GHSA makes bold move to change playoff seeding in all bracket sports

The Georgia High School Association voted almost unanimously Monday to select and seed playoff teams in all bracket sports and classifications using a points formula starting with the 2026-27 academic year.

In a bold departure from decades of tradition, region finish and standings will become almost irrelevant.

The executive committee’s vote in Macon went 66-1 to approve the proposal. Forsyth County Schools athletic director Nathan Turner voted against it.

The GHSA’s objective is to award playoff berths and seeding priority to sports teams based on their statewide strength and not their finish in what might be a weak or strong region.

In football, for example, six of the top seven teams in the AJC’s Class 5A rankings are from two regions. From Region 2 are No. 2 Thomas County Central, No. 5 Houston County and No. 7 Lee County. From Region 7 are No. 3 Milton, No. 4 Gainesville and No. 6 Roswell.

In some seasons, though not this one, those two regions could be matched up in the first round of a 32-team bracket. That would mean two games between top-10 teams just to reach the round of 16.

Using the GHSA’s points formula, called the Post Season Rankings, it would be possible that all six would be seeded in the top eight. Under the current format, two of them will be seeded outside the top 16.

“Our goal is to make sure we’ve got the elite eight in the elite eight and the best four in the final four and the best two in the state championship,” GHSA executive director Tim Scott said. “Using this formula is what the coaches and the committee felt will help us do that.”

For the past 30 years, when the GHSA expanded state playoffs to 32 teams in each classification, the qualifiers have been the top four finishes in each of eight regions. The teams were seeded by their region finish.

Starting in 2024-25, the GHSA went to its Postseason Rankings Formula to help seed and select playoff teams for three classifications — 3A, 2A and A Division I — plus the 3A-A Private playoff division.

But the current format for the lower classifications still guarantees playoff berths to top-four finishers in each region and gives seeding priority to region champions and runners-up.

Under the new format, only region champions will be guaranteed playoff berths, and all seven classifications plus the private-playoff division will use the Post Season Rankings. It will be possible for a second-place team to miss the playoffs or for a fourth-place team to get a higher seed than a third-place team from its own region.

Though Monday’s vote was overwhelming supportive, some coaches have publicly denounced it.

“This is a terrible plan!” Habersham Central football coach Benji Harrison posted on X (formerly Twitter) in response to news of GHSA’s proposal on Georgia High School Football Daily’s X. “People need to speak up! What’s the point in having regions?”

“This is a terrible idea,” Putnam County football coach Joel Harvin posted. “Teams will only schedule easy wins instead of having good non-region matchups. The current system/formula only rewards teams for wins. The best thing a team can do if they approve this is just schedule wins. This doesn’t give true rank.”

The GHSA’s formula for the Post Season Rankings is similar to the RPI (ratings percentage index) the NCAA often cites to help committees seed teams. It multiplies a team’s winning percentage by its opponents’ winning percentage by its opponents’ opponents winning percentage.

Sports that do not have brackets and head-to-head team matchups, such as track and field and golf, will not use the points ratings.