The East and West semifinals both have an experience gulf at quarterback

The Ottawa Redblacks's win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday finalized the CFL's playoff picture, setting up an East semifinal between the Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts in addition to the previously-determined West semifinal between the Calgary Stampeders and the B.C. Lions. The teams' records heading in are rather different, as the West has 14-4 Calgary hosting 7-11 B.C., while the East has 10-8 Hamilton hosting fellow 10-8 team Toronto, but there's one significant crossover between the games. Both of them will have an experienced quarterback starting under centre for one team, and one with much less CFL experience on the other side, which can make a big difference.

In the East, that differential is particularly stark. The Argonauts have recently returned to Ricky Ray as their starter, and the 36-year-old Ray is a 13-year CFL veteran with three Grey Cup rings. By contrast, Hamilton's likely going to have to start either Jeremiah Masoli or Jacory Harris, as starter Zach Collaros is done for the year and primary backup Jeff Mathews is battling a concussion. Even if Mathews did start, the inexperience narrative would still be in play, as he's in his first CFL season, but he's performed well so far (likely aided by playing for Hamilton head coach/general manager Kent Austin and offensive coordinator Tommy Condell in college at Cornell) and has 1,458 passing yards this season. By contrast, Masoli has been in the league for four years (first with Edmonton in 2012, then with Hamilton from 2013 on), but only has 453 passing yards to date in his career, and Harris has been in the league for three years (also first with Edmonton; he's played for the Ticats for the last two years), but only has 160 career passing yards, with 41 of those coming this week. Regardless of which one of them's under centre in Sunday's playoff clash,  they'll be at a substantial experience disadvantage compared to Ray.

There's also a notable experience difference in the West, and that's thanks to B.C. likely using rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings. Jennings has performed well this season with 2,004 passing yards, 15 touchdowns against 10 interceptions and a 66.0 per cent completion rate, but he's going up against a more experienced pivot. That would be Calgary's Bo Levi Mitchell. The 25-year-old Mitchell isn't much older than the 23-year-old Jennings, but he's done much more in the CFL; he's played for the Stampeders since 2012, became their unquestioned starter in 2014, and won both a Grey Cup and a Grey Cup Most Outstanding Player award last year. Mitchell has been great this season, too, throwing for 4,551 yards and 26 touchdowns against 13 interceptions with a 65.6 per cent completion rate. He has 9,264 CFL career passing yards, which gives him a big edge over Jennings' 2,004.

Of course, having the more experienced quarterback doesn't always lead to wins (quarterback wins are problematic in general), and that may especially be true in the East. Hamilton has generally been a stronger team than Toronto this year, posting a +139 point differential against a -61 one, and the Ticats went 3-0 against the Argonauts as well. Moreover, Ray has only recently returned to action, so there's a question of his rust as well. Out west, too, the Stampeders can't afford to take the Lions lightly; despite their poor overall record, they've been quite dominant at times, but have just had issues sustaining that dominance. There's more to the game than just the quarterbacks, but pivots are an essential part of the game. This coming Sunday, we'll see if Ray and Mitchell can use their experience to their advantage, or if younger upstarts like Masoli and Jennings will be able to knock them off.