Georgia will face Ole Miss again this season in the 91st edition of the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The rematch between the two SEC teams was finalized following the Rebels’ 41-10 victory over Tulane on Dec. 20, in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
The Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed in the CFP and entered this year’s competition with a first-round bye, alongside No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 4 Texas Tech.
Georgia and Ole Miss previously faced off in Sanford Stadium during the regular season on Oct. 18. The Bulldogs triumphed over the Rebels 43-35 after a dominant effort in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels’ first CFP title run takes place just weeks after the program promoted former defensive coordinator Pete Golding as head coach, following Lane Kiffin’s departure to LSU.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shared his thoughts on the upcoming game during a Dec. 22 press conference via Zoom. He said the outcome of the rematch will be determined solely by his team’s performance.
“There are all kinds of things to figure out, and it really has very little to do with the time before you played them,” Smart said. “Everybody is going to watch the time before you played them because you’ve got to look at the matchups, but I don’t think either team is exactly the same. Both teams have evolved some, and everybody will have new wrinkles.”
The Bulldogs’ Jan. 1 matchup with the Rebels will mark nearly four weeks since they last took the field for competition in the SEC Championship against Alabama.
Smart believes the time on break was “good for the team,” despite not having a confirmed opponent until recently.
“Our coaches did a tremendous job of looking through college football, finding different ideas, and people that are doing things well in different areas; they studied some different teams and got to look at teams that are doing well in their specific area,” Smart said. “We got a lot of reps and a lot of work on young players developing. Some guys are going to have to step up and be able to play for us.”
Georgia’s quarterfinal appearance marks the program’s second consecutive trip to the Allstate Sugar Bowl and Caesars Superdome. Last January, the Bulldogs fell to Notre Dame, ending the 2024 season.
Smart said the matchup with the Rebels will not correlate with last year’s outcome, as the Rebels are a “very different team” this time around.
Georgia and Ole Miss’ New Year’s Day match will kick off at 8 p.m. EST. The winner will advance to the CFP semifinals, VRBO Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m., to play either Ohio State or Miami of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.