It's That Time Of Year: SEC Football Cupcake Weekend Is Back And Better Than Ever

We're officially in late-November, which means it's time for that most time-honored of college football traditions: the SEC scheduling its cupcake weekend.

Every year, for years on end, the weekend before Thanksgiving, the SEC seamlessly shifts from playing conference games against signature opponents to playing high school quality teams. And every year, everyone acts as though this doesn't give the teams that engage in this tradition a gigantic advantage over those who are playing a normal schedule.

This year is no exception, and it's going to carry significant weight for the SEC teams who give themselves an effective bye week ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry games.

For example, the No. 15 USC Trojans head to Eugene to play the No. 7 Oregon Ducks on the road. The Miami Hurricanes, fighting for their College Football Playoff lives are playing a conference road game at Virginia Tech. No. 18 Michigan has a tricky conference road game at Maryland. Utah hosts Kansas State. Illinois travels to play Wisconsin. No. 11 BYU has a major test in an unfamiliar game on the road at Cincinnati. And while not every SEC program is playing a high school team, a significant number of teams have given themselves a built-in bye while others play 50-50 or 60-40 games instead.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M Aggies safety Dalton Brooks (25) reacts after an interception during the second quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Kyle Field on Nov. 15, 2025. Photo: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

It Just Means More To Play Cupcake Opponents

Here's a list of some of the marquee matchups that signature SEC teams have scheduled for themselves on Saturday: 

• Samford at Texas A&M
• Charlotte at Georgia
• Eastern Illinois at Alabama
• Mercer at Auburn
• Coastal Carolina at South Carolina
• Western Kentucky at LSU

Samford. Charlotte. Eastern Illinois. Mercer. Coastal Carolina. Western Kentucky. Every single game, at the SEC team's home stadium. In 2024, on this same weekend, Georgia scheduled UMass. Tennessee played UTEP. Arkansas played Louisiana Tech. South Carolina had Wofford. It doesn't get any more obvious or more egregious. 

To be fair, there are also four conference games this weekend that carry much more weight:

• Missouri at Oklahoma
• Tennessee at Florida
• Arkansas at Texas
• Kentucky at Vanderbilt

ACC-based Clemson has also engaged in this scheduling malpractice, giving themselves a home game against Furman this weekend. It's not just the SEC. But the SEC started this trend and continues to dominate it. And it's increasingly embarrassing. 

The benefits here are not just that big programs like A&M, Georgia, Alabama and so on have given themselves a free win. All the SEC teams use the fourth non-conference game to give themselves that free win. But the timing of it is extremely advantageous. While other programs are on road trips, in games with more uncertainty, they're able to rest key players, rest starters, stay home, and give themselves more time to prepare for rivalry weekend. 

USC is traveling nearly 900 miles to play in Oregon, before playing a rivalry game against UCLA back in LA next weekend. Michigan has to play in Maryland before their big rivalry game against Ohio State in Ann Arbor. Miami finishes their season with back-to-back road games in Virginia and Pittsburgh. 

Those programs can't rest their players after a quarter or two. They're not staying home, after a schedule that already features much less travel than other conferences, ahead of another big game. They're not able to give themselves a third bye week, a stress-free contest where the outcome is predetermined. It's all of it combined, at this time of year, that makes it so obnoxious. They won't be punished by poll voters for playing a close game on the road, like some other teams will. And they're often rewarded for a win, as if that weren't a foregone conclusion.

Does this mean SEC teams don't play tough schedules? Of course not. Alabama's played the 10th toughest schedule in the country this season, per ESPN's SP+. Georgia is 20th and Texas A&M is 24th. But it's an unfair advantage over the teams that aren't afforded this opportunity. 

Maybe with the SEC moving to nine conference games, the free late season bye week will come to an end. Until then, however, it's cupcake weekend. And it's embarrassing.