Twelve teams that have played in the Corky Kell Classic, which will be played for the 23rd time Friday and Saturday at McEachern, have gone on to win state championships the same year. The most recent was Grayson in 2011. (List below.)
Preseason polls would need to be badly wrong for it not to happen in 2014. The top six teams in the Class AAAAAA rankings – McEachern, Colquitt County, Archer, North Gwinnett, Tucker and Mill Creek – are playing as part of the seven-game event. So is defending AAAAAA champion Norcross (No. 9) and the No. 2 team from AAAA, Sandy Creek.
In fact, here are the matchups with the teams' rankings:
Friday
6 p.m. — North Paulding vs. Creekview
8:30 p.m. — No. 3 Archer vs. No. 2 Sandy Creek (AAAA)
Saturday
9 a.m. — No. 5 Carrollton (AAAA) vs. No. 7 Kell (AAAAA)
11:45 a.m. — No. 6 Mill Creek vs. No. 2 Colquitt County
2:45 p.m. — Brookwood vs. Valdosta
5:30 p.m. — No. 9 Norcross vs. No. 5 Tucker
8:45 p.m. — No. 4 North Gwinnett vs. No. 1 McEachern
Corky Kell Classic participants that won state titles -
1996 Brookwood
1997 Parkview
1997 Thomas County Central
1998 Carrollton
2000 Parkview
2001 Parkview
2002 Parkview
2006 Roswell
2008 Camden County
2009 Camden County
2010 Brookwood
2011 Grayson
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