SEC eliminates November ‘cupcake weekend’

Rejoice, college football fans. The SEC’s November “cupcake weekend” is coming to an end.

Yes, after many years of top SEC teams scheduling FCS or low-tier FBS schools in the penultimate week of the regular season, the conference is doing away with the practice, according to Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports. During its spring meetings this week in Florida, SEC athletic directors voted to require intraconference games during the second-to-last week of the regular season, eliminating the practice of many teams who would schedule inferior opponents the week prior to a big rivalry game. The strategic scheduling often led to a glut of poor matchups during a key portion of the season.

The end of “cupcake weekend” was expected following the SEC’s move to expand its conference schedule from eight games to nine this upcoming season. The practice of scheduling inferior opponents in the second-to-last week will officially be phased out in 2027. This year, four such games will occur.

Over the past three seasons, the SEC played a total of 17 nonconference games and 13 conference games during the week in question, which has watered down the television product at a time when the conference should be building momentum for critical rivalry games, the conference championship, and bowl season. As Marcello notes, the Big Ten did not play any nonconference games during the penultimate week of the regular season throughout the last three years.

The shift away from these games should be welcomed by fans who have long been frustrated by these nothing-burger games being played so late in the season. ESPN, the SEC’s media partner, should also be pleased with the move, as it’ll have many more quality games to choose from that week.