McEachern is the No. 1 seed out of Region 4-AAAAAA, but according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, the Indians have a harder draw than every No. 4 seed in AAAAAA besides, Lowndes, which is McEachern's first-round opponent. Consider McEachern's potential road to the championship, with each opponent's Maxwell ranking in AAAAAA - No. 10 Lowndes, No. 4 Archer, No. 5 Mill Creek, No. 1 Colquitt County and No. 2 Grayson. McEachern's average opponent through all five rounds is about 14 points better than that of Colquitt County, which Maxwell judges to have the best draw among No. 1 seeds. Below are those opponents' ratings for each No. 1 seed in all classes. The higher the team is listed, the harder the draw. Also note the parity of classes AAA and AA. Maxwell judges those classes to be roughly equal. In fact, No. 1 seed Heard County's draw in AA is 10 points stronger per opponent than No. 1 seed Jackson's draw in AAA.
Class AAAAAA
86.80 - McEachern
78.99 - South Forsyth
76.72 - Newton
76.58 - Roswell
75.82 - Grayson
74.96 - Westlake
74.00 - Mill Creek
72.49 - Colquitt County
Class AAAAA
69.09 - Dalton
69.08 - Lanier
68.89 - Houston County
67.51 - Coffee
67.35 - Carver (Columbus)
64.77 - Allatoona
63.40 - Stephenson
61.95 - Stockbridge
Class AAAA
58.13 - Mary Persons
57.79 - Bainbridge
56.78 - Jonesboro
55.18 - Buford
54.76 - Thomson
54.35 - St. Pius
53.79 - Woodward Academy
53.11 - Cartersville
Class AAA
50.90 - Blessed Trinity
48.89 - Callaway
48.28 - Dawson County
47.59 - Laney
47.34 - Dodge County
45.40 - Calhoun
44.87 - Oconee County
39.03 - Jackson
Class AA
49.46 - Heard County
48.76 - Darlington
46.37 - Jefferson County
44.28 - Rabun County
44.21 - Benedictine
43.47 - Macon County
43.21 - GAC
40.86 - Brooks County
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