The CFL still matters, and we’ve got the online betting market to prove it.

It’s been a long time since the CFL’s heyday in the late seventies, when crowds of over 50,000 were showing up at Montreal or Toronto. Since then, the spread of cable television has drawn eyeballs, revenue and talent away to the NFL, and to other pastimes. The CFL is still the second football fiddle in North America with enough cachet to draw about 30,000 for a typical game and more for the postseason – which is where we’re at right now.

Business is brisk at the start of the season during the summer, while the NFL is still dormant, and it picks up again for the postseason. Make sure to visit Bodog Sports for this weekend’s football odds; we’re at the “Division final” stage with four teams left in contention for the Grey Cup, which is celebrating its 100th year of existence.

The first semifinal on Sunday features Montreal hosting British Columbia. The Alouettes were the top team in the league during the regular season at 15-3. The Lions finished last in the four-team West at 8-10, but that was good enough to get into the playoffs, and they beat the 9-9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 34-27 in overtime this past Sunday to advance to the next round. Montreal earned the bye week as the top seed in the East.

Montreal can lay claim to being the best team of the 2000s in the CFL, reaching the Grey Cup six times and winning once in 2002. The one constant has been quarterback Anthony Calvillo, a former Utah State standout who has been in the CFL since 1994 and in Montreal since 1998. He was last year’s Most Outstanding Player for the second time, and he’s in line to win his third after throwing a league-best 26 TD passes with just six interceptions.

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BC has also been blessed with excellent quarterbacks this past decade, reaching the Grey Cup three times and winning twice, most recently beating the Alouettes in 2006. But the QB position has been something of a revolving door due to injuries and the lure of playing (or at least holding a clipboard) in the NFL. The man under center this Sunday will be Casey Printers, the 2004 league MOP. Printers was inactive this year before signing with the Lions in October; he looked like his old self against Hamilton, going 24-for-35 for 360 yards and one touchdown. Printers gives the Lions a puncher’s chance this Sunday in Montreal, but B.C.’s porous offensive line is likely to get flooded by the Alouettes defense.

The second game of Sunday's double-header is the West final between the Stampeders and the Roughriders from Saskatchewan. The two clubs finished the regular season with identical records of 10-7-1. Saskatchewan earned the No. 1 seed by beating Calgary twice and tying once. Calgary advanced by downing the 9-9 Edmonton Eskimos 24-21 on Sunday.

The Roughriders have enjoyed three straight winning seasons since hiring Eric Tillman as their GM, including a Grey Cup win in 2007 – their first since 1989 and only their third since joining the league in 1910. This year’s team isn’t overflowing with talent, but there are no glaring weaknesses either. The advantage on special teams is huge – even more important in the CFL with all that extra room to roam.

Calgary, on the other hand, are an all-for-nothing proposition. Their defense is vulnerable, and on offense, they have the erratic QB Henry Burris, who has been in the league since 1998. Burris threw 22 TD passes this year, but also 16 interceptions. Complementing Burris at running back is MOP candidate Joffrey Reynolds (1,504 rushing yards), who gives Calgary stability on offense and a chance to win any matchup.

It’s a tough call in the West, but we’ll predict the rested Roughriders advance for the right to lose to the Alouettes in the Grey Cup. This year’s title game will be held Nov. 29 in Calgary, with TSN providing television coverage.

Be sure to check out all the CFL ODDS at Bodog.com!