The pace is going to be the key," says Vanhooren. "It will be an entirely interesting component of the game to see who can control it and how it can or can't be pushed.

"Our advantages are different than theirs, so we're going to have to play our strengths just like they're going to want to play to theirs."

While any match-up involving Calgary and Edmonton teams transcends the standings, the Battle of Alberta is at best when both combatants are simultaneously on top of their game. This will be the third consecutive year the Canada West men's basketball champion has resided in Wild Rose Country: the Dinos won the title in 2016 before the Bears were crowned last season.

"I've only been a part of this rivalry for two years, but there is that little bit of extra edge," says Bears guard Geoff Pippus, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., who came to Edmonton in 2016. "It's just fun to play against those guys, and it's been especially fun because we've both been so successful the last couple of years.

"It's our biggest rivalry, so it's fun to get up and go for gold against a team like that."

For the Golden Bears, a victory would bring their school a thirteenth Canada West men's basketball championship. For the U of C, this would be title No 6. When there gets to be that many, they start to blur together, but you can bet this one will stand out.

There can, after all, only be one first.

"If we could get the first win in the conference championship match-up against them, that would be a good way to start it off," says Annetts, who hails from Beaumont, just on the outskirts of the Alberta capital..

I'm sure it won't be the last time that the programs face off like that. There's a bright future for both of them, but it will pretty exciting."

Both the Regina-Saskatchewan women's championship game (7 p.m. CST / Friday, March 2), along with the Alberta-Calgary men's title game (7:30 p.m. MST / Saturday, March 3) will be available live on SaskTel maxTV (348 HD and 48 SD) and TELUS Optik TV (998 HD and 9998 SD).

In addition to watching the conference championship games on SaskTel and TELUS, both contests can also be viewed online by tuning into Canada West TV – the official streaming home of the conference.

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS

• How they got here: defeated UNBC 2-0 in best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal, defeated Lethbridge 2-0 in best-of-three Canada West semifinal
• Canada West championships: 1973, 1974, 1977, 1985, 1990, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2017
• National championships: 1994, 1995, 2002
• Regular season leaders: Points - Austin Waddoups (15.0 ppg), rebounds – Brody Clarke (8.3 rpg), assists – Austin Waddoups (3.9 apg), steals – Austin Waddoups (1.4 spg), blocks - Mamadou Gueye (1.1 bpg)

CALGARY DINOS

• How they got here: defeated Saskatchewan 2-0 in best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal, defeated UBC 2-0 in best-of-three Canada West semifinal
• Canada West championships: 1976, 1993, 2004, 2009, 2016
• National championships: none
• Regular season leaders: points - Mambi Diawara (22.0 ppg), rebounds – Mambi Diawara (7.0 rpg), assists - David Kapinga (4.2 apg), steals – David Kapinga (3.0 spg), blocks - Connor Foreman (0.8 bpg)