ATHENS — Georgia and Georgia Tech will once again meet on Black Friday. Given what the Friday game produced in 2024, it’s easy to understand why that’s the case.

As the ACC announced its 2025 schedules, we learned that the Georgia-Georgia Tech game will be played on Friday, Nov. 28. We already knew that the game would be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as opposed to the traditional Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Georgia and Georgia Tech played an eight-overtime thriller last season, which wasn’t decided until Nate Frazier’s successful two-point conversion.

The win helped push Georgia into the College Football Playoff, as Joe Tessatore made everyone very well aware. But the contest as a whole helped push Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate back into the national consciousness in a way the rivalry hasn’t been since Kirby Smart got things rolling at Georgia.

The Bulldogs have won seven straight games in the rivalry. Prior to the 2024 win, all of them had been by double-digits. Given it was played on the final Saturday of the season, the contest seemed to blend in with all the ACC-SEC rivalry games.

But the primetime slot on Black Friday gave this game such extra attention and notoriety. ESPN’s Bill Connelly rated the game as the No. 5 overall game for the 2024 season.

“This game roped you in with wild swings and drama, then held you hostage for what felt like days as Kirby Smart insisted on using every overtime timeout available to him and offenses kept coming up short,” Connelly wrote. “All in all, a weird day at the office. A delightfully weird day, but weird all the same."

When the game was played in Sanford Stadium, Smart was quick to praise the crowd. The novelty of the game produced some added juice for a rivalry that has seemed to suffer a little because the game was always played the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

“A lot of respect to our fans, our crowd had a huge difference in the game, probably got us a few false starts there, which were really big for us,” Smart said after the win. “This was a really short week and a really tough game plan week because we knew their quarterback’s capabilities.”

Georgia will have another short week this season, as the Bulldogs face Charlotte on the Saturday before the Georgia Tech game. But the Yellow Jackets won’t get the same perks they did in 2024. Georgia Tech got extra rest prior to playing Georgia, as it faced NC State on a Thursday before visiting Georgia. Georgia Tech also had a bye week before facing NC State.

In 2025, Georgia Tech hosts Pitt the same day Georgia faces Charlotte. Georgia Tech also won’t get the benefit of a home game when it plays Geogria, as the rivalry contest will be played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Bulldogs are more comfortable in the venue, as Georgia has played six games in the building over the past three seasons.

Georgia Tech does return quarterback Haynes King, who thanks to the work of offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, diced up Georgia’s talented defense. King finished with 303 passing, 110 rushing yards and accounted for 5 touchdowns. Georgia has to do a better job of slowing the veteran quarterback.

Some might be a little miffed at the changes made — on a Friday and a neutral site for 2025. In this day and age of college football, it seems like the sport always seems to be changing and thus eroding the traditions that make college football special.

A cynic would say that this is akin to a Hollywood studio making a sequel following a wildly successful first film. More people ended up watching the Georgia-Georgia Tech game (8.47 million) than LSU-Alabama (7.9 million).

But for every Space Jam 2, there is also Dune 2 and The Empire Strikes Back.

The 2024 Georgia-Georgia Tech game was magical. And it’s understandable as to why ESPN would try and tap into Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate once again.

To show what this rivalry and the state of Georgia have to offer.

“This rivalry is good for our state, and that’s what Brent and I both shared before the game and after the game,” Smart said. “And no matter what anybody says, you know, publicly, there’s a mutual respect from me for the way, the physicality with which they play the game with and the toughness.”