20 fast facts — and some New Orleans tips — about Georgia’s appearance in Sugar Bowl

The cravings for Cafe du Monde and a New Orleans staple are back.

Ahead of last season’s Sugar Bowl, I took a $25 ride to grab beignets inside a mall food court. Our original plan was to experience the French Quarter, but a long line and a rain downpour called for alternative plans.

Trust me, beignets are worth 25 extra dollars.

Nonetheless, Georgia is back in New Orleans. Not for the national title game like it hoped, but for a return to the Sugar Bowl against No. 7 Baylor.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said in a recent teleconference. “None of our players have been Sugar Bowl champs and they’re going to get an opportunity to do that.”

So, with a little fun, here are 20 fast facts about the Bulldogs’ return to the bayou.

1) Georgia returns to the Sugar Bowl for the second-consecutive season as the highest-ranked SEC team not in the College Football Playoff. It lost to Texas, 28-21, on Jan. 1, 2019.

2) J.R. Reed, Georgia’s senior safety, said ahead of the College Football Awards that he will play in the Sugar Bowl despite the looming NFL draft.

3) Smart earns a New Year’s Six bowl berth in three of his first four seasons — including a playoff trip in 2017. He has 42 career wins entering play.

4) Georgia has received announcements of early departures of offensive linemen Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson for the NFL draft. Nothing has been said by running back D’Andre Swift yet, although many believe he’s a guarantee to leave, too. Other candidates include quarterback Jake Fromm and safety Richard LeCounte.

5) Thomas and Wilson will sit out of the bowl game. According to Smart, Swift has been practicing as if it were any other game. It has been a growing trend across football for players to do so in non-playoff games. Former cornerback Deandre Baker sat out against Texas.

6) Georgia has shut down all media access prior to the team arriving in New Orleans, aside from a Smart press conference on Dec. 18. Smart, when asked about the decision, referenced the players facing a “burden” of media interviews and said it’s a “choice I get to make.”

7) Georgia affirms there’ll be a different level of motivation than the lack of interest that the Bulldogs had in last season’s Sugar Bowl. After falling in the 2018 SEC Championship, Georgia lacked its usual competitive edge. Smart said he plans to only bring players who are “engaged” in game preparation.

8) For the fans, it might not be the same story. StubHub features a get-in price to the game of $11.

9) The Sugar Bowl has hosted SEC and Big 12 teams for the fourth time since an agreement was signed. It’ll occur five more times in the next seven years.

10) Georgia receiver Lawrence Cager, spotted in a bulky cast/wrap and a mobility scooter on Dec. 7, isn’t planning to play.

11) Georgia appears in the Sugar Bowl for the 11th time. Twenty teams have made back-to-back appearances.

12) Baylor finished its season at 11-2 and lost in the Big 12 Championship to No. 4 Oklahoma.

13) Georgia and Baylor are meeting for the fifth time. Georgia is 4-0 against the Bears, all in Athens.

14) Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has a 19-19 record through three seasons as the Bears’ head coach.

15) Baylor comes to New Orleans after quite the turnaround. Rhule posted a 1-11 record in his first season after Baylor faced a plethora of scandal under former coach Art Briles.

16) Baylor’s last Sugar Bowl trip came in 1956 — a 13-7 win over Tennessee.

17) It bears repeating. Go get a beignet.

18) You might also want to channel your inner Ed Orgeron and go get some gumbo like the LSU head coach would. (Also, I found these cheese-baked oysters at ACME which are next-level.)

19) New Orleans is quite an interesting place. People-watching along Bourbon Street and the French Quarter won’t bore you around this time of year.

20) Georgia must like stadiums sponsored at Mercedes-Benz. This’ll mark the fifth-consecutive game in one. The Superdome is a very different experience than the stadium in Atlanta, however. It’s an outdated stadium compared to the new-look facility that Atlanta boasts, and the Superdome’s air vents are right above the press box. So, for media, it’s a high — and cold — view.

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 12:15 PM.