The SEC took a big step forward yesterday when commissioner Greg Sankey announced that the member ADs voted to play conference games during the second-to-last week of the regular season, ending the "cupcake week" where we saw exciting matchups like Auburn putting it all on the line against mighty Mercer and Georgia locking horns with 1-11 Charlotte. This is a step forward for the conference, which has taken a lot of criticism, and rightfully so, over the past few decades.
But Florida is just wondering what took the rest of the conference so long, because the Gators got rid of cupcake week a long time ago.
Sankey announces “the end of cupcake weekend.” SEC football teams will schedule conference games in the penultimate regular season weekend instead of FCS and other low—major opponents. Starting 2027.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) May 26, 2026
That eliminates one persistent criticism from other leagues of SEC scheduling
SEC decides to end "cupcake week" eight years after Florida did
Many SEC teams are actually not doing cupcake week this year and have conference games on the schedule instead. LSU is playing Tennessee. Georgia will be on the road at South Carolina and, of course, the Gators are hosting Vanderbilt. Others are going to ride out the cupcake week for as long as they can, like Alabama, who will play Chattanooga, and Auburn, who will get fat on Samford, but those games aren't as widespread on the schedule as in years past.
As for Florida's experience with the cupcake week, it ended in 2018 when the Gators smoked Idaho, 63-10. Since then, the Gators' penultimate week has had the following opponents:
- 2019 at Missouri (W, 23-6, Florida actually had a bye during the official cupcake week)
- 2020 at Tennessee (W, 31-19, this was COVID-19 season, so everything was a little weird)
- 2021 at Missouri (L, 24-23)
- 2022 at Vanderbilt (L, 31-24)
- 2023 at No. 9 Missouri (L, 33-31)
- 2024 No. 9 Ole Miss (W, 24-17)
- 2025 No. 20 Tennessee (L, 31-11)
How's that for a cupcake schedule? Seven conference opponents, three top-25 opponents and five road games.
The end of the SEC's cupcake week is good for everyone
Things are rapidly continuing to change in college football. All the transactional things (NIL, transfer portal, etc.) have forced a lot of adjustments across the board. Fans want more for their dollars, TV partners want more for their dollars and the easiest way to accomplish this is with a nine-game conference schedule. I'm sure coaches liked having that gap week before rivalry week because it allows them to empty the benches, and it serves as a chance to get a head start on prep for the rivalry.
But as a fan, these games stunk, and they always felt like a relic of college football past. There's no reason for the teams to need a walkthrough game in mid-November. That's what the first few weeks of the season are for. I personally hate any FBS vs. FCS game, but I understand that it's probably a good financial situation for the FCS program and if it happens in the first week or two of September, no big deal. Overall, it's good to see the SEC deciding to make this change official, but it won't affect Florida because the Gators were already there.
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