Georgia
Georgia players consider importance of securing College Football Playoff bye, extra rest
The Georgia Bulldogs played a pretty impressive regular season in the 2024 campaign, using a hard-hitting defense and their multiple offensive weapons to fuel them to a 11-2 overall record. The CFP selection committee thought highly of the 2024 SEC Champions and penciled them in with a No. 2 seed in the upcoming 12-team College Football Playoff.
And since they earned one of the top four overall seeds, the Bulldogs will get a bye during the first week, earning a week of extra rest, before facing off against their first opponent in the CFP Quarterfinals. On Sunday, Georgia players discussed the extra week of rest in the CFP.
“I think it’s great. We get a chance to continue to get better, recover, and take care of our bodies and stuff like that,” Daylon Everette said.
“Yeah, I think anybody at this point in the season could use some time off. And I think that’s huge just to get back and work on ourselves and try to get healthier,” Tate Ratledge explained.
Georgia has battled their way to 11-2 and the No. 2 overall seed in the 2024 College Football Playoffs. It certainly wasn’t handed to them. We got plenty of evidence of that in their past two games. The first of which was an absolute classic, a 44-42 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in eight overtimes. It was without a doubt, one of the best games of the 2024 college football season.
Georgia trailed 17-0 at halftime, but managed to battle all the way back to tie it at the end of the second half. The Bulldogs outscored the Yellow Jackets 27-10 in the second half to force overtime. And from then on, it was an absolute marathon of a game in what will go down as one of the longest college football games of all-time. Georgia freshman running back Nate Frazier ran for a two-point conversion to win it.
And on Saturday night in the 2024 SEC Championship Game, the Bulldogs managed to pull off another thrilling win, a 22-19 win in overtime over Texas. Quarterback Carson Beck was knocked out of the game at the end of the first half, and didn’t return. Backup quarterback Gunner Stockton came in and completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards, while tossing in one interception.
The No. 2 seeded Georgia Bulldogs will await in the Quarterfinals of the CFP, where they will face off the winner of the Indiana and Notre Dame matchup in the first round.
Georgia
Created in a small Georgia town, a cup has become 1 of the World Cup’s biggest souvenirs
They were designed to hold a drink, but cups produced in Rome, Georgia, have become one of the FIFA Men’s World Cup’s most unexpected souvenirs.
Inside the Top Cup plant in Rome, millions of cups were created to celebrate the world’s biggest sporting event.
“We made 10 million over 70 different graphics for the World Cup,” said Rome native and Top Cup General Manager Zach Dixon.
The plant in north Georgia produces up to 750,000 cups a day.
“We’ve always been really proud of the cup … but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Top Cup CEO David Cuthbert.
Fans have been taking them home from matches. Some have even been listed for sale online.
“We’ve always been really proud of the cup… but the World Cup has obviously taken it to another level,” said Cuthbert.
Dixon said they begin the process with massive coils of aluminum, each weighing about 30,000 pounds. The metal is stamped, stretched, washed, and moved down the line.
The plant produces about 1,100 cups every minute.
Ricardo Marques, the senior vice president of marketing for Michelob ULTRA, said that there have been venue-specific, match-specific, and Finals-specific stadium cups for the World Cup. There are also three separate red, white, and blue designs available for fans at bars and restaurants around the U.S.
“We’ve seen an incredible response to the collection. Together, these commemorative cups give fans a unique keepsake and a lasting reminder of an unforgettable FIFA World Cup experience and the moments that brought millions of people together through the world’s game,” Marques said.
Cuthbert said his company has seen how the World Cup has done wonders for metro Atlanta businesses.
“Our team in Rome, Georgia takes tremendous pride in helping bring this fan experience to life for one of the world’s biggest sporting events,” he said.
So when soccer fans celebrate the surprise victory or mourn their last-minute loss, they’re doing so with a little piece of Georgia.
Georgia
Mayor Kelly Girtz Inducted Into Georgia Municipal Hall of Fame
Georgia
Athlon Sports tabs Florida-Georgia among SEC’s best games in 2026
Athlon Sports projected the best SEC games for each week of the 2026 regular season.
The conference features some of the most compelling matchups in all of college football, from opening weekend through rivalry week. The selections emphasize games anticipated to have the biggest impact on the SEC championship race and College Football Playoff picture.
Florida’s annual clash with Georgia was tabbed as one of the SEC’s premier fixtures. The game has grown in national significance since it began in 1904, continuing as a battle of blue-blood programs that routinely produces iconic results. The game temporarily moves to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta during the Jacksonville stadium renovations.
The Jon Sumrall era carries with it an increasing sense of belief — many experts see the Gators as a dark-horse CFB playoff contender. Regardless of its final win-loss record, UF will play a part in shaping the season’s narrative as they face several post-season favorites in Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma.
Noted in the article is the SEC’s depth and newly implemented nine-game conference schedule. Georgia, Texas, Alabama and LSU appear multiple times on this list, with Georgia facing Alabama in Week 6 and Ole Miss in Week 10 while LSU hosts Clemson in Week 1 and will see Texas in Week 11 take on Alabama.
Many contenders from the SEC face multiple nationally relevant foes over the course of the season.
Athlon Sports’ Best game for every week of the 2026 season
- Week 1: Clemson at LSU (Sept. 5)
- Week 2: Ohio State at Texas (Sept. 12)
- Week 3: LSU at Ole Miss (Sept. 19)
- Week 4: Oklahoma at Georgia (Sept. 26)
- Week 5: Auburn at Tennessee (Oct. 3)
- Week 6: Georgia at Alabama (Oct. 10)
- Week 7: Alabama at Tennessee (Oct. 17)
- Week 8: Ole Miss at Texas (Oct. 24)
- Week 9: Florida vs. Georgia (Atlanta) (Oct. 31)
- Week 10: Georgia at Ole Miss (Nov. 7)
- Week 11: Texas at LSU (Nov. 14)
- Week 12: Texas A&M at Oklahoma (Nov. 21)
- Week 13: Texas at Texas A&M (Friday) (Nov. 27)
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