GHSF Daily explores the Georgia High School Association’s Post Season Rankings and an alternative, the Extended Standings, created by rankings expert Loren Maxwell. Maxwell argues in today’s Four Questions that the Extended Standings are more accurate even though the calculations are more involved. The PSR is popular for its simple formula based on winning percentage and opponent winning percentage.

The Georgia High School Association placed schools into classifications for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years this week. Schools may appeal their placement or petition to play higher or lower in class by noon Sunday. Appeals will be heard beginning Monday at 10 a.m. Here are four takeaways from Monday’s tentative new classifications.

Creekside QB Cayden Benson, Clarke Central WR Le'Gracion Little, East Coweta WR/DB Walter Maestre Jr., Sandy Creek RB Amari Latimer and Valdosta DE Corey Howard put up big numbers in their teams’ big region victories and led the top performances across the state in the final weekend of the regular season.

Valdosta’s victory over archrival Lowndes earned the Wildcats their highest ranking entering the playoffs since 2019. Valdosta jumped from No. 9 to No. 5 in Class 6A, making the Wildcats the biggest risers in the final football rankings of the regular season. Valdosta defeated then-No. 4 Lowndes 23-14 for the Region 1-6A championship. The title is Valdosta’s first since 2016. Lowndes fell to No. 6.

North Hall quarterback Alex Schlieman became the GHSA's passing leader last week as the first to break 2,500 yards. He also picked up a flattering comparison. “He can make all the throws on the field, and he’s extremely accurate with a strong arm, but the biggest thing that separates him is his intellect,” North Hall coach Sean Pender said. “I’ve had some smart ones, but the only other quarterback that I’ve coached that has intellect like him is Stetson Bennett.”

Region championships will be on the line in several games around the state in the final weekend of the regular season. Among those are Lowndes vs. Valdosta in 1-6A, Douglas County vs. Carrollton in 2-6A, Sandy Creek vs. Troup in 2-3A, Westside-Augusta vs. West Laurens in 4-3A, and Hebron Christian vs. Prince Avenue Christian in 8-2A.

There’s one more week in the regular season. If things go as the computer Maxwell Ratings project, this is how the first-round playoff matchups will look. No. 1 Grayson vs. No. 3 Carrollton in the Class 6A quarterfinals? No. 1 Hughes vs. No. 4 Gainesville in the Class 5A second round? Could happen. Maxwell is not privy to every region’s tiebreaker, so be wary of how each region might unknot its ties.

Aquinas QB/DB Jack Rhodes, Athens Academy WR/CB Keyon Standifer, Cairo RB Bryian Duncan, Villa Rica RB Emmanuel Ajayi and Westside-Augusta RB Tamari Curry put up big numbers in their teams’ region games and led the top performances across the state in Week 11 of the regular season.

Roswell moved up to No. 3 in Class 5A this week ahead of its Region 7 football showdown against Milton. Kell made a big jump in 4A, Jasper County entered the rankings for the first time in nearly 30 years and Harrison and Cass joined the top 10 with one week remaining in the regular season. Then-No. 6 Roswell (8-1, 5-0) defeated then-No. 3 Gainesville (8-2, 5-1) 37-35 on Friday night and can win Region 7-5A with a victory this week over No. 5 Milton (7-2, 4-1).

Mason Hollingsworth of Whitefield Academy, Caine Woods of Dalton and Justin Beasley of Calhoun maintained or regained their leads in GHSA rushing, passing and receiving yards, respectively, this week. Who’ll finish first remains up in the air. In rushing, only 113 yards separate Hollingsworth’s 1,662 yards from sixth-place Hudson Hulett’s 1,549.

Region titles will be on the line Friday night when Central (Carrollton) meets Griffin in 3-4A and Rome travels to New Manchester in 5-5A. But plenty more champions could be crowned this weekend, including Athens Academy (8-A Division I), Kell (6-4A), Thomas County Central (2-5A), North Gwinnett (7-6A), Peach County (1-3A) and Gainesville (7-5A).

The Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame will induct its 2025 class of 33 players on Saturday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Here are few tidbits about the class, the hall of fame's fourth. The most famous inductee, at least in Georgia, is Kirby Smart, the Georgia football coach. Playing in 1993 for his dad, Sonny Smart, Kirby was the best player on a Bainbridge team that reached the Class 4A (highest class) semifinals.

Aquinas ATH Jack Rhodes, Buford RB/DB Tyriq Green, Morgan County QB Davis Strickland, Ringgold RB/LB Haddon Fries and Westside-Augusta RB/DB Tamari Curry put up big numbers in their teams’ region victories and led the top performances across the state in Week 10 of the regular season.

Pierce County, a staple in the top 10 since 2018, is out of the high school football rankings despite a 7-1 record after losing last week to unranked Crisp County, a 21-point underdog that entered the game 2-6. Crisp County won 28-16 on Pierce’s home field. Pierce County had been ranked for 96 straight weeks, the sixth-longest active run in the state. Schools with longer active streaks are Buford, Cartersville, Prince Avenue Christian, Lee County and Marist.

One of Markus Brown’s first tasks as McNair’s new football coach was finding a quarterback. Last season's three-year starter was gone, and Brown was looking at a freshman initially. Then Brown and his staff noticed Keyuntae Phillips, a defensive back, was exceptionally quick. They also discovered that Phillips, a senior, had played quarterback in middle school. The rest is history, but like no one could’ve imagined.

Undefeated Powder Springs rivals McEachern and Hillgrove will go head-to-head for sole possession of first place in Region 3-6A in one of Week 10's best matchups. Undefeated top-10 teams Hughes and Northgate will battle to retain at least a share of first place in Region 3-5A game, and Troup and LaGrange resume their rivalry in Class 3A.

The Georgia High School Association voted 66-1 this month to choose and seed playoff teams using a points formula beginning in 2026-27. The plan will apply to all sports that use 32-team playoff brackets. Listed are the current top 32 teams in each class using that points formula, which the GHSA calls the Post Season Rankings. Also included are teams' rankings in GHSF Daily's composite rankings.

Athens Academy ATH Keyon Standifer, Clinch County DB Fred Causey, Coahulla Creek WR/DB Kobe King, Kell QB Kaleb Narcisse and Stockbridge QB Joshua Scott put up big numbers in their teams' region victories led the top performances across the state in Week 9 of the regular season.

Two No. 1 teams won by a point last week. Carver of Columbus kept its ranking. North Oconee did not. Creekside, a 91-0 winner over Drew, is the new No. 1 team in Class 4A. The historic victory, the largest margin in a GHSA game in more than 75 years, wasn’t the main catalyst, however. Drew is winless. More significant was North Oconee’s close call, a 14-13 victory over 4-4 Eastside. North Oconee won its 23rd straight game on a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter.

Calhoun’s Justin Beasley is the new statewide leader in receiving yards after eight weeks of the GHSA regular season. Winder-Barrow’s M.J. Dowdy retook the rushing lead, and Dalton’s Caine Woods maintained his longstanding lead in passing. Beasley had six receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-0 victory over Ridgeland last week.