Sports

Maxwell Ratings project boys tournament: GAC, Miller Grove aren't the favorites?

By Todd Holcomb
Feb 21, 2014

The Maxwell Ratings were used to simulate this year’s state basketball tournament 1 million times. These are the results  of those computer simulations for the girls brackets in classes AA through AAAAAA, which begin Friday.

Simulations for Class A, which begins Monday, will be published next week. Simulations for the boys brackets will be published later Friday.

Below, each of 160 girls teams is shown with their power ratings,  their ranking among all teams in their classification,  strength of draw in the tournament,  average depth advanced to and  number of times winning the state championship out of the 1 million simulations.

The data is compiled from scores reported to MaxPreps and Georgia Prep Country as of 3 p.m. Thursday. Although attempts are made to reconcile differences in the data, there are inevitably some missing, duplicated and incorrect results.  Readers are encouraged to verify and submit corrections to those websites to improve the accuracy.

Please feel free to post any questions that you have. Loren Maxwell, creator of the Maxwell Ratings, will be available to answer them.

A few observations --

Team most likely to win – Vidalia wins 438,787 of 1 million simulations in Class AA. That's surprising given that another AA team, Greater Atlanta Christian, is the highest-rated team in any classification. GAC had 432,470 wins in the simulation. Vidalia has the better draw, according to Maxwell. The chances that one or the other will win is 87 percent.

Team least likely to win – Screven County made the state playoffs with only four victories, two of them in the Region 3-AA tournament. The Gamecocks are a 27,754,972-to-1 longshot.

Hardest class to predict – AAAA. No team wins more than one in five times, according to Maxwell. In fact, the top three teams – Alexander, Columbia and Rutland – win less than half the time combined.

Worth noting – Maxwell projects Allatoona (27-1) as the most likely winner in AAAAA with 248,412 wins. That would mean an end to Miller Grove's streak of five state titles. Miller Grove wins 201,702 times, which is only third most. Jenkins, which has the best draw in the tournament, comes in at 235,163.

 CLASS AAAAAA   Rank   W   L  Rating Draw  Wins   Depth   Odds 
Wheeler 1 23 5 94.73 83.57     209,763              2.56                        3.77
North Gwinnett 2 25 3 92.95 84.15     153,496              2.27                        5.51
Tift County 4 24 3 89.70 82.70     110,286              2.24                        8.07
Norcross 3 22 6 90.70 84.53       96,112              1.76                        9.40
Pebblebrook 6 20 5 88.08 82.41       72,600              1.94                      12.77
Westlake 5 25 3 89.52 85.16       64,878              1.43                      14.41
Berkmar 10 21 6 86.61 81.82       52,146              1.88                      18.18
Douglas County 9 19 5 86.65 84.21       48,035              1.65                      19.82
Walton 7 23 5 87.23 84.94       47,235              1.57                      20.17
Hillgrove 8 20 7 86.96 84.68       43,618              1.44                      21.93
Milton 11 15 9 86.57 86.05       27,434              0.84                      35.45
Shiloh 13 18 9 82.95 83.09       16,566              1.33                      59.37
Brunswick 14 21 6 82.66 86.54       10,505              0.66                      94.19
Grayson 16 22 6 82.22 85.27       10,128              0.97                      97.74
Newnan 18 19 8 80.05 83.92          9,484              1.20                   104.45
Luella 17 18 8 80.19 84.25          9,421              1.13                   105.15
Dacula 19 18 10 78.67 84.93          4,084              0.83                   243.87
Campbell 24 12 14 76.46 85.00          2,051              0.58                   486.68
Lovejoy 28 16 8 75.99 84.36          1,969              0.70                   506.90
Newton 21 21 7 76.91 86.74          1,918              0.45                   520.27
Etowah 20 14 12 77.85 87.17          1,538              0.25                   649.27
Tri-Cities 27 13 12 76.09 85.42          1,438              0.31                   694.18
Duluth 23 16 12 76.66 87.19          1,167              0.32                   855.65
Coffee 34 18 10 74.34 85.42             952              0.48                1,049.86
South Cobb 36 8 17 73.58 84.84             912              0.62                1,095.23
Valdosta 33 17 10 74.70 86.60             707              0.28                1,414.20
Peachtree Ridge 29 12 16 75.42 87.43             590              0.16                1,692.86
Lambert 37 22 6 73.55 86.64             472              0.40                2,118.41
Alpharetta 40 20 7 72.69 86.12             459              0.48                2,179.79
Rockdale County 47 10 16 67.24 86.58               32              0.11              31,627.22
Johns Creek 55 13 14 60.99 86.94                  2              0.07           479,900.89
Chattahoochee 54 10 17 61.19 85.98                  2              0.09           487,825.64
 CLASS AAAAA   Rank   W   L  Rating Draw  Wins   Depth   Odds 
Allatoona 1 27 1 93.90 80.08     248,412              2.92                        3.03
Jenkins 3 24 2 92.36 76.97     235,163              3.07                        3.25
Miller Grove 2 23 5 93.74 81.78     201,702              2.71                        3.96
Stephenson 5 16 6 87.16 79.67       83,360              2.21                      11.00
Tucker 4 20 4 89.58 85.81       59,354              1.38                      15.85
Warner Robins 6 22 2 84.89 80.46       58,906              1.91                      15.98
Effingham County 11 19 9 80.87 79.74       25,286              1.63                      38.55
Clarke Central 7 26 1 84.51 86.82       17,462              0.84                      56.27
M.L. King 8 13 9 82.82 83.54       16,103              0.98                      61.10
Northside (Warner Robins) 12 20 7 80.08 80.53       14,215              1.26                      69.35
Sprayberry 9 23 5 82.17 85.93          9,917              0.87                      99.84
South Paulding 10 23 5 81.14 85.51          9,039              1.03                   109.63
Osborne 14 16 6 76.97 83.21          4,522              0.98                   220.16
Villa Rica 13 21 7 79.87 86.09          3,801              0.54                   262.10
Bradwell Institute 26 16 12 72.37 79.64          2,413              1.01                   413.41
McIntosh 25 19 9 72.77 81.22          2,182              1.04                   457.23
Whitewater 21 18 8 74.10 82.62          1,757              0.37                   568.12
Apalachee 19 23 5 75.00 84.63          1,314              0.44                   759.90
Northside (Columbus) 30 15 10 69.71 80.59             862              1.02                1,159.27
Pope 18 19 9 75.09 86.83             837              0.40                1,193.81
Lakeside (Evans) 27 18 5 70.59 82.15             807              0.67                1,238.54
Mundy's Mill 35 14 15 68.61 80.22             733              0.84                1,362.47
Evans 34 18 9 68.85 80.17             674              0.73                1,483.48
Bainbridge 39 17 11 67.97 80.83             537              0.69                1,862.14
Hiram 29 10 16 70.34 84.54             307              0.37                3,259.74
Lee County 43 14 12 66.20 82.29             106              0.20                9,462.52
Richmond Hill 53 9 19 64.39 81.66               80              0.45              12,442.47
Sequoyah 42 13 14 66.98 85.46               49              0.07              20,554.27
Mt. Zion (Jonesboro) 50 10 15 64.89 82.20               41              0.17              24,585.37
Gainesville 40 16 12 67.45 87.04               35              0.07              28,613.77
Salem 55 9 19 63.72 85.56               20              0.09              50,181.11
Hardaway 67 8 19 59.26 83.59                  4              0.04           265,633.41
 CLASS AAAA   Rank   W   L  Rating Draw  Wins   Depth   Odds 
Alexander 2 22 3 86.35 73.71     199,178              2.71                        4.02
Columbia 1 23 4 86.45 75.98     156,443              2.33                        5.39
Rutland 4 22 5 83.39 77.57       92,351              1.96                        9.83
Fayette County 3 20 7 84.60 78.02       90,213              1.75                      10.08
Westover 5 19 5 82.12 76.92       78,109              2.00                      11.80
Jonesboro 7 21 6 81.48 78.30       60,597              1.68                      15.50
Liberty County 6 19 6 81.62 79.20       52,161              1.46                      18.17
Glenn Hills 9 18 4 80.79 78.84       47,874              1.55                      19.89
Johnson (Gainesville) 8 23 5 81.22 79.12       47,168              1.50                      20.20
Sandy Creek 11 20 8 78.84 77.94       30,126              1.50                      32.19
Eastside 10 23 3 79.08 78.82       27,623              1.13                      35.20
River Ridge 17 20 8 76.41 78.37       17,662              1.11                      55.62
Riverdale 13 20 5 77.09 79.64       15,936              1.01                      61.75
Worth County 19 21 6 75.84 78.33       14,651              1.21                      67.25
Veterans 16 17 10 76.49 79.95       13,061              0.94                      75.56
Carrollton 18 13 11 76.00 78.45       12,948              0.88                      76.23
Eagle's Landing 15 20 5 76.57 79.92       11,204              0.79                      88.26
Westside (Macon) 20 17 10 75.61 79.88          8,135              0.69                   121.93
Marist 29 15 13 71.77 76.97          5,656              1.15                   175.79
Grady 23 16 10 74.05 79.41          4,410              0.48                   225.77
Crisp County 22 15 13 74.07 80.50          4,051              0.43                   245.86
Perry 26 16 13 72.87 80.02          3,383              0.44                   294.56
Albany 25 14 8 72.98 80.40          3,140              0.44                   317.46
Stone Mountain 27 16 11 72.83 80.80          2,551              0.41                   391.01
Butler 35 10 18 67.40 79.86             526              0.34                1,901.40
North Clayton 36 11 17 66.94 80.86             309              0.18                3,236.88
Gilmer 40 20 4 65.92 81.09             182              0.18                5,487.97
Richmond Academy 42 12 13 64.74 80.40             144              0.17                6,954.21
Walnut Grove 50 15 13 62.39 79.04             105              0.30                9,542.69
Dalton 45 17 8 64.03 80.78               95              0.19              10,526.48
Lumpkin County 61 15 13 58.20 81.63                  6              0.05           165,067.76
Cass 69 10 16 54.14 80.16                  2              0.04           650,937.76
 CLASS AAA   Rank   W   L  Rating Draw  Wins   Depth   Odds 
Washington County 1 23 1 88.42 75.15     234,141              2.89                        3.27
Cartersville 2 25 2 87.61 76.78     183,284              2.53                        4.46
Savannah 4 22 4 83.92 75.10     133,360              2.34                        6.50
Morgan County 3 21 5 84.68 76.35     124,779              2.24                        7.01
Johnson (Savannah) 5 21 4 83.15 73.69     101,992              2.41                        8.80
Buford 6 22 5 82.00 74.46       72,625              2.10                      12.77
Cedar Grove 8 18 6 79.45 74.26       55,251              2.16                      17.10
St. Pius X Catholic 7 23 5 81.11 79.68       31,714              1.13                      30.53
Blessed Trinity 9 22 6 77.99 78.41       21,249              1.34                      46.06
Thomson 11 17 4 74.64 77.98          9,844              0.58                   100.59
Woodward Academy 10 18 9 75.40 78.21          9,027              0.57                   109.77
Carver (Columbus) 15 14 8 69.15 71.83          5,778              1.64                   172.08
Central (Macon) 13 19 6 71.78 76.70          4,328              1.11                   230.06
Swainsboro 16 13 13 68.11 75.16          3,169              1.21                   314.53
Elbert County 12 21 4 73.31 80.92          2,988              0.48                   333.63
Callaway 17 17 6 67.71 75.27          2,303              0.98                   433.22
Douglass 14 18 5 69.43 77.98          1,936              0.94                   515.40
Dawson County 20 21 7 65.42 76.22             868              0.97                1,150.77
East Hall 21 16 12 64.55 77.18             408              0.60                2,450.08
Ringgold 25 18 8 62.70 77.57             227              0.58                4,395.77
Hart County 19 19 8 65.72 80.79             202              0.24                4,945.05
New Hampstead 29 11 14 60.35 77.56             125              0.39                7,986.85
Southeast Bulloch 24 17 10 63.44 80.15               99              0.09              10,098.31
White County 22 17 10 64.11 81.48               78              0.09              12,801.81
Oconee County 28 12 16 60.63 78.02               76              0.17              13,191.46
Henry County 26 13 12 61.44 79.29               66              0.31              15,221.94
Peach County 30 9 15 59.25 76.96               59              0.30              16,807.40
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 34 16 10 56.75 77.84               19              0.30              51,999.27
Rockmart 42 13 13 54.68 78.71                  3              0.14           307,382.85
Jefferson County 45 7 16 53.46 79.62                  2              0.05           473,177.48
North Murray 50 14 11 50.74 80.71                 -              0.04        2,762,992.86
Jackson 54 5 18 46.30 76.40                 -              0.09        3,324,301.37
 CLASS AA   Rank   W   L  Rating Draw  Wins   Depth   Odds 
Vidalia 2 27 0 94.93 69.66     438,787              4.02                        1.28
Greater Atlanta Christian 1 27 0 96.90 72.73     432,470              3.84                        1.31
Laney 3 23 4 85.28 77.93       68,802              2.43                      13.53
Calhoun 4 22 2 76.72 74.97       20,614              2.12                      47.51
Pelham 7 21 3 74.48 73.39          9,364              2.08                   105.79
Model 5 22 3 76.61 77.98          7,462              1.13                   133.02
McIntosh County Academy 6 16 9 75.60 80.41          5,888              1.20                   168.84
Northeast 10 20 8 69.55 75.04          3,076              1.45                   324.14
Hapeville Charter 9 16 9 69.90 76.62          2,724              1.15                   366.08
Jefferson 8 23 5 71.04 78.06          2,514              1.36                   396.82
Westminster 13 14 12 68.34 77.35          1,798              1.08                   555.19
Josey 14 12 14 67.93 76.31          1,550              1.13                   644.04
Westside (Augusta) 12 13 11 68.87 76.36          1,485              0.81                   672.55
Manchester 11 21 4 69.02 79.87          1,122              1.02                   889.99
Coosa 16 17 9 66.38 77.25             923              0.92                1,082.03
Greene County 21 18 9 64.33 78.27             455              0.68                2,196.06
Kendrick 23 12 11 62.33 78.06             239              0.66                4,191.51
Dade County 19 18 9 64.60 81.43             176              0.50                5,680.08
Rabun County 25 19 7 62.12 78.81             148              0.41                6,744.89
Crawford County 18 19 6 65.04 82.24             115              0.27                8,688.85
Thomasville 26 13 14 61.75 76.20               83              0.31              12,001.66
Jeff Davis 27 15 10 60.58 79.38               70              0.69              14,216.43
Cook 24 19 8 62.19 82.54               36              0.10              27,735.36
Spencer 29 12 14 58.47 78.62               33              0.17              30,608.50
Early County 33 9 15 56.99 79.43               27              0.37              37,493.11
Putnam County 34 8 17 56.74 80.34               17              0.53              60,354.58
Lovett 31 8 16 58.11 80.64               13              0.24              74,605.23
Bryan County 38 11 18 53.96 78.15                  6              0.19           162,379.44
Jordan 36 14 15 56.10 79.26                  2              0.10           409,951.67
Macon County 43 4 21 50.73 78.50                  1              0.01        1,181,029.42
Union County 44 15 12 50.08 82.09                 -              0.01        5,539,772.76
Screven County 54 2 19 43.35 79.62                 -              0.04      27,754,972.97

About the Author

Todd Holcomb

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