On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the College Football Playoff had its four quarterfinal games occur at New Year’s Six Bowl locations. There was speculation as to who would win and whether the trend of teams who receive a first-round bye losing in the Quarterfinal Round would continue. In the 2024-25 Playoff tournament, all four of the teams who received a bye as conference champions lost. That included the Oregon Ducks(Big Ten), Georgia Bulldogs(SEC), Arizona State Sun Devils(Big 12) and Boise State Broncos(Mountain West). This time, with a different format seeding the teams based on how good they were, the selection committee had three conference champions bunched in with one at-large team who was a conference championship game loser. The undefeated Indiana Hoosiers were the number one team in the country and they would host the Alabama Crimson Tide in a Rose Bowl Game between programs who have had different historical trends in the lexicon of college football. One of them historically great and the other historically not-so-great. The two-seed in this CFP field was the team who lost to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game in the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were looking to defend their national title from the year before as they hosted the Miami Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve in a game some 23 years in the making at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Meanwhile, the Georgia Bulldogs were the number three seed and they would tussle with the Ole Miss Rebels on New Year’s Day at the Allstate Sugar Bowl inside Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans. An epic SEC rematch was the perfect way to close out the first New Year’s tripleheader in CFP history(it was supposed to happen last year, but a horrible tragedy in Bourbon Square delayed the 2025 Sugar Bowl to the next day). Finally, the fourth and final team to receive a bye were the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who had a nearly unblemished season in the Big 12 and won their conference championship game over the BYU Cougars. They played Oregon in a Capital One Orange Bowl game that would determine who would be going to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

With the four teams on bye coming off a layoff of 25-plus days since they last played a football game, the main question on everyone’s mind was: Does rest and preparation matter more or does staying fresh give a team an advantage over the rusty teams who fought their way to those byes? The answer would reveal itself at the end of the 2025 calendar year and the beginning of 2026.

The Defending Champ Falls: The U Exacts 23 Years Of Heartbreak Onto Ohio State With Solid Defense And Clutch Offense To Redeem Their Program From A Championship Defeat In The BCS Era, Heads To Fiesta Bowl

On Dec 31, 2025, the Miami Hurricanes took on the defending-champion Ohio State Buckeyes, who had a record of 12-1 with their sole loss coming against Indiana in the Big Ten championship game. Losing 16-13, Ohio State’s offense was flustered with young QB Julian Sayin under a load of pressure. But with a set of some of the strongest offensive players in the nation, the Buckeyes were hungry for a repeat championship. They had to take on Miami at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex in a rematch of the 2002 BCS Championship Game when Ohio State won against the U at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona. A controversial pass interference foul kept the Buckeyes alive in the game and the Hurricanes would lose in overtime 31-24. Ohio State were champions and the entire Miami football program took a long time to recover from that defeat. After defeating Texas A&M in the first round, the Canes were playing in their biggest game since that championship game loss almost 23 years beforehand.

The game started with a couple of punts, then Miami drove deep into Buckeyes territory and had a real chance to score. But a third down fumble by Mark Fletcher was recovered by linebacker Payton Pierce in an early missed opportunity for the U. The Ohio State offense couldn’t capitalize off that fumble and had to punt it back to the Canes, who nearly had another devastating turnover with a fumble by Malachi Toney, who recovered the ball with no Buckeyes defenders near him. The Miami drive went deep into Buckeyes territory and when the second quarter began, they were already in the red zone. A few plays later, Carson Beck threw a short pass to Fletcher, who caught the ball with no defenders on the side of the field he was on and ran into the end zone for the touchdown. The Canes had taken an early lead over Ohio State, who responded with a deep bomb pass by Sayin to star wideout Jeremiah Smith. A massive 59-yard completion had the Buckeyes in scoring range but Sayin got sacked on the next play by Rueben Bain Jr. On second and long, Sayin threw a pass to the left but the ball was intercepted by Keionte Scott, who ran back with the ball all the way to the other end zone for a massive 76-yard pick-6 score. A massive point swing there and the U had a 14-0 lead just like that. The rest of the first half featured punts from both sides, but the Buckeyes came close to scoring on a two-minute drill drive. They went all the way from deep inside their own territory all the way into field goal range in an indoor stadium, but their kicker Jayden Fielding missed a long 49-yard kick wide left of the goalpost. A big missed opportunity for Ohio State, who had been shut out in the first half.

The second half had the Buckeyes start out with the ball and they established some offensive rhythm with running back Bo Jackson(not the famous two-way athlete from the late 20th century), who ran the ball in for a touchdown in the red zone. With their lead cut in half, Miami’s offense had a drive that nearly ended in catastrophe again as another fumble occurred on a third down pass play by Beck to Toney, who hung onto the ball for the field goal unit headed by Carter Davis to come out. The 49-yard field goal by Davis was good and the Canes had a 17-7 lead. However, Ohio State was not going away as on their next drive Sayin completed some clutch passes and into the fourth quarter the red zone was within site for the defending champs. The Buckeyes scored on a fourth down gamble as Sayin threw a pass to Smith, who caught the ball to score. The PAT was made and Ohio State was down by three points. Both teams punted on the next few drives, including the Buckeyes under six minutes left as a holding penalty backed them up big time. The Hurricanes had a clutch drive where time was milked off the clock and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had to use a couple of timeouts after the two-minute timeout as the Miami offense was in the red zone. After a first & goal rush play that ended down in bounds, Day opted not to use his team’s final timeout and more time ticked away. The next play was a TD run by running back CharMar Brown that sealed off the game for the U, whose defense had a game-ending interception on Sayin to clinch a spot in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. An amazing 24-14 win dethroned the defending champion from the first 12-team CFP in Ohio State, whose offensive numbers were weakened in its final few games of the season. The Hurricanes had won two CFP games and now have a chance to make it to their program’s first national championship game in 23 years. Who they would face would be determined in a thrilling matchup on New Year’s Day. It was quite a way to ring in the new year for the fans of the U.

Alabama Gets Crushed By Hoosiers In Rose Bowl Game, As Crimson Tide Offense Nearly Gets Blanked And Indiana Wins Its First Grandaddy Game Ever To Advance To Peach Bowl

The Alabama Crimson Tide had a return to the Rose Bowl Game after appearing in it for the 2024 edition against the eventual-champion Michigan Wolverines out of the Big Ten. This time around they were facing the Indiana Hoosiers, who are undergoing a program renaissance under Curt Cignetti. With Heisman-trophy winning QB Fernando Mendoza and a strong and solid defense, Indiana had an undefeated 13-0 season and were the number one seed in the CFP. However, the Hoosiers were facing the premonition of the first-round bye, which had claimed six victims so far following Texas Tech’s Orange Bowl shutout to Oregon. Would the Hoosiers avoid that bullet against one of the greatest collegiate sports programs in all of history? Alabama took down Oklahoma in a thrilling first round game on the road and now had a chance to go to the Peach Bowl if they beat their inverse opposite in being a not-so-storied football program until these past couple of seasons. A literal battle between a Goliath of a program and an underdog who had risen up to be the number one team took place on a soggy and wet field at the Rose Bowl Stadium due to rainy conditions in Southern California around New Year’s. Let’s see who did better in this battle of red-shaded teams.

The game started with punts by both teams, including by the Crimson Tide after they had drove into Hoosier territory and were stopped barely short of field goal range. From their three-yard line, Indiana proceeded to go on a long drive that had them pick up first down after first down as a deep pass by Mendoza to star wideout Charlie Becker got them into Bama territory. Pounding the ball on the ground, the Hoosiers closed out the first quarter in field goal range after being stopped on third down and kicker Nico Radicic made a 31-yard kick to give Indiana an early 3-0 lead. On their next drive, the Crimson Tide faced a tough decision after a run by Ty Simpson came up just one yard short of the line to gain. With the ball being inches away from the line to gain and after a timeout was taken by both sides, Kalen DeBoer decided to have his offense go for it. Running back Daniel Hill threw a trick play pass to wideout Germie Bernard, who was bottled up well short of the line to gain for a turnover on downs. The surprise early failed gamble by DeBoer would come back to haunt Alabama, as the Hoosiers’ offense had premium field position and took advantage of it on a run by Roman Hemby for 21 yards following an offensive holding foul. On a third down near the red zone, Mendoza threw a clutch pass to Becker into the end zone for a touchdown. A huge score there as the PAT gave Indiana a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. Following punts from both sides, Bama got a couple of first downs and on third down, Simpson looked to scramble again. He picked up the required yardage, but as he was going down Simpson got hit hard by defensive back D’Angelo Ponds and the ball came out. The ball was recovered by Ponds’ teammate Isaiah Jones and the Hoosiers were in business again. With a few minutes left in the half, Indiana’s offense had clutch first downs guide them into the red zone and Mendoza threw another touchdown pass, this one to Omar Cooper Jr for one yard. The Hoosiers scored seven points off the Simpson fumble and were up 17-0 going into halftime. In the second half, Alabama started out with possession and went three and out, then Indiana proceeded to have another TD drive that concluded with a Mendoza pass to Elijah Surratt. The Crimson Tide had a QB change as Simpson was dealing with a rib injury and backup QB Austin Mack came in to lead a drive that ended with a modest field goal. The Hoosiers scored two more touchdowns on the ground by each of their top running backs and pushed the lead to 35 points, a margin that Alabama football had not been down by since 1998. In the end, Indiana won their first Rose Bowl game ever and punched their ticket to the Peach Bowl on Fri, Jan 9 in Atlanta, where they will face the Oregon Ducks in a rematch of a Big Ten conference game that the Hoosiers won on the road. Mendoza had a gift of a game working behind a powerful offensive line and with great assets to throw it to. In the end, the three-time CFP champion Crimson Tide and ten-time CFP participant had been knocked out in an embarrassing performance on national TV. So, with a couple of SEC teams eliminated from the field, one more would have to follow in the nightcap in New Orleans.

Ole Miss And Georgia Fight For The Final Semifinal Spot In Sugar Bowl, But In The End Hoddy Toddy Wins On A Game-Winning Kick Following An Amazing Comeback On Dawgs

For the final game of the CFP semifinals, the Ole Miss Rebels played against the Georgia Bulldogs in another thrilling SEC rematch as they played in Athens, Ga., on Oct. 18 and lost 43-35 in an offensive showdown that had the Dawgs not punt on a single drive. The head coach for the Rebels was different in this rematch, as Pete Golding had taken over for Lane Kiffin, who decided to leave the Ole Miss program for an opportunity at LSU. There were reports that Kiffin was going to be in attendance for the game at the SuperDome in New Orleans, but instead he decided to stay in Baton Rouge to see the Tigers’ women’s basketball team play in a game conveniently scheduled on New Year’s Night. The Rebels were looking for a program-defining victory over Georgia, which had won back-to-back CFP titles under Kirby Smart earlier in this current decade. Last season, the Bulldogs were the two-seed and faced Notre Dame in a solemnly-rescheduled Sugar Bowl game due to a tragic truck accident in Bourbon Square that claimed 15 innocent lives. Notre Dame won the 2025 Sugar Bowl and knocked out the first-round bye Georgia squad. Would this instance be any different for the Dawgs, whose starting QB Gunnar Stockton made his first career collegiate start in the Sugar Bowl game played 364 days prior to this one? For Ole Miss, they dispatched a local New Orleans university in Tulane in their first round game and QB Trinidad Chambliss was scorching hot in that game. He would be facing a much more intense Georgia defense. However, Ole Miss had an advantage of its fans in attendance as a lot of powdered blue Rebels fans were dominating the seating in the upper deck at the SuperDome. The lower bowl was more even and had more Dawgs fans in the seats. Let’s see how this epic SEC Allstate Sugar Bowl matchup played out.

The game started with both teams punting on their opening drives and then Ole Miss had a good solid drive that garnered a few first downs and in an indoor stadium, the ball was bound to travel further. So, field goal range was more expansive and that proved true for Rebels kicker Lucas Carneiro, who made a long 55-yard field goal for the first points of the game. Following a three-and-out drive by Georgia, the Ole Miss offense got into opposing territory again and were stopped barely inside the 40-yard line again. The field goal unit came on and Carneiro made another long kick of 56 yards. With an early 6-0 lead, the Rebels were off to a solid start against a pretty good defense. But then the Bulldogs got into an offensive rhythm at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter saw them score on a run by Stockton into the end zone. The PAT by Payton Woodring gave Georgia a 7-6 lead. That lead didn’t last long though as the Rebels punched back with a deep bomb pass by Chambliss to De’Zhaun Stribling for 39 yards and another good pass to Harrison Wallace III ended with a face mask penalty attached to it. Ole Miss scored on a third and goal pass by Chambliss to tight end Luke Hasz, but then after the touchdown, the Rebels offense stayed on to attempt a two-point conversion. A curious decision made there by Golding as the two-point play was unsuccessful. With a 12-7 lead, the Rebels were in somewhat good position before the Bulldogs had a strong drive fueled by big chunk passes completed by Stockton to three different receivers. After the third pass completion went into the red zone, Stockton scored on a one-yard run and Georgia had a 14-12 lead. On their next drive, Ole Miss made a massive mistake as Kewan Lacy fumbled the ball and it was recovered by defensive back Daylen Everette, who ran the fumble recovery all the way back for a 47-yard touchdown. A huge play by the Dawgs defense and the PAT by Woodring gave them a nine-point lead. A gut punch to the Rebels with a few minutes left in the first half. Both teams went three-and-out and Ole Miss had a chance to score with very little time left in the half. But with no timeouts, they had to be careful with play management relating to the thin clock. A pass by Chambliss that was attached with a personal foul on Georgia got the Rebels close to field goal range for Carneiro. But following a couple of incomplete passes thrown by Chambliss, he threw a pass to Dae’Quan Wright that ended in bounds and short of the line to gain. Time ran out as the Ole Miss field goal unit couldn’t get into position for a half-ending attempt. That huge mistake could have potentially cost the Rebels as they were now facing the reality of being down at halftime to a team who had not blown a halftime lead in a lot of years under Kirby Smart. But the second half was still going to show that this matchup was up for grabs in the craziest possible way.

The Georgia offense opened the second half with a punt and then Ole Miss had another opportunity near midfield go awry as a fourth and short conversion attempt failed with Lacy getting bottled up short of the line to gain. The Bulldogs tried to capitalize on a pass interference foul on the Rebels, but a long field goal attempt by Woodring from 55 yards out was short of the goalpost. That missed chance was huge, with another fourth down conversion by Ole Miss actually succeeding as Chambliss found Wallace downfield for a massive gain of 36 yards and a first down. A couple of plays later, Lacy ran the ball into the end zone and just like that the Rebels were down by two points. The Georgia offense had a special trick play up their sleeve on a fourth down during the next drive as Landon Roldan threw a pass on a fake punt to wideout Lawson Luckie, who caught the ball and went for a 16-yard gain for an amazing first down. Stockton completed a pass downfield to Colbie Young for 31 yards and a first down in Ole Miss territory. But the Dawgs didn’t go much further and had to settle for a 37-yard field goal made by Woodring to go up 24-19. On the next Rebels drive that led into the fourth quarter, Chambliss completed a couple of big passes that got the ball into the red zone and eventually a five-yard run by Lacy gave Ole Miss the lead back. After the touchdown, they went for two again and this time they converted on a Chambliss pass to Wallace. A massive 27-24 lead now for the Rebels, who were looking to win their biggest game in program history.

On the next Dawgs drive, a few runs came up short of the line to gain and in a surprising twist Smart kept his offense out on the field to go for it. Stockton needed to pick up two yards, but he got hit on a dropback by linebacker Suntarine Perkins, who jarred the ball out of Stockton’s grasp and recovered it. A humongous fourth down fumble recovery led to another Rebels touchdown as Chambliss hooked up with Wallace for a 13-yard connection. With the PAT made by Carneiro, Ole Miss was up by ten points with nine minutes left to play in regulation. The Georgia offense came biting back and had a couple of big plays from Stockton, who threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to wideout Zachariah Branch. Down by three points, the Bulldogs’ defense forced the Rebels into a three and out. A massive drive was coming up for Georgia, who had a chance to drain down the clock and score a potential game-winning touchdown. Following a first down run by Nate Frazier, the Dawgs wouldn’t proceed far and on fourth down and nine yards to pick up following a timeout by Golding, the Georgia offense stayed on the field to attempt a huge fourth down. Stockton would throw a dart from the pocket to Branch for a gain of 16 yards and a first down. An offensive holding penalty backed up the Dawgs and after another Stockton to Branch pass was completed, a third down pass was thrown incomplete, but a flag was on the field for pass interference on safety Kapena Gushiken. The 15-yard penalty gave Georgia a huge first down with under two minutes left in regulation. Another pass interference foul occurred on a second down pass and Gushiken was called for it again. On first and goal, Stockton ran out of bounds for a five-yard gain that stopped the clock. On second and goal, a run by Chauncey Bowens lost three yards on another play where the clock was stopped. On third and goal, Stockton aimed for the end zone and tried to get the ball to tight end Oscar Delp, but the pass was incomplete. After failing to take the lead, the field goal unit for the Bulldogs came on and Woodring made a huge 24-yard kick that tied the game at 34 apiece. But there was a load of time for Ole Miss to get downfield and into field goal range for Lucas Carniero, who had already made two big long kicks in this game. Following a run for five yards by Lacy that ran the clock, Chambliss threw an incomplete pass that stopped the clock. On a huge third down play, Chambliss hurled a deep pass downfield that was caught by Stribling for a 40-yard gain and a first down. Following a few incompletions by Chambliss, the field goal unit for the Rebels came on. A timeout was taken by Smart before the attempt by Carniero, who was kicking the biggest field goal attempt of his young football life. It was from 47 yards out in the SuperDome and the ball went up and through the uprights with only six seconds left. Ole Miss had taken a massive lead and was in position to win this Sugar Bowl game. A crazy ending occurred as Georgia had the longest second to keep their hopes alive following a failed lateral play that ended in a safety. Initially, time had expired and the Rebels began to celebrate. But the lead official demanded a review to see if there was one second left. It turned out there was and the SuperDome field workers had to push the victory podium onto the sidelines. They had to do so again following an onside kick attempt by the Bulldogs that was actually recovered. With one last chance, a lateral play occurred and one of the laterals was an illegal forward pass and the game ended after Stockton got taken down by a couple of Ole Miss defenders. Now, with the third time being the charm, the Rebels could now celebrate as Pete Golding led them to a Sugar Bowl victory and a date in the Fiesta Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes. An amazing win for a program that had been spurned by their previous head coach roughly five weeks earlier. With the 39-34 victory, Ole Miss became the third team to knock out a former CFP champion in the quarterfinal round. Two-time champs Ohio State and Georgia had fallen and three-time champion and six-time title game participant Alabama had been eliminated from the field. Also seven out of eight teams to have received a first-round bye in the current 12-team format have been eliminated in the quarterfinal round. The Georgia Bulldogs have been a victim of that two years in a row and twice in the same fabled bowl game. Now down to an unlikely mixture of four teams, the 12th edition of the College Football Playoff will sure have a thrilling ending to it.