A Georgia-Ole Miss rematch provides ample intrigue to their CFP quarterfinal clash at the Sugar Bowl

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Having proved they could win as a favorite without ex-coach Lane Kiffin in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the No. 6 Mississippi Rebels face a tougher test against No. 3 Georgia in a quarterfinal matchup at the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night.

Georgia (12-1, CFP No. 3 seed) was the only team this season to defeat Ole Miss (12-1, CFP No. 6 seed) when they met in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 18. But that game was a thriller, with the Rebels leading after three quarters before the Bulldogs stormed back with 17 unanswered points in the fourth for a 43-35 victory.

The winner of the rematch moves on to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for a CFP semifinal against 10th-seeded Miami, which defeated Ohio State, 24-14, in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night.

For the Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart, last year’s Sugar Bowl brought a heavy dose of sadness that had more to do with life — and the loss of it — than football.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 2025, Georgia players and coaches were in a hotel just a few blocks up Canal Street from where an attacker turned right onto Bourbon Street and plowed his truck into pedestrians — killing 14 — before dying in a shootout with police.

After the Sugar Bowl was delayed by a day, causing a number of traveling fans to miss the game, Georgia lost to Notre Dame. Then Smart’s father, Sonny, who’d injured his hip in a fall on New Year’s Eve, died in a New Orleans-area hospital from complications during surgery.

This year, there was a considerable law enforcement presence in New Orleans in the days before the Sugar Bowl, including numerous National Guard soldiers posted in groups on corners of the historic French Quarter.

The Rebels, who are in the CFP for the first time, went 11-1 during the regular season before Kiffin left for LSU on Nov. 30.

Kiffin was replaced by Pete Golding, a feisty defensive coordinator who made his head-coaching debut in a 41-10 rout of Tulane in the CFP’s first round.

Golding also happens to be from Hammond, Louisiana, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, and he was eager to have a sizeable contingent of Ole Miss fans, family and friends behind his team in the Superdome.

While Georgia has been a perennial powerhouse and has won two national titles under Smart in 2021 and 2022, the Rebels exceeded expectations as quarterback Trinidad Chambliss became one of the most compelling stories in college football.

Chambliss was a transfer from Division II Ferris State who came in as an injury replacement in September and kept the starting job, passing for 3,298 yards and 19 TDs to go with 506 yards and eight TDs rushing.

Georgia QB Gunner Stockton, who made his first career start as an injury replacement himself during last years' Sugar Bowl, also had a strong season, passing for 2,691 yards and 23 TDs while also rushing for 442 yards and eight TDs.

Last season, Stockton backed up Carson Beck, who has since transferred to Miami. The Hurricanes' victory in the Cotton Bowl meant Georgia could go against their former star QB by advancing out of the Sugar Bowl.

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Mississippi head coach Pete Golding and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart shake hands and laugh at the end of a joint press conference for the upcoming Sugar Bowl and college football playoff (CFP) quarterfinal game in New Orleans, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill praised Connor Bedard's all-around game a day after the center was left off Canada's roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The 20-year-old Bedard is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. He skated before practice on Monday and could return this month.

Bedard ranked among the NHL leaders with 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games before he got hurt on Dec. 12 at St. Louis. Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said Wednesday that Bedard was in the mix “right there to the last second,” and the injury wasn't much of a factor in the decision.

While acknowledging the difficulty of finalizing Canada's roster for the 2026 Games, Blashill took aim at some of the conversation surrounding Bedard in his third season since he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.

“I don't think the rest of the league knows how good of a two-way winning hockey player Connor has become,” said Blashill, who was hired in May. “That's the one thing probably, and I don't know why. Maybe it's based on previous years. But I don't think they have a full understanding of how good a winning hockey player he is today.”

Bedard was a gifted offensive playmaker long before his NHL debut in October 2023. But the other parts of his game have come a long way since he first joined the Blackhawks.

He is a plus-eight this season after he had a plus-minus rating of minus-80 while playing on two last-place teams in his first two years in the league. He has won 47% of his faceoffs, up from 38.3% last season.

Blashill indicated that some of the reservations about Bedard have more to do with the limitations of defensive metrics than the center's play on the ice.

The Blackhawks went 13-12-6 in their first 31 games with Bedard. They are 1-6-1 since he got hurt.

“That's the impact he's had. That's the type of two-way player (he is),” Blashill said before Thursday's game against Dallas. “You don't have that impact if you're just a point-getter. You only have that impact if you're a true two-way kind of winning player, and that's what he's become.”

Chicago also has been playing without Frank Nazar, who was placed on IR on Sunday after he was hit in the face by a puck during a 6-4 loss at Ottawa on Dec. 20. He is expected to be sidelined for approximately four weeks.

The Blackhawks lost another center when Jason Dickinson left Tuesday night's 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders with an unspecified injury. But Dickinson skated on Thursday morning and could play against the Stars.

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Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill reacts to a call during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)