| 1973 CFL season | |
|---|---|
| East champions | Ottawa Rough Riders |
| West champions | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 61st Grey Cup | |
| Champions | Ottawa Rough Riders |
The 1973 CFL season is considered to be the 20th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 16th Canadian 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 |
The Ottawa Rough Riders are the 1973 Grey Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Eskimos, 22–18, at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Ottawa's Charlie Brandon (DE) was named the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player, while Edmonton's Garry Lefebvre (DB) was named Grey 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.
The 1997 CFL season is considered to be the 44th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 40th Canadian Football League season.
The 1996 CFL season is considered to be the 43rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 39th Canadian Football League season.
The 1982 CFL season is considered to be the 29th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 25th Canadian Football League season.
The 1980 CFL season is considered to be the 27th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 23rd Canadian Football League season.
The 1979 CFL season is considered to be the 26th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 22nd Canadian Football League season.
The 1978 CFL season is considered to be the 25th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 21st Canadian Football League season.
The 1977 CFL season is considered to be the 24th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 20th Canadian Football League season.
The 1976 CFL season is considered to be the 23rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 19th Canadian Football League season.
The 1975 CFL season is considered to be the 22nd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 18th Canadian Football League season.
The 1974 CFL season is considered to be the 21st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 17th Canadian Football League season.
The 1972 CFL season is considered to be the 19th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 15th Canadian Football League season.
The 1971 CFL season is considered to be the 18th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it was officially the 14th Canadian Football League season.
The 1970 CFL season is considered to be the 17th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 13th Canadian Football League season.
The 1969 CFL season is considered to be the 16th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it was officially the 12th Canadian Football League season.
The 1968 CFL season is considered to be the 15th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 11th Canadian Football League season.
The 1967 CFL season was the tenth Canadian Football League season, and the 14th season in modern-day Canadian football.
The 1962 CFL season is considered to be the ninth season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the fifth Canadian Football League season.
The 1964 CFL season is considered to be the 11th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the seventh Canadian Football League season.
The 1966 CFL season was the Canadian Football League's ninth season since the 1958 merger of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union to create a national league. It was the 13th season in modern-day Canadian football.
The 1965 CFL season is considered to be the 12th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the eighth Canadian Football League season.
