Week 12 Preview: Cupcake Saturday

by Chris Paschal

Cupcake Saturday sounds like a theme for a bridal shower. I can see it now – “on Saturday, let’s all sit around, drink mimosas, eat cupcakes, and gossip about the groom.” When the words cupcake and Saturday are said, one does not normally think of SEC Football. But that’s exactly where the phrase originated from. Cupcake Saturday refers to the weekend before Rivalry Weekend in which programs like Alabama schedule small South Carolina private colleges. Charleston Southern, The Citadel, and eventually my alma mater, Wofford College, have all been selected or will be selected to travel to Tuscaloosa for the butt whoopin’ of the century.

This is just disrespectful. You mean my Alma Mater only as a .1% chance to beat Alabama this weekend….really @espn? We couldn't even get at least 1%? C'mon man…😀 That's alright, we are going to shock the world this weekend. Go Bulldogs!! pic.twitter.com/eD1tRMOayj

— Porter Johnson (@PorterJ40) November 15, 2018

It’s not just Alabama. Pretty much every SEC program participates in this yearly ritual. UMass is travelling to Athens, LSU is hosting Rice, and Liberty is visiting Auburn on the Plains, just to name a few. All of these games will be over by halftime. The second half of these games will include half-filled stadiums, backups trying to prove themselves, and scores that make you feel bad for the opponent.

Of course, all of these sacrificial lambs will be fairly compensated for their butt kicking. In fact, some of these smaller FCS programs are able to sustain their other athletic teams based solely on a fifty-point loss in Gainesville, Florida. Of course, these games don’t always go to plan. In 2015, The Citadel Bulldogs marched into Williams-Brice Stadium as Southern Conference Champions. To be fair, The Citadel was having one of its better seasons in recent memory. They had beaten their Upstate Rival, the Wofford Terriers, for the first time since 1998, they won the conference, and they had one of the best rushing attacks in the FCS. Further, South Carolina was having its worst season since the turn of the 21^st century. But come on, an SEC team would never lose to an FCS program, right? Wrong. The Citadel Bulldogs, behind the legs of Tyler Renew, a Columbia, South Carolina native who graduated from Ben Lippen, ran through, around, and at times, right over the Gamecocks. A long touchdown pass from Perry Orth was negated by a (suspect) too many men in the backfield call, ending South Carolina’s chances at surviving the in-state upset.

Image from The State.

Clemson struggled with Wofford in 2011. Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State a few years back in a thrilling double overtime showdown. Florida lost to Georgia Southern in 2013. It has been known to happen. But the prospect of a mighty SEC team falling to an FCS program is not enough to make this weekend worthwhile. For the most part, these games will be over by halftime, and the viewers will be asleep by the end of the game, balancing a beer on their stomach and a barbecue sandwich on their laps. This weekend will be one of the more boring slates of games any sport in any country will produce.

Is that a problem? Yes, sort of, but I get why teams do it, and as a graduate of a small FCS college, I understand the importance those games mean for the little guys. So, while the big boys in Birmingham and Indianapolis try and figure out what to do with Cupcake Saturday, I will sit there and try and watch non-SEC football this Saturday. I’ll probably fall asleep and dream about Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, and Rivalry Weekend.