For the second consecutive season, Georgia’s championship dreams ended in the Superdome in New Orleans. And Paul Finebaum isn’t holding back his disappointment. The third-seeded Bulldogs fell 39-34 to sixth-seeded Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. They squandered their 75-game winning streak when leading entering the fourth quarter. But for Georgia fans and SEC observers like Finebaum, the pain runs deeper than any streak. 

“The idea that Georgia, two consecutive years, one and done, after winning the SEC is something that folks in the Peach State are having a hard time wrapping their arms around today,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “Georgia and Ohio State were the teams I thought would be playing Thursday night for the national championship at the Fiesta Bowl. That was going to be the game of the year in college football.”

The 2025 playoff disappointment stings because Georgia had every reason to believe this was their year to return to the national championship game. After winning the SEC title and entering the Sugar Bowl as the No. 3 overall seed, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-12 halftime lead behind quarterback Gunner Stockton. He had two rushing touchdowns and the defense also had a fumble recovery for a score by Daylen Everette. 

But Ole Miss dominated the fourth quarter behind Chambliss’ heroics. The Rebels scored 20 points in the final period, including back-to-back touchdowns that gave them a 34-24 lead with 9:02 remaining. Georgia fought back to tie it 34-34 with 56 seconds left, but Kirby Smart’s decision to pass on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line instead of running the clock down proved costly. 

“I just don’t believe in playing for a tie,” Smart explained postgame. He defended his aggressive approach even though it left time on the clock for Ole Miss to march down and kick the game-winner. What makes this loss even more painful is the deja vu from 2024. Georgia also entered the Sugar Bowl as SEC champions and suffered a deflating 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal. That defeat came one year earlier in the same stadium. 

Kirby Smart called Thursday’s rematch with Ole Miss “an incredible college football game” and praised the Rebels for outplaying, outcoaching, and outexecuting his team. However, the reality is that Georgia has now failed to advance past the quarterfinal round in consecutive seasons, despite having the talent and experience to compete for national titles.

The loss to Ole Miss was particularly frustrating because Georgia had already beaten the Rebels 43-35 in Athens on October 18. They outscored them 17-0 in the fourth quarter of that regular-season meeting.​

Two elite coaches, two crushing quarterfinal exits

Paul Finebaum had it all mapped out in his mind. Georgia and Ohio State were destined to meet in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship, and it was going to be “the game of the year in college football.” But instead of that marquee matchup, both Ryan Day and Kirby Smart suffered embarrassing quarterfinal exits that exposed the very areas where they’re supposed to be unbeatable. 

Day watched his Buckeyes get shut out in the first half of a 24-14 Cotton Bowl loss to Miami. Ohio State’s first scoreless opening half since 2016. The defending national champions managed just 14 points total after putting up gaudy numbers all season. With elite weapons like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate at receiver, the Buckeyes still couldn’t find rhythm against Miami’s pressure. They surrendered five sacks while quarterback Julian Sayin threw a pick-six that put them in a 14-0 hole.​

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Smart’s vaunted Georgia defense completely collapsed in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss. The Bulldogs gave up 20 points in the final period of their 39-34 Sugar Bowl defeat. It included a game-winning drive where Trinidad Chambliss picked apart the secondary for 362 yards without being sacked once. For two programs that recruit at the highest level and develop NFL talent annually, getting one-and-done in the playoffs left Finebaum and the college football world stunned that neither made it anywhere close to that championship game everyone expected.​