SEC ADs vote to play conference games on penultimate week of regular season, ending ‘Cupcake Weekend’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Cupcake Weekend is no more.
At the SEC spring meetings on Tuesday, SEC athletics directors voted to begin playing conference games on the penultimate weekend of the regular season, a week where teams would largely schedule “cupcake” opponents to give their teams a rest before rivalry week, often one of the most important weekends of the regular season. The schedule change is set to take effect for the 2027 season.
“That’s the end of Cupcake Weekend,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said of the change.
Of course, the SEC is set to move to a 9-game schedule starting this coming season thanks to conference realignment and the ever-changing postseason format of the College Football Playoff. Expect just about every non-conference game moving forward to take place during the first 3 weeks of the regular season.
So, in reality, Cupcake Week isn’t so much dead — more like it’s looking for a new week to fall on. Teams still have little incentive to schedule tough non-conference games with the College Football Playoff sitting at 12 teams and talks of expansion gaining more and more momentum. Some coaches, such as Florida’s Jon Sumrall, advocated for expansion on Tuesday — and it seems unlikely that we’ll be sitting at 12 teams for much longer.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
