GHSA to discuss Maxwell-proposed alternative to PSR, consider 18 region appeals

The Georgia High School Association’s reclassifications committee on Monday will discuss a new rankings model for picking playoff teams starting in 2026-27 and rule on 18 appeals from schools wishing to change regions.

The new rankings model is one proposed by Loren Maxwell, who produces the Maxwell Ratings for AJC Varsity.

The GHSA currently uses a model it calls the Postseason Rankings Formula (PSR) to help choose and seed playoff teams in bracket sports in classes 3A, 2A, A Division I and 3A-A Private. Region finish allows some teams to jump others in the final standings.

The GHSA’s rankings will have far greater influence in 2026-27, when all eight classes will use rankings, and region finish will no longer matter except to guarantee region champions a top-16 seed in the standard 32-team brackets.

The GHSA’s PSR uses teams’ winning percentage and their opponents’ winning percentage, similar to commonly used rating percentage index (RPI) models. RPI is popular for its simplicity but criticized for its accuracy.

“The committee has a responsibility to the member schools to find the best rating system we can,’' reclassification committee chairman Curt Miller said. ”We plan to look over both PSR and Maxwell and compare the two. Once we do that, we will present one of them to the full executive committee to approve."

Maxwell made a case for a more sophisticated model, one different from his Maxwell Ratings, in an AJC Varsity interview last week, saying, “The best accepted system is not the one easiest to explain; it’s the one hardest to dispute.”

The committee’s first order of business will be region appeals. Below are the 18 schools with their current and preferred regions.

They are generally motivated by travel considerations and often approved. A good example is the bid by Mountain View and Lanier of Gwinnett County and Gainesville of Hall County to move away from the north Fulton County-dominated Region 7-6A and into Region 8, which houses non-metro Atlanta northeast Georgia schools such as Clarke Central, Jackson County and Loganville.

Those representing the proposed receiving region are allowed to argue against them.

GHSA region assignment appeals

Class 7A

• North Atlanta: Region 4 to 3
• Paulding County: Region 2 to 3

Class 6A

• Mountain View: Region 7 to 8
• Gainesville: Region 7 to 8
• Lanier: Region 7 to 8
• Morrow: Region 3 to 4

Class 5A

• Banneker: Region 3 to 5
• Northview: Region 6 to 5

Class 4A

• None

Class 3A

• Union County: Region 8 to 7
• Morgan County: Region 4 to 8
• Cook: Region 1 to unknown

Class 2A

• Swainsboro: Region 3 to 2