ESPN analyst ranks Ole Miss-Georgia classic among top college football games of 2025 season
By David Wasson
Published:
The 2025 college football season was jammed with classic contests and unforgettable moments, so much so that it is almost impossible to decide which games and plays were the best of the bunch.
Not that ESPN didn’t try, as analyst Bill Connelly ranked his best 100 games of the 2025 college football season Tuesday – with the Ole Miss–Georgia rematch in the Sugar Bowl coming in at No. 3.
Connelly pointed out that the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff produced even more great games than did the 2024-25 version, saying as many as five games from the 2025-26 CFP season belonged in the Top 50.
The Sugar Bowl rematch between the Rebels and the Bulldogs was certainly among them, both for all the subtext of the Rebels excelling despite the departure of coach Lane Kiffin, the Bulldogs trying to validate their SEC championship and Ole Miss trying to avenge the 43-35 regular season loss to Georgia in Athens.
All that was on display the night of Jan. 1, 2026, in New Orleans. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was awesome against the Bulldogs, throwing for 362 yards and two touchdowns and Lucas Carneiro kicked a 47-yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining to put No. 6 Mississippi in front for good in a 39-34 victory – new coach Pete Golding’s second straight victory after replacing Kiffin in Oxford.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
