| 1973 CFL season | |
|---|---|
| East champions | Ottawa Rough Riders |
| West champions | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 61st Grey Cup | |
| Champions | Ottawa Rough Riders |
| CFL seasons | |
← 1972 1974 → | |
The1973 CFL season is considered to be the 20th season in modern-dayCanadian football, although it is officially the 16thCanadian Football League season.
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 (although this format would return in use by what was by then the East Division in 1986 only); 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 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 (as of 2017) where a fourth-placed Eastern team would earn more points (despite playing fewer games) than the third placed Western team - the scenario which triggers a "crossover" under the current playoff format.
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Eskimos | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 329 | 284 | 20 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 360 | 287 | 20 |
| BC Lions | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 261 | 328 | 12 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 214 | 368 | 12 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 267 | 315 | 9 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 275 | 234 | 18 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 265 | 231 | 16 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 273 | 238 | 15 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 304 | 263 | 14 |
TheOttawa Rough Riders are the 1973Grey Cup champions, defeating theEdmonton Eskimos, 22–18, atToronto'sExhibition Stadium. Ottawa'sCharlie Brandon (DE) was named theGrey Cup's Most Valuable Player, while Edmonton'sGarry Lefebvre (DB) was namedGrey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.
| November 10/11: Division Semifinals | November 17/18: Division Finals | November 25:61st Grey Cup @Exhibition Stadium –Toronto | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 14 | ||||||||||||
| East | ||||||||||||||
| E1 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 23 | ||||||||||||
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 32* | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Toronto Argonauts | 10 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 22 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Edmonton Eskimos | 18 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 23 | ||||||||||||
| West | ||||||||||||||
| W1 | Edmonton Eskimos | 25 | ||||||||||||
| W3 | BC Lions | 13 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 33 | ||||||||||||
*-Team won in Overtime.
