March Madness (Canada's version) is here

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The NCAA basketball tournaments are still two weeks away. But Canada's version of March Madness tips off Thursday with the opening round of the U Sports women's Final 8 in Edmonton. The men get started Friday in Quebec City.

Yes, the Canadian university championships are dwarfed by their 68-team American counterparts in terms of viewership, broadcast-rights money and office gambling pools. But they're quality tournaments in their own right, using the same single-elimination bracket format that generates so much excitement in the States.

Here's more about them:

Women's

All signs point to a Saskatchewan-Carleton showdown for the Bronze Baby trophy on Sunday night in Edmonton.

Carleton, the defending national champion, finished the regular season 21-1 to clip Saskatchewan for the top spot in the final rankings last month. The Ravens then took care of business in the Ontario conference playoffs, culminating with their 63-55 win over national No. 3 Queen's in the Critelli Cup final on Saturday.

But Saskatchewan stole the No. 1 seed for the national championship tournament with a more dominant playoff run. Coming off a 19-1 regular season, the Huskies mowed through their three Canada West foes by an average of 26 points, including a 73-42 smothering of No. 8 Alberta in the conference title game.

Anything can happen in a single-elimination bracket, but it would take a big upset to knock either of these teams out before the final. Saskatchewan has the highest scoring and most efficient offence in the country while also ranking in the top three defensively. Carleton is second