3 reasons so-called ‘cupcake games’ are good for college football

1. The chance for upset alerts always gives cupcake games a bite

Many people talk about wanting only to see the best teams play against one another. But one of the most fun parts of a college football Saturday during the fall is watching to see who might suffer an upset. Without major underdogs, that thrill would be largely absent from the weekly calendar of games.

Sure, there would still be opportunities to see cellar dwellers beat conference opponents. But while a team like Iowa State can certainly spring surprises and threaten the top teams in their league, it doesn’t have quite the same impact as a Group of Five upset.

One of the biggest shockers of 2017 was Troy’s takedown of LSU in Baton Rouge. The Trojans sprung the upset on the Tigers and helped bolster the Sun Belt’s profile as a result. Were the SEC to prohibit its teams from scheduling such games, it would save itself the embarrassment of such results. But it would also make college football a little more sanitized and a little less mystical.

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Ultimately, all college football games provide an opportunity to extrapolate perspective about the relative strength of teams across the country. It is foolhardy to denigrate and dismiss these so-called cupcake games on face value. These games provide a lifeline for the very programs whose existence helps fortify the depth within the sport, and offer opportunities for real excitement to transpire.