Canada's version of March Madness tips off this week

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Next week, many sports fans across North America will begin their annual dalliance with U.S. college basketball when the NCAA men's and women's brackets tip off. But Canada's answer to March Madness happens first as Vancouver hosts the U Sports Final 8 tournaments this Thursday through Sunday.

It's the first time the men's and women's tourneys will be held in the same place, creating a "basketball festival" that's "similar to a March Madness," in the words of UBC athletic director Kavie Toor.

Truthfully, the Canadian university championships are dwarfed by their 68-team American counterparts, which attract millions of viewers and generate billions of dollars in TV rights fees and gambling activity. But the Final 8s are quality tournaments in their own right, using the same single-elimination format that creates so much excitement in the States. Plus, they're a Canadian product — not a bad selling point at this particular moment in Canada-U.S. relations.

Here's more about the men's and women's Final 8s, which you can watch live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.

Men's

A couple of teams are conspicuously absent. One is the Carleton Ravens, who won an incredible 17 national titles in 20 seasons before missing the Final 8 last year. They failed to qualify again after going 15-7 and losing to Queen's in the second round of the Ontario playoffs.

Also out of the picture is reigning champion Laval, which won the title last year in Quebec City with an all-time Cinderella run. The Rouge et Or were only invited to that tournament because they were hosting it — they went 6-10 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the Quebec playoffs. But the No. 8 seeds parlayed their home-court advantage into upset wins over No. 1 Victoria, No. 4 Dalhousie and, in the final, No. 2 Queen's to capture their first-ever national championship.

Laval finished an ugly 4-12 this season before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Victoria appeared on track for another No. 1 seed after going 20-0. But the Vikes lost reigning U Sports MVP Diego Maffia to a season-ending knee injury in January, and it caught up to them in the Canada West playoff semifinals as they lost to Calgary and ended up with the No. 4 seed for the Final 8.

The Dinos — led by star guard Nate Petrone, whose 24.2 points per game ranked second in the nation this season — went on to beat UBC for the Canada West title and earn the No. 2 seed. Host UBC got the 3 seed as it hopes to replicate Laval's home-court success.

The top-seeded team is Ottawa, which went 20-2 before capturing the Ontario championship with a victory over Queen's in last weekend's final. The balanced Gee-Gees — led by guards Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta, Ankit Choudhary and forward Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, who each averaged around 15 points a game this season — are seeking the first W.P. McGee Trophy in school history. Ottawa lost back-to-back national title games to cross-town rival Carleton in 2014 and '15.

Here's the schedule for the men's first round on Thursday:

(5) Bishop's vs. (4) Victoria at 2 p.m. ET
(8) Concordia vs. (1) Ottawa at 5 p.m. ET
(7) Queen's vs. (2) Calgary at 8 p.m. ET
(6) UPEI vs. (3) UBC at 11 p.m. ET

The semifinals are Friday at 9 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET, and the championship final goes Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Women's

While the men's Final 8 went all Hoosiers last year in Quebec City, the women's tournament in Edmonton was much chalkier. No. 2 seed Carleton repeated as national champs by defeating No. 1 Saskatchewan 70-67 in an exciting final after a last-second three-point heave by the Huskies rimmed out.

A rematch for the Bronze Baby trophy could be in the offing this Sunday in Vancouver. Saskatchewan is once again the No. 1 seed after capping an 18-2 regular season with another Canada West playoff championship, defeating UBC 71-59 in last Saturday's final. Carleton dropped to No. 3 after the defending champs' perfect 22-0 regular season was spoiled by a 70-61 defeat in the Ontario final to intracity rival Ottawa, which leapfrogged the Ravens for the No. 2 seed.

Carleton lost back-to-back Final 8 MVP Kali Pocrnic to graduation after last year's tournament. But returning guard Kyana-Jade Poulin elevated her scoring from 8.4 points per game to a team-high 14.3 this season while several other key veterans helped coach Dani Sinclair keep the Ravens atop their perch until the upset loss to Ottawa.

Saskatchewan's top scorer from last year, forward Carly Ahlstrom, also graduated out. But senior guard Gage Grassick stepped right into the leading role for longtime coach Lisa Thomaidis (the former head of the Canadian women's national team), averaging 18.6 points to win Canada West player of the year. 

Here's the schedule for the women's first round on Thursday:

(7) Laval vs. (2) Ottawa at 3 p.m. ET
(6) Bishop's vs. (3) Carleton at 4 p.m. ET
(5) UBC vs. (4) Saint Mary's at 9 p.m. ET
(8) Alberta vs. (1) Saskatchewan at 10 p.m. ET

The semifinals are Saturday at 9 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET, and the championship final goes Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.