The Southeastern Conference announced that, beginning with the 2027 season, it will no longer schedule what has long been called “cupcake” games in late November, opting instead to pit its members against each other during the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
The move is part of a broader shift to a nine‑game conference slate, a format already embraced by the Big Ten and Big 12, and is intended to give SEC teams a stronger résumé when the College Football Playoff committee evaluates them.
The End of a Tradition
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey acknowledged the change with a tongue‑in‑cheek comment, underscoring both the conference’s awareness of the practice and its desire to move beyond it.
For years the SEC has been criticized for filling those late‑November slots with matchups against comparatively weak opponents, often resulting in lopsided victories that some argued inflated win‑loss records without testing depth.
The 2026 campaign will represent the final edition of that tradition, after which every SEC program must schedule at least one non‑conference game against a power‑five opponent, a requirement designed to ensure more competitive balance.
Athletic directors across the league voted in favor of the change, citing the need to minimize scheduling conflicts and to give teams more meaningful games as the playoff era tightens its grip on postseason positioning.
The decision was first reported by The Athletic and subsequently covered by Sports Illustrated, highlighting the significance of the shift within the college football landscape.