2025 Sugar Bowl

The Bulldogs, by virtue of their victory in the SEC Championship and their place among the four highest-ranked conference champions, received a first-round bye in the CFP, making this game their first in the playoff.

Georgia, playing without starting quarterback Carson Beck due to injury, entered the game as slight underdogs despite their higher seeding.

[7] The twelve teams participating in the playoff were chosen by the CFP selection committee, whose final rankings were released on December 8, 2024.

[8] This was the first edition of the CFP to feature twelve teams instead of four, and the Sugar Bowl was assigned to host a quarterfinal game.

By virtue of their top-four seed, they received a first-round bye and qualified directly for the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal.

In the early morning of January 1, a terrorist attack took place on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in which fifteen people were killed.

[17] This was the fourth meeting between the Bulldogs and the Fighting Irish,[18] following a 2017 and 2019 home-and-home series where Georgia won both games.

[21] Beck eventually declared for the 2025 NFL draft, but later decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

After one additional Fighting Irish punt and two more from the Bulldogs, Notre Dame took their first lead with 39 seconds until halftime on another successful field goal.

On Georgia's next play, RJ Oben sacked Gunner Stockton as he was winding up to throw and Junior Tuihalamaka recovered for Notre Dame, leading to a touchdown pass from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins and a 13–3 lead for the Fighting Irish at halftime.

The Bulldogs pulled within ten points on a 5-play drive that followed, ending in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to Cash Jones, but they were unable to score further.