GHSA sticks with PSR ratings, passes on Maxwell model for now
The Georgia High School Association will stick with its Postseason Ranking Formula to pick and seed playoffs after giving another model, created by Loren Maxwell, a hearing Monday.
The PSR, based on team winning percentage and opponent winning percentage, has helped pick and seed playoff teams in classes 3A, 2A, A Division I and 3A-A private the past two football seasons.
Beginning in 2026-27, the PSR will govern all eight classes, seeding teams 1-32 in bracket sports. Region finish no longer will override the PSR except to guarantee region winners a top-16 seed.
Maxwell, creator of the Maxwell Ratings published on AJC Varsity, proposed a more complex model he said he believes is more accurate. It correlates more strongly with human polls.
For example, the PSR this season ranked a one-loss region football runner-up, Lowndes, as the No. 2 team in Class 6A, ahead of Grayson (10-0), the unanimous No. 1 team in the rankings. Seeded that way, Lowndes would have had home-field advantage in every playoff round if the 2026 playoff format were in place this season. Human polls rank the Vikings No. 6, the same as Maxwell’s model.
Maxwell’s model, based on the Bradley-Terry probability model that uses pairwise comparisons and not winning percentage, is also harder to understand, whereas the PSR can be computed quickly with a calculator, which many coaches prefer.
Another concern about Maxwell’s model expressed in Monday’s reclassification meeting was that it largely ignores contests against out-of-state and other non-GHSA opponents.
“With Maxwell, those games just don’t exist in the formula,” reclass committee chairman Curt Miller said. “I think that’s a concern for a lot of people. You don’t get a win or a loss. The game didn’t happen, and that’s where you can see teams potentially getting advantage there or a disadvantage.”
Other committee members were concerned Maxwell’s model might encourage teams to run up the score if margin of victory is counted.
Committee members also were reluctant to change models now that schools have been placed in 2026-27 regions and coaches have begun making schedules designed to maximize PSR benefits.
Miller, who initiated the discussion of Maxwell’s models and sees some of its benefits, said he expected the GHSA to evaluate the PSR for the next two academic years and will continue to keep Maxwell’s model in mind.
“We’ll have to look at it the following year when we’re power ranking every classification, and even then, we’re going to need more than a year,” Miller said. “So I think those two years, taking a look at it, and I would say the earliest would be the 2028-2030 cycle, unless we see something that’s just drastically different, it’s much better, and we need to put it in the second year of the cycle we’re talking about.”
Maxwell said he was “pleased and honored” the GHSA considered his model and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time.
“Personally, I would have either stayed with the region standings if they wanted something simple or adopted a more rigorous model if they wanted something more equitable, but the PSR will have a couple of years to prove itself,” Maxwell said. “I expect its performance will be evaluated during the next reclassification in two years and perhaps the schools will be pleased with the results. If not, at least they’re aware there are alternatives.”
— AJC Varsity reporter Jack Leo contributed to this report.
About the Author
Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.
