We survived Cupcake Week.

If only we cared as much as Baker Mayfield, right? Wow. And, whoa. Where’s Coach Boone when you need him?

“You got anger (Baker), that’s good. You’re gonna need it. You got aggression, that’s even better. You’re gonna need that, too. But any little 2-year-old child can throw a fit! Football is about controlling that anger, harnessing that aggression into a team effort to achieve perfection!”

I’ll admit it. I completely took Cupcake Week for granted. I was first-half Miami. But thanks to Mayfield (and Coach Boone) I’m woke now, just in time to overreact to Week 12 in and around the SEC.

10. What happens if Gruden and Kelly spurn the SEC?

That’s been my prevailing thought for the past five days, as the #Grumors and Kelly-to-Gainesville reports gained steam and dominated the news cycle.

I understand contracts take time, but the longer this drags out, the more distraught both fan bases are going to be if it falls through.

If you’re looking for a sign, the monsoon that swallowed Knoxville last night probably is a pretty good place to start.

These searches have been so … public … right down to both ADs using Twitter to fuel/temper speculation.

Chip Kelly and Jon Gruden are the 5-star quarterbacks every program loves … right up until the second they decommit. Then all that love turns to hate.

https://twitter.com/calhouns/status/932050993788936192

At this point, I’m just waiting for the tweet: “Please respect my decision …”

It’s fascinating to watch from afar. But this is the same conference in which people take vacation days to attend Media Days, so I shouldn’t be the least bit surprised.

Parting thought: I’d hire Lane Kiffin over either of them.

9. A 14-point home win is supposed to impress me?

Wisconsin’s 24-10 home victory over No. 24 Michigan made a statement, all right.

The statement was: There’s no way the Badgers are beating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game.

Here’s my problem with Wisconsin: The Badgers’ offense stinks. Penn State put up 42 against this same Michigan defense.

Defense is fine and all, but it doesn’t win the Playoff.

In the 9 Playoff games, the winning team has topped 30 points eight times. It’s taken 35 or more to win each of the three championship games.

You have to be able to win a shootout against good defenses.

Better Big Ten offenses have been shut out in the past two Playoff semifinals. There is nothing about Wisconsin’s offense that suggests it’s capable of getting to 20 points against a Playoff team. And everything to suggest its opponent would soar north of 35.

8. You know it’s not your year when you do this and still lose in final seconds …

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/931982240061550592

Wacky, unconventional, fun yet flawed.

In other words, the perfect play to sum up Bret Bielema’s tenure at Arkansas.

7. Mark Richt proves again, these Canes aren’t recent Canes

Miami can sleepwalk through Saturdays with the best of them. It’s a Canes thing, except I do understand. I wrote Saturday morning that Virginia would set a rat trap.

Credit the Canes for winning by 16 after falling behind by 14, twice.

They’re doing this, by the way, without their best offensive player. They lost running back Mark Walton way back in October when you weren’t paying a bit of attention to them. Walton, who ran for 1,117 yards and 14 scores last year, was the ACC’s leading returning rusher among running backs.

6. Nick Saban is just a big ol’ teddy bear

Saban and … mushy? Are those two words even allowed in the same sentence? I have no idea how to process this. But it was sweet, endearing and sincere.

And no, doubt, he’ll get back to the butt-chewing, pronto.

5. I’m not positive, but I think they just took another shot at Mac’s offense …

There’s only one reason the punter sees the field.

In Johnny Townsend’s case, he really couldn’t have done this without the offense’s singular desire to stink for most of his career.

https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/932020001829244930

4. We’re going to miss Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and Ralph Webb

No need to overreact. They’re all great. And they’ve been great examples for four years on how to be a teammate first, star second.

Chubb topped 4,000 career yards several weeks ago … against Vanderbilt.

Webb joined him Saturday night. They’re just the eighth and ninth running backs in SEC history to reach that mark.

Michel isn’t terribly far behind, either. He won’t get to 4,000, but he’ll finish his career ranked in the top 20 all-time in the SEC.

3. Sorry, but Saturday didn’t change my mind on Georgia

The SEC’s only hope for two Playoff teams is for Georgia to knock off undefeated Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

Auburn might mess that up anyway by winning the Iron Bowl, but let’s focus on Georgia.

Georgia whipped Kentucky on Saturday. But Georgia whipped five other SEC East teams too before being thoroughly manhandled by Auburn.

I don’t overreact to scores and margins. Crazy stuff can happen, kids can tune out early, etc. But I do focus on the manner in which results are created.

Auburn’s victory over Georgia left bruises and scars. It was a fight, not a fluke.

Can Georgia hit a few big plays in the SEC title game? It’s possible. But there’s no reason to think the Dawgs are any closer to holding up in the trenches today than they were a week ago.

2. Was that really Baker Mayfield’s Heisman moment?

Dude, seriously?

According to its mission statement, “The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.”

I’m not real clear on where grabbing your crotch while hurling expletives at your opponent fits into that equation, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the pose you want to strike.

Come on, Baker. Kids are watching. You know this, because two of them refused to shake your hand before the game. Thank goodness you handled that situation more maturely.

Give Mayfield credit. Or, probably more precisely, the Oklahoma staff for setting him straight and trying to put out a Twitter firestorm and salvage his Heisman campaign.

“I got caught up in a competitive game, a chippy game, but what I did was unacceptable,” Mayfield told reporters after the game. “I apologize. It’s disrespectful. It’s not the example I want to set. It’s not the legacy I want to leave at OU. I truly do apologize. Thinking about the kids that are watching this now, it’s not something I want to do to the parents out there. I’m sorry.”

I can’t wait to coach youth football next year. I’m gonna have 8-year-olds wearing Turnover Chains and grabbing their crotch 5 minutes into the first quarter of the Jamboree. It’s gonna be awesome.

1. How the Playoff rankings should look Tuesday

Barring an upset, Week 12 wasn’t going to move the needle one way or another.

Everybody in the top 4 won by at least 16 points.

There’s no need for adjustments.

Last week’s top four will be this week’s top four: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Miami and No. 4 Oklahoma. Mayfield’s antics aside, I still like Oklahoma much more than the committee. Nobody’s stopping that offense.

But watch the Big Ten PR machine kick into overdrive today, trying to make the point that Wisconsin’s victory over a (soon-to-be-unranked) Michigan team should boost the Badgers into the Top 4 Tuesday.

It’s nonsense, but so are most of the things said about that league.

Talk to me if Wisconsin manages to win the Big Ten Championship. Until then, just worry about trying to hold onto the fifth spot.