Shi Davidi, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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HAMILTON - Back on its own after being paired with the Grey Cup in Toronto last year, the Vanier Cup returns to Hamilton on Saturday before heading off into an uncertain future.

No one has bid for the rights to Canadian university football's championship game in 2009 and 2010, leaving the marquee event without a host or a home. Determining a course of action for the historic contest will be atop the agenda when the Canadian Interuniversity Sport gathers for board and bid selection meetings in Ottawa on Dec 1-2, with a host of options under consideration right now.

The Vanier Cup, which began in 1965, is in need of a long-term vision.

"I think it's actually a great opportunity for the CIS to take greater control," Peter Metuzals, the CIS marketing director and a point man for the Vanier Cup, said Wednesday. "It's not something that maybe our membership likes, but I think we've always looked at the Vanier Cup as a great event, a great property and it's risky for a member, an association to take control of it.

"This way the CIS can look at where they want to go, look at the best market, the best opportunity and maybe create something that's going to suit our needs."

The Ontario conference has held the rights to the Vanier Cup in recent years and the game has tried a handful of different sites seeking out the right balance between fan interest and financial opportunity. The game moved from Toronto's Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) to Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium in 2004 and '05, before heading to Saskatoon's Griffiths Stadium in 2006.

In 2007 a partnership with the CFL during Grey Cup week was attempted and while both sides were relatively happy with the results - Manitoba's 28-14 victory over Saint Mary's 28-14 drew a crowd of 26,787 to the Rogers Centre, the Vanier's largest audience since 29,178 took in Calgary's 54-24 win over Western in 1995 - there were enough issues to keep them from partnering up again right away.

This year's game was shifted back to Hamilton - despite a strong push to bring the game to Quebec City made by the Laval Rouge et Or, who play the Western Mustangs for the title Saturday (2 p.m. ET) - and there's no obvious path to take afterwards.

"We sometimes have difficulty in establishing the right place, right locale," admitted Metuzals.

Some ideas that have been floating around for next year include staging the game in Montreal, or a return to Hamilton. Talks on pairing up with the Grey Cup again, this time in Calgary, were shelved quickly over issues such as signage, field access and dressing rooms.

"I'd never say never, but right now it doesn't appear we'll be able to do it in 2009," said Michael Copeland, the CFL's chief operating officer. "It was a good event last year, we were very happy with it, but there are several pertinent issues that would have to be worked out.

"There's no clear-cut answer right now of how to resolve those issues."

The Rouge et Or have flirted with the idea of making a late bid for 2009, but some bad feelings would have to be soothed over for that to happen.

"I'm still bitter because this Vanier Cup should be played in Quebec City," said Laval head coach Glen Constantin. "We had an outstanding bid, not a financial bid but a very positive experience for kids, like they were going to a real bowl game.

"It put things on hold for me because I'm still bitter about this game."

As always, there's a variety of opinion on what direction makes the most sense.

Western head coach Greg Marshall thought last year's pairing with the Grey Cup worked well and would like to see it happen again.

Constantin would not.

"Personally, I thought the game got lost," he said. "I didn't see any CIS signage, financially it probably made a lot of sense ... but do you see the Super Bowl with the Rose Bowl? It takes away from it for me."

Rouge et Or quarterback Benoit Groulx thinks pairing it with the Grey Cup this year in Montreal would have made more sense. Planning began too late for that to happen, with Grey Cup ticket packages announced before a link could be established.

"It would be amazing for us to play in front of 50,000 people in Montreal," said Groulx. "I thought it was a great idea for players to play in front of a big crowd like that for the championship. It would have been nice."

Western Mustangs safety Matt Carapella, on the other hand, likes seeing the CIS doing its own thing.

"I like it being here in Hamilton," he said. "Being in the SkyDome would seem like it's playing baseball or something. I like being outside, players have to toughen up, survive the elements and that it focuses on CIS football, not a joint effort between the CFL and us."

Either way, the CIS has some tough choices to make for the game's future.

"Yeah, we're looking for the right formula, the right date, the right location," said Metuzals. "But we're also looking to see maybe what we should just focus on, rather than letting other people dictate, we focus on what we want to do and what's best thing for the Vanier Cup."