CEBL Weekly Preview: Sorting Through a Wild Playoff Race

Three teams have punched their ticket, but good luck figuring out the rest.
The CEBL post-season race is as wild as ever this season, with six teams sitting on eight or nine wins, including four in the East (!), and a last-place team cobbling together a late-season surge to make things even more interesting out West.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Sea Bears and Vancouver Bandits are duking it out for top spot, while the Scarborough Shooting stars can sit back and watch the whole thing unfold from their perch atop the East.
Let’s break it all down…
Eastern Conference
The Shooting Stars sewed up the top seed in the East despite a 1-1 week that included a win over the Edmonton Stingers and a loss to the Ottawa BlackJacks. Now, the goal over their final five games will be to stay sharp for when the post-season begins and it’s suddenly do or die.
As for the rest of the East? An apt word to describe the playoff race would be chaos.
The Brampton Honey Badgers sit second at 9-10, but just lost two straight to the Niagara River Lions (9-11), who fell back to fourth after a loss to the Stingers. In between, the BlackJacks (9-10) are third after that win over the Shooting Stars. The Montreal Alliance (8-12), riding a three-game losing streak, bring up the rear.
As one would imagine, however, this could all look very different in a week’s time. Ottawa is the team to watch, with road games in Montreal Friday and Niagara Sunday that could see it separate from the pack or lose valuable ground.
The BlackJacks will also get another shot at the playing-out-the-string Shooting stars on Wednesday, while Scarborough will host Niagara and Montreal later in the week with the chance to have a say in its potential playoff opponents.
Last season, the River Lions, in the same spot as the Shooting Stars, lost five straight to end the season, but rallied to win the championship. How that informs Scarborough’s season-end strategy should be fascinating, especially as it reintegrates star scorer Terquavion Smith, who re-signed with the club on Thursday.
Western Conference
There’s less mess in the West, but three clear tiers still stand out.
At the top, the Sea Bears (13-7) and Bandits (12-7) are dueling for first place, which could be a key advantage if they wind up against each other in the conference final.
They’ll meet Thursday at Winnipeg’s Canada Life Centre with the Sea Bears’ Teddy Allen scorching hot off his record 54-point night in a win over the Alliance on Sunday in which he also set the single-season scoring record.
That game also saw Winnipeg debut of three-time Xavier Moon, who registered 17 points and dished 14 assists alongside his newfound co-star. If that’s any indication, the Sea Bears may be title favourites, but the Bandits and Canadian star Tyrese Samuel will certainly have their say.
Then, there’s a battle for third place in the West, with the Saskatoon Mamba (8-10) and Stingers (8-11) fighting to keep pace in the playoff race as the last-place Calgary Surge (5-14) author a late-season charge, having won four of their last five.
The Mamba and Stingers will meet Tuesday, and the winner will be in full control of their fate.
It’s an especially big week for Edmonton, which has a home-and-home with Alberta-rival Calgary on Friday and Sunday. Win both, and the Stingers will secure their post-season spot. Lose both, and the final week of the season gets a whole lot more interesting.
Indeed, it’s that time of year, where every basket, every stop, every timeout feels that much more crucial. The post-season is right around the corner.
Weekly schedule (13 games)
Game #97 – Tuesday, July 21 – EDM at SSK – 7:30 p.m. CST/MT / 9:30 p.m. ET – Merlis Belsher Place (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #98 – Tuesday, July 21 – VAN at CGY – 7:30 p.m. MT / 6:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m. ET – WinSport Event Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #99 – Wednesday, July 22 – SSS at OTT – 7:30 p.m. ET – The Arena at TD Place (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #100 – Thursday, July 23 – VAN at WPG – 7 p.m. CDT / 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET – Canada Life Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #101 – Thursday, July 23 – BHB at SSK – 7:30 p.m. CST / 9:30 p.m. ET – Merlis Belsher Place (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #102 – Friday, July 24 – NRL at SSS – 7:30 p.m. ET – Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #103 – Friday, July 24 – OTT at MTL – 7:30 p.m. ET – Verdun Auditorium (CBC Gem, YouTube, RDS, CEBL+)
Game #104 – Friday, July 24 – EDM at CGY – 7:30 p.m. MT / 9:30 p.m. ET – WinSport Event Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #105 – Saturday, July 25 – BHB at WPG – 2:30 p.m. CDT / 3:30 p.m. ET – Canada Life Centre (CBC, CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #106 – Saturday, July 25 – SSK at VAN – 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. CST / 9 p.m. ET – Envision Financial Court at Langley Events Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #107 – Sunday, July 26 – OTT at NRL – 3 p.m. ET – Meridian Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #108 – Sunday, July 26 – MTL at SSS – 4 p.m. ET – Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
Game #109 – Sunday, July 26 – CGY at EDM – 4 p.m. MT / 6 p.m. ET – Edmonton EXPO Centre (CBC Gem, YouTube, CEBL+)
For the full 2026 CEBL schedule, please visit
cebl.ca/games.







