Georgia is returning to the College Football Playoff after defeating Texas in the 2024 SEC Championship game.
In the first season of a new 12-team format, the CFP committee named the Bulldogs the No. 2 seed behind Oregon.
Georgia also earned a first-round bye as one of the highest-ranked conference champions this year. On Jan. 1, 2025, Georgia will head to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs will face Notre Dame or Indiana. The No. 7 Fighting Irish and No. 10 Hoosiers will play in the first round of the CFP on Dec. 20.
“We are super excited. We’ve got great connections down there, a lot of friends, and guys we’ve met over the years of playing there in the Sugar Bowl,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “We’re excited. Obviously, we don’t know our opponent yet, but we’ve got a lot of time to work on ourselves and try to get better.”
Georgia safety Malaki Starks echoed Smart’s sentiments.
“I was just excited. We’ve put in so much work to be in the position. I know the guys are excited,” Starks said. “Everybody [doesn’t] think we’re supposed to be here. [At the] beginning of the year, when things weren’t going our way, people doubted us. Even last night, people doubted us and said we shouldn’t be here. Just for us to be where we are and realize we have a shot and hold our own destiny; I think that’s huge.”
The bye is much needed for a banged-up Georgia team. The Bulldogs could be without starting quarterback Carson Beck for the rest of the season.
Beck sustained a UCL injury against Texas on Saturday night.
Backup quarterback Gunner Stockton replaced Beck and helped lead the team to victory. The Bulldogs and Stockton, a redshirt sophomore, have about three weeks to prepare for whichever team they will face in the Sugar Bowl.
Smart said the bye would benefit Stockton if Beck couldn’t play, and his teammates support him.
“I certainly think there’s no good script for losing a quarterback or having to go to your backup. There’s not a great script for it.
Right?” Smart said of his current quarterback situation. “It certainly wasn’t a great script last night to have to do it against the number-one team in the country on defense, and to have to do that at halftime was tough. But this situation does give you time if that’s what has to happen. I mean, there is time there.
“But,” Smart added. “Experience is so valuable, and you can’t really get experience in this amount of time.”
Regardless, Georgia will face either Notre Dame or Indiana on Jan. 1 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.