Is this the season of the rematch in college football?
Prior to the 2025 season, rematches in the College Football Playoff were a relative rarity. With only four teams in the field for the majority of the playoff's existence, it wasn't especially common for two teams that already played earlier in the season to meet again in the playoff bracket.
But when the playoff expanded to 12 teams, an increase in both bids and title pathways made rematches more likely -- the first 12-team playoff in 2024 produced as many rematches (one) as there had been in the entire 10-year history of the four-team system. This year, though, the number of rematches has spiked. Two of the four games in the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff alone were rematches. Then, in the quarterfinals, Georgia and Ole Miss met up in another rematch. Now, with Oregon and Indiana facing off in the semifinals a fourth rematch will be on college football fans' screens next week..
The Hoosiers took down the Ducks when the two squads met in Big Ten play back in October. The good news for Oregon, however, is that revenge has proved to be a compelling factor in the short history of playoff rematches. In four of the five total playoff rematches, the team that lost the earlier matchup came out on top.
Is this the start of a trend that will hold true for the rest of the playoff's existence? Or merely an aberration resulting from having only a few examples? The Ducks will hope to add another data point suggesting the former on Thursday.
Here's how the five rematches in College Football Playoff history have played out.
Ole Miss 39, Georgia 34, 2025 season
When the Rebels and Bulldogs met in the regular season, Georgia scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter to earn a comeback win in a game that didn't lack for drama. The second meeting between the two teams brought plenty of fireworks and late-game action as well, but the final result flipped.
After trading blows for the first three quarters, Ole Miss built up a ten point lead with a pair of touchdowns early on in the final frame. The Bulldogs once again refused to go away, however, and rallied to eventually tie the game with just under a minute left to play. But Georgia's late game-tying field goal came with too much time remaining on the clock -- Trinidad Chambliss engineered a drive down the field and Lucas Carneiro booted in a game-winning 47-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Alabama 34, Oklahoma 24, 2025 season
The strongest point on Oklahoma's College Football Playoff hosting résumé during the 2025 season was its impressive mid-November win over then-No. 4 ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa. But the Sooners' regular-season victory over the Crimson Tide didn't hold much weight in the playoff game in Norman.
Contrary to the final score, the first win by a road team in a true away game in the 12-team playoff era looked decidedly unlikely early on. Alabama struggled out of the gates, with Oklahoma racing out to a 17-0 lead. The Crimson Tide proceeded to hit back with 27 unanswered points, however, and eventually delivered the decisive blow in the fourth quarter to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10, 2025 season
On the sideline, things were decidedly different in Ole Miss and Tulane's playoff rematch compared to the two schools' regular-season contest. Both teams' head coaches had already taken another job: At Ole Miss, Pete Golding replaced Lane Kiffin -- who decamped for LSU at the regular season's end -- and Jon Sumrall coached his final game for the Green Wave after accepting the Florida job.
On the field, though, the rematch was all but a mirror image of the earlier Ole Miss-Tulane clash. In September, the Rebels offense rolled with 548 yards in a 45-10 win. In the playoff, Ole Miss' offense racked up 497 total yards in a 41-10 win.
Ohio State 41, Oregon 21, 2024 season
Ohio State and Oregon's meeting during the 2024 regular season was a nail-biting thriller -- the teams traded fourth-quarter scores before the Ducks inched ahead on a late field goal and held on to win by one point in Eugene. But when the two teams faced off again at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, it was another story entirely.
The future national champion Buckeyes looked unstoppable off the blocks, scoring on six of their seven drives in the first half en route to an impressive 34-8 halftime lead. Ohio State only scored once more in the second half, but its clinically efficient first thirty minutes proved more than enough to avenge the regular season loss.
Georgia 33, Alabama 18, 2021 season
For most of the 2021 college football season, Georgia seemed to be in pole position to win the national title -- cruising to an undefeated regular season, with just one of its wins being decided by one score, in Week 1 against Clemson. Against Alabama in the SEC championship game, however, the Bulldogs came up short, falling 41-24.
Luckily, Kirby Smart's squad had a short collective memory. After beating Michigan in the playoff semifinal, Georgia and Alabama played again to decide the national championship. There, a late Kelee Ringo pick-six sealed the Bulldogs' first national title in decades -- as well as vengeance for the SEC championship result.