It’s playoff time in the CFL, with a semifinal doubleheader set to kick off Saturday.
This week’s CFL narrative: The Montreal Alouettes entered the season as the Grey Cup favourites, but a key injury kept them from really shining in the regular season. The Als are 6-point home favourites in a crossover game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, while the BC Lions are favoured to beat the Calgary Stampeders.
Check out the latest CFL playoffs predictions for the semifinal games on Saturday, Nov. 1.
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CFL playoff predictions
Best bet: Alouettes over 27.5 points (-109)
Quarterback is the most important position in all of sports, and I’m all in on Alouettes QB Davis Alexander.
Formerly at Portland State (FCS), Alexander is in his fourth season with the Als — but his first as a starter. In limited action, he’s been exceptional:
- 7 starts
- 289.1 yards/game
- 72.5% completion rate
- 110.7 passer rating
- 1.4% INT rate
Alexander dealt with a hamstring injury for portions of the season, which is why he only made seven starts.
But if he’d qualified for season-long rankings, he’d be in the top four in passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt (while posting the CFL’s lowest interception rate).
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Montreal is 7-0 in his starts while scoring an average of 34.0 points.
Last week, the Als lost to the Blue Bombers, 19-10. But Alexander rested for that game, and I expect a drastically different result with him under centre.
Key stat: The over on this point total is 6-1 in Alexander’s seven starts. In the outlier, his Als scored 26 points.
CFL playoff picks
Lions -4.5 (-130): BC couldn’t quite catch the Saskatchewan Roughriders down the stretch to win the West Division, but the Lions are entering the playoffs on a nice little heater nonetheless.
- Since Sept. 12, the Lions are 6-0 SU and 4-2 ATS. All six victories covered a -4.5 spread.
- In that six-game span, BC’s average victory margin was 12.7 points.
What’s even more notable is that the Lions’ six-game win streak includes a pair of comfortable victories over the Stampeders: 52-23 on Sept. 19 (road) and 38-24 on Oct. 4 (home).
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The Stamps ended their season with three straight wins, including a road victory over the East Division champion Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
But the margin between these teams when they’ve shared the field is stark, and that makes BC worth backing at this number at home.
BC quarterback Nathan Rourke absolutely carved up Calgary, completing 45 of 56 passes (80.4%) for 745 yards, six TDs and two INTs in the two games.
CFL betting odds and matchups: Nov. 1
Blue Bombers (+210) vs. Alouettes (-265)
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m. ET
- Throw out the two head-to-head matchups between these teams in 2025. Montreal scored a combined 23 points in those games, but didn’t have Alexander at QB for either one.
- Winnipeg lost three of its final four road games, while Montreal had won five games in a row before resting Alexander in the season finale.
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Stampeders (+200) vs. Lions (-250)
Friday, Oct. 11, 5:30 p.m. ET
- BC is 7-2 ATS and SU against Calgary since the start of the 2023 season. More importantly, the Lions are 5-0 ATS and SU at home in that span.
- Calgary ranks No. 2 in scoring defence (23.1 PPG), while BC ranks No. 1 in scoring offence (31.1 PPG).
CFL playoff predictions as of 1:45 p.m. on 10/30/2025.
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Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.