Georgia gets the privilege this weekend of watching the first round of the College Football Playoff while knowing it has a bye into the quarterfinal round.
The most important game for UGA fans to see this weekend is the one Saturday afternoon between Tulane and Ole Miss because the winner advances to play the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.
How much will the Rebels miss Lane Kiffin? They will almost certainly miss him some, but what we don’t know is if his absence will be felt enough to be noticed.
Later that night, Oregon, like Ole Miss, will be a big favorite against James Madison. Will both these games go as experts see them with the home teams coasting to an easy win, or is there a chance we get some drama to hold our attention?
We’ll have to wait to see.
Speaking of drama, there should be plenty with the other two games. Alabama, fresh off its SEC championship loss to Georgia, goes on the road to Oklahoma — a team that beat it last month. The best unit in this game is probably the Sooners defense, but the Crimson Tide has the firepower to put up points. This one should be fun.
The same can be said for Miami at Texas A&M. Carson Beck went to the Hurricanes with hopes of rewriting his narrative. A strong performance on a big stage would help him do that.
Either way, it should be fun to watch, so enjoy the weekend and check out the rest of our coverage below.
Trivia time
How many times has Kirby Smart made the College Football Playoff in his 10 seasons at Georgia?
Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Will Muschamp returns to on-field coaching as Texas defensive coordinator
Will Muschamp is returning to the coaching sidelines. And he’ll be doing so for a different SEC program.
Texas announced that it would be parting ways with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and hiring Muschamp, who had worked with Georgia in an unspecified off-field role this season.
Muschamp was an analyst at Georgia in 2024 and had joined the program in 2021. He served in a variety of different roles at Georgia, including as the team’s co-defensive coordinator for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
In the three seasons that Muschamp was an on-field coach for the Bulldogs, Georgia went 42-2. In 2024, Muschamp moved to an analyst role, in part so he could spend more time around his family following the 2023 season. He was present at Georgia’s 2024 SEC championship game, which came against Texas.
Muschamp was not listed as an official coach on Georgia’s 2025 coaching roster but Smart clarified he would still be involved at the 2025 SEC Media Days.
“Yeah, Will’s still going to be with us and helping us in some capacity,” Smart said. “That didn’t come from me. So he’ll be doing some stuff with us.”
CFB weekly bowl results
Final
- L.A. Bowl: Washington over Boise State, 38-10
- Salute to Veterans Bowl: Jacksonville State over Troy, 17-13
- StaffDNA Cure Bowl: Old Dominion over South Florida, 24-10
- 68 Ventures Bowl: Delaware over Louisiana, 20-13
- Xbox Bowl: Arkansas State over Missouri State, 34-28
Friday
- Myrtle Beach Bowl: Kennesaw State vs. Western Michigan, 11 a.m.
- Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Memphis vs. NC State, 2:30 p.m.
- CFP First Round: Alabama at Oklahoma, 8 p.m.
Saturday
- CFP First Round: Miami at Texas A&M, noon
- CFP First Round: Tulane at Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m.
- CFP First Round: James Madison at Oregon, 7:30 p.m.
Smart ‘didn’t even fathom’ that Zachariah Branch would end up at Georgia
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch has been everything Smart could’ve hoped for when the Bulldogs landed him out of the transfer portal.
He leads Georgia in receptions (73), receiving yards (744) and touchdowns (5) this season. He needs just four receptions to set the school’s single-season receiving record. If Georgia goes on a lengthy College Football Playoff run, he could become the school’s second 1,000-yard receiver.
Yet there was an area where Branch really surprised his head coach.
“His work ethic. I knew the perception,” Smart told David Pollack on an episode of “See Ball, Get Ball.” “I knew when you came out, you were a 5-star, you were really fast, and there was a lot of hype. Because even Andrew (Smart) would bring tape of him. ‘Dad, look at this guy, look at this guy, this guy’s the best punt returner in the country, the best kick returner.’ I’m like, who is that? And he would talk about the Branch brothers. I didn’t ever fathom them ending up at the University of Georgia.”
Branch was the No. 1 ranked wide receiver in the 2023 recruiting cycle but he had failed to really pop in USC’s crowded wide receiver room. He caught 47 passes for 503 yards last season for a middling USC team.
A change of scenery helped unleash Branch, who has become Gunner Stockton’s favorite target.
Photo of the day
Quote of the day
Muschamp’s statement on taking the Texas defensive coordinator job:
“We loved our time in Austin and truly enjoyed everything about working with Texas Football. We’re thrilled to be coming back to a program with one of the richest and proudest histories and traditions in college football. With what Coach Sark has done in rebuilding this program — knowing there are even better days ahead — I was fired up for the opportunity.”
Young Georgia fan goes viral for refusing to sing ‘Rocky Top’ at school concert
College football rivalries run deep. So deep that they even start in elementary school.
A young Georgia fan has gone viral for refusing to sing along to Tennessee’s fight song “Rocky Top” during a school concert.
Multiple times during the video, the young Georgia fan can be seen shaking his head, likely brushing off encouragement to join in with his classmates.
As the song concludes, the young fan appears to let out a boo, as if he had not already made clear his disdain for the iconic Tennessee song.
Use the link below to watch the video.
Trivia answer
Five
