SEC Football: What We Saw, What We’ll See in Week 12-13

WHAT WE SAW: A SLEW OF CUPCAKES

The only other conference games on the 19th saw Arkansas manhandle Mississippi State, Tennessee take its aggression out on Missouri, and Vanderbilt smash Ole Miss. However, the week before thanksgiving could be called “Cupcake Saturday” for the bevy of games between SEC teams and FCS or Group of Five squads in recent years.

These games are a polarizing issue for fans,  with detractors arguing that easy wins diminish the quality of a team’s record and are embarrassing for the often heavily outmatched opponent, while supporters defend these games on the grounds that the major schools pay big money to these underfunded programs for playing these games, and the importance of having as few losses as possible in the chase for a national title.

Occasionally, as seen in the 2013 Florida-Georgia Southern game and the 2015 South Carolina-Citadel match, the “cupcake” may taste sour, as the Gators and Gamecocks were beaten by their small-time foes in those tilts.

While some conferences discourage, or in the Big Ten’s case, disallow future scheduling of these programs, they do benefit the small budget schools involved.

The 19th saw  Alabama put down UT-Chattanooga, Kentucky and South Carolina both gain bowl eligibility with wins over Austin Peay and Western Carolina,respectively, while Georgia handled UL-Lafayette, and Auburn dismissed Alabama A&M. All five of these squads play major rivalry games next week, so scheduling lighter challenges could be a wise move.