It’s a bad weekend for SEC football.

Bad for the fans. Bad for the game. Bad for the perception of the conference.

Idaho-Auburn. Florida Atlantic-Florida. Georgia Southern-Georgia. Charlotte-Kentucky.

Cupcakes and home cooking. Could it get any easier?

It can. And for Alabama and South Carolina it will, with FCS opponents coming to town. The Gamecocks will welcome The Citadel to Columbia for the favor of a win, while the second-ranked Crimson Tide will roll out the red carpet in Tuscaloosa for Charleston Southern and a glorified, all expenses paid week off.

It’s 2015, the playoff is in full swing, and we’re left with this. While the Big 12 and other conferences feature backloaded schedules with compelling games in November, much of the SEC appears to be taking Saturday off.

Alabama, seen here against Western Carolina in 2014, has had an FCS opponent on its schedule since 2009. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Since 2010, Power 5 schools have combined to go 295-15 vs. FCS opponents. That 95.2 win percentage is as close to a gimme as it gets. So what’s the point?

Proponents of so-called “money games” argue that it’s an opportunity to spread the wealth. According to documents obtained by ESPN, Middle Tennessee State, a Group of 5 school, was paid $1.5 million by Alabama for their game in September. That’s a significant number when you consider that MTSU’s entire athletic budget is approximately $27 million, according to athletic director Chris Massaro.

“They need these paydays to continue their programs,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

But when did major college football stop being a for-profit business? No one was seen donating money to UAB when it briefly disbanded its football program late last year.

This issue isn’t solely about helping others. It’s an opportunity for the schools to make money, too, whether that’s ticket sales, concessions or TV revenue. Getting another check in the win column doesn’t hurt.

FCS games are a scheduling mechanism, not a charity drive.

The Big Ten and Big 12 tend to play FCS schools early as tuneups for conference play. Much of the SEC, meanwhile, pushes FCS games back to create what amounts to a second bye week before the regular season finale. From 2010-14, the SEC played 28 FCS opponents in November. The next closest Power 5 conference was the ACC with two such games.

The timing could be an issue when it comes to the perception of the league’s strength of schedule. While the College Football Playoff selection committee tunes in to Baylor-Oklahoma State and TCU-Oklahoma on Saturday, it’s hard to imagine them keeping a watchful eye on Alabama-Charleston Southern and Florida-Florida Atlantic.

Bill Hancock, executive director of the playoff, said in an email that FCS games “don’t complicate things more than any other game.”

“The committee always factors in the opponents -- including FCS opponents,” he wrote. “Obviously, an FCS opponent usually drags down a team’s schedule strength in comparison with other teams that have not played FCS teams.”

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the timing of the FCS games shouldn’t matter.

“The level of football played in this conference every week is at the highest possible level in all of college football,” Sankey told ESPN.com. “And I do not think it’s appropriate to reduce to one event an evaluation on an entire season’s body of work.

“The opposite of that is I can go back to other conference schedule’s and look at what’s front-loaded from a lesser game. So does a Wisconsin game against Alabama mean more or less the first week of the season? No, that’s a game that’s played in the 2015 college football season of great rigor and substance.”

Sankey said the conference “is not standing in the way” of teams playing only FBS opponents, while also acknowledging what he described as the “realities” of scheduling, including the difficulties of planning many years in advance and convincing schools to engage in home-and-home series.

As the former commissioner of the Southland Conference, Sankey said he fought for one FCS game per year to count toward bowl eligibility.

“I thought that was healthy for the game then,” he said. “I tend to think it can be healthy for the game now.”

Some of the coaches in his conference might disagree.

Alabama coach Nick Saban has been a vocal proponent of Power 5 schools playing only other Power 5 schools.

"There would be more games of interest and people would be more excited about coming to the games," he said. "The competition would be actually better for the players. And I think it would give you a little better idea of who the best teams were.”

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, who cited the playoff when saying he’d love to see greater uniformity in scheduling across college football, proposed something similar to a Big Ten/SEC Challenge where the conferences agreed to play one another one weekend during the season.

Said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops: “I don't know if you could pull it off because there could be a lot of different opinions.”

Because it’s difficult does it mean that it’s not worth trying?

Under it’s new “strength of schedule commitment,” the Big Ten will require schedules to include nine conference games, one Power 5 nonconference opponent and no games outside the FBS starting in 2016.

While Sankey said he’s looking forward to the SEC’s required Power 5 nonconference game in 2016, he stopped short of any sort of a mandate against scheduling FCS opponents.

But if teams are truly struggling to find FBS opponents to fill out there schedules, here's an idea: Don’t. Where is it written that teams must play 12 regular-season games? These FCS matchups are glorified bye weeks anyway. So why not just have a second open date and lose the six-win requirement for bowl eligibility? Schools would lose revenue, but at least they’d be able to make a legitimate claim that they’re concerned about player safety. That and fans wouldn’t be subject to the mockery of a paid exhibition.

The chances of that happening are slim to none, granted. But while we all snooze through the SEC slate this Saturday, one can dream.