School’s back in and the stretch drive in the CIS is back with it. So, time to dip back into the Totem Poll, the weekly power rankings of teams in Canada West and just one man’s (hopefully informed) opinion on where everyone fits in the 14-team western loop.

Once again, bear in mind that non-conference games are not considered in this ranking — pre-season wasn’t considered, and holiday ball isn’t either — so a sincere “sorry” to Manitoba and a gigantic “you’re welcome” to Brandon.

On with the show. This is it:

1.(1) Calgary Dinos (10-2) — Were thrown into the fire to start the second semester and earned a nice split in Edmonton ensuring that second-place Alberta will have to jump through hoops to take the top spot in the Central Division. A win after a fairly poor Friday-night effort was a good sign of resiliency.

2.(2) Brandon Bobcats (11-1) — It’s not so much that you beat up on two conference softies, but rather how you do it and the Bobcats were impressive in decimating Fraser Valley and Thompson Rivers on home floor. A wake-up call looms this weekend with the UBC/Victoria roady.

3.(3) UBC Thunderbirds (10-2) — The bye week means UBC stays put, but a chance to rise in the ranks presents itself on Friday with a home clash against Brandon.

4.(4) Alberta Golden Bears (8-4) — One night the Bears are putting together a serious statement that they’re not giving up the Central’s top spot that easy (87-68 win on Friday) and the next night they’re watching Calgary post 83 points over the final three quarters and squandering a 16-point first-quarter lead on home floor.

5.(5) Victoria Vikes (10-4) — The most confusing team in the conference presents the most confusing debate of the week as to where they fit: A loss to Trinity Western can’t go unpenalized, right? Yet we’re not sure the teams below them are worthy of leapfrogging. We’ll start to see their moxie in the coming weeks with five intra-divisional games and three clashes with nationally-ranked foes.

6. (6) Simon Fraser Clan (7-5) — The quirky Tuesday-night affair has the Clan hosting UBC in Burnaby and looking to make a big step towards getting the No. 2 spot in the division. They trail Vic by three games with two in hand, so any finishing kick SFU has should likely ‘kick’ in any time now.

7.(7) Saskatchewan Huskies (7-5) — We aren’t moving the other teams up after their bye weeks, so we’re not moving the Huskies up after theirs either (see: wins over Lethbridge). Yes, they hung a 104 on LU on Friday but, then again, doesn’t everyone?

8. (8) Regina Cougars (7-5) — Give the Cougs credit for posting a pair of wins without Jeff Lukomski and his team-leading 17.1 ppg. Paul Schubach stepped up large and kept U of R two games clear of Winnipeg for the only race in the Great Plains Division: The one for second place.

9. (9) Winnipeg Wesmen (6-6) — The Wesmen weren’t overly impressive at their Wesmen Classic over the holidays and Manitoba was feeling good after an upset win over the Acadia Axemen on the final day of the Classic. Nothing changed in this rivalry, however, as U of Dub posted a couple of wins and basically sealed Manitoba’s fate for another playoff-less season.

10. (11) Trinity Western Spartans (5-9) — Posted their first ‘good win’ of the season by protecting home floor for one night against Victoria. They have a split with Fraser Valley under their belts and a chance to take a step towards the post-season with the Cascades in town for one this weekend. The playoffs likely depend on it.

11. (10) Fraser Valley Cascades (5-9) — To say Barnaby Craddock’s return to Brandon was a disaster would be to shortchange the impact of the word disaster. Craddock’s crew was blown out from the opening tip on Friday in Brandon and closed the weekend out with a whimper in a loss at Regina. More than a few onlookers on Friday asked us “who do these guys have anyway?” That night? No one.

12. (12) Thompson Rivers WolfPack (1-13) — After getting bombed by 34 in Regina against a short-staffed Cougars team, Saturday night the WolfPack watched Brandon go on a 26-5 first-half run and scored just eight points in the second quarter to BU’s 33. Head coach Nevin Gleddie took two technicals and was ejected in the first half, allowing him to end his road trip a little earlier. The rest of the players probably wish they were as lucky.

13. (13) Manitoba Bisons (1-11) — Again, we’re sorry but the non-conference win over Acadia isn’t applicable here. In that game, Darcy Coss and Isaac Ansah were outstanding. In the rest of the Bisons’ games they’re going to need that plus someone else to be anything but utterly ordinary.

14. (14) Lethbridge Pronghorns (0-12) — This week’s winner of the “Lethbridge Futility Fact of the Week”: The Pronghorns have given up four 100-point games this season, making the Horns the conference’s door knob of point-scoring: Everyone’s getting a turn.