What happens if there's a three-way tie in the East?

While there are still plenty of remaining CFL playoff permutations with two weeks of the regular season to go (16 different combinations of results exist, with many of those producing different playoff seedings), most are relatively simple to analyze. There's one that isn't, though, and that's the chance of a three-way tie for first in the East. To get there, Hamilton and Toronto have to both lose to Ottawa and beat Montreal, leaving the Tiger-Cats, Argonauts and Alouettes all with 8-10 records. Two of those teams would then make the playoffs, and the third would be eliminated. Who would wind up where if this happened?

From the CFL.ca page on tiebreakers:

So, if we get this scenario, all three clubs have won the same amount of games against everyone (this would only not be the case in a season with games ending in a tie), so we move on to winning percentage in games played against the other tied clubs. To date, Toronto is 3-2 there (2-1 against Hamilton, 1-1 against Montreal), Montreal is 2-1 (1-1 against Toronto, 1-0 against Hamilton) and Hamilton is 1-3 (1-2 against Toronto, 0-1 against Montreal). If the season played out this way, Toronto and Hamilton both add a win over Montreal, making the final records between the clubs 4-2 (Toronto), 2-2 (Montreal) and 2-3 (Hamilton). That would eliminate the Tiger-Cats and put the Argonauts in first (from a head-to-head record win over Montreal once the tiebreaker restarts).

It's interesting that this is done by winning percentage rather than wins, as Hamilton would tie with Montreal in the latter category; their issue is that they played an extra game to Toronto and lost it. If this was done by wins, the Ticats and Alouettes would have a 1-1 record against each other, so it would go to points against each other. The Ticats lost the first game 38-31, so if they won against Montreal by more than seven, they'd get second. If they lost by more than seven, they'd get third. If they won by exactly seven, it would go to point quotient, which would mean that Hamilton would have to put up more than 38 points against the Alouettes to win that. That's all moot, though, as it looks like the Ticats would be knocked out by the first tiebreaker here.

Of course, this scenario is highly unlikely to happen. Ottawa has only won two games all season, and the Redblacks have nothing to play for. Expecting them to double their win total against teams with playoff berths on the line seems improbable. This is the CFL, though, and anything can happen in it. A three-way tie may not be all that likely, but it could be a potentially fascinating (and controversial) finish to this season.