No. 3 Georgia and No. 6 Mississippi brace for rematch in the Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal

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No. 3 Georgia (12-1, CFP No. 3 seed) vs. No. 6 Mississippi (12-1, CFP No. 6 seed), Thursday, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN)

BetMGM Sportsbook College Football Odds: Georgia by 6 1/2.

Series record: Georgia leads 33-13-1.

The winner moves on to a CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8. Georgia comes in on the heels of an SEC championship and one year after a loss to Notre Dame in a quarterfinal at the same bowl game. Now they'll try to beat Ole Miss a second time in one season. These two teams met in Athens on Oct. 18, with the Bulldogs winning 43-35. The was the Rebels' only loss. They earned a rematch by routing Tulane 41-10 in the opening round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, about three weeks after their coach for most of this season, Lane Kiffin, left for LSU and was replaced by former defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

Georgia tight end Lawson Luckie was a major matchup problem for the Ole Miss defense in the last meeting. He caught three TD passes from Bulldogs QB Gunner Stockton. Rebels linebackers and safeties will try to have a better plan this time for covering Luckie, who was a key safety valve for Stockton, particularly in the red zone. All three of Luckie's touchdowns came on snaps inside the Ole Miss 15-yard line.

Mississippi: QB Trinidad Chambliss has provided one of the most compelling story lines in all of college football this season. The transfer from Division II Ferris State began the season as a backup and performed so well as an early season injury replacement that he kept the starting job for the rest of the season. Along the way, the dual-threat QB has passed for 3,298 yards and 19 TDs to go with 506 yards and eight TDs rushing.

Georgia: Stockton also is a threat as both a passer and a runner, and improved throughout his first full year as the Bulldogs' starter. He's completed 70.7% of his passes this season for 2,691 yards and 23 TDs while also rushing for 442 yards and eight TDs.

The 50th meeting on the field between these SEC foes will be their first in the postseason. It'll also be the eighth time they've played when both were ranked, with the Bulldogs having won five of the previous seven such matchups. ... Georgia and Mississippi have never previously played twice in the same season. ... Ole Miss' CFP opener was Golding's only game as a college football head coach. ... Mississippi is in its 11th Sugar Bowl, having gone 6-4 in its previous 10. The Rebels' last trip to the Sugar Bowl came after the 2021 season and they lost to Baylor 21-7. ... Ole Miss led the SEC this season in total offense with 498 yards per game and passing offense with 312.4 yards per game. ... Georgia is making its 13th appearance in the Sugar Bowl, having gone 5-7 in its previous 12. ... The Bulldogs are in their fifth CFP, all under coach Kirby Smart. They are 5-2 in CFP games, including national titles in 2021 and 2022. ... The Bulldogs won their 16th SEC championship with a 28-7 victory over Alabama on Dec. 6. Georgia has now won two straight SEC titles for the first time since winning three in a row from 1980-82. ... Georgia has gone 65-6 since 2021, the best record of any Football Bowl Subdivision team during the past half decade. ... Last year's Sugar Bowl was delayed by a day because of the killing of 14 people on Bourbon Street by an attacker who drove a truck into a crowd and then died in a shootout with police in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.

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