This may surprise you, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the second-most popular CFL team in Canada, based on Google searches.

“With the 100th Grey Cup Festival upon us, we wanted to see which team Canadians had gained popularity in Google searches throughout 2012,” said a Google statement released Thursday. “With the Argos facing off against the Alouettes in the Eastern conference and the Lions tackling the Stampeders in the West, it will be interesting to see if searches for teams are any indication of who may take the (Grey Cup) this year.”

Here are the results of Canada’s favourite CFL teams by volume of searches on Google.ca in 2012:

1. B.C. Lions

2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers

3. Saskatchewan Roughriders

4. Edmonton Eskimos

5.Calgary Stampeders

6. Toronto Argonauts

7. Montreal Alouettes

8. Hamilton Tiger-cats

Comparing the Argos vs. the Alouettes, the average search for the Alouettes is 54% higher over the past 30 days.

The Lions are the defending champions.

The Bombers, of course, failed to make the playoffs.