AJC Varsity

Maxwell GHSA championship predictions: Carrollton-Buford highest rated matchup in 45 years

The projections are a combination of the current Maxwell ratings and actual scoring patterns.
(Jason Getz/AJC)
(Jason Getz/AJC)
By Loren Maxwell
Updated Dec 15, 2025

These are the current Maxwell projections for this weekend.

The projections are a combination of the current Maxwell ratings and actual scoring patterns. For example, in football, scores of 0, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are significantly more likely than scores such as 1, 2, 4, 5 and 11, and a score of 28 is much more likely than a score of 29.

Aside from the team information, shown below are each game’s rating, the probability of the favorite winning, the median score for each team and the median margin of victory for the favorite.

The game rating is the rating required to win 50% of all games in an infinite round-robin competition against the expected rating of the loser of the game in proportion to how often each team would win. This rating favors games with highly rated and closely matched opponents.

The median score for each team is the score that team would achieve both less than and more than at least 50% of the time if the game were infinitely repeated. For example, if a team’s median score is 20, then at least 50% of the time, the team would score 20 points or less, and at least 50% of the time, the team would score 20 points or more. The median margin of victory is the difference between each team’s median score and, thus, the margin that the favorite would achieve both less than and more than at least 50% of the time if the game were infinitely repeated.

Favorite Projection Underdog
Date Game Rating Class Team Pct Median Scores Median Margin Team Class
Tue, Dec 16104.95AAAAAACarrollton72.2%30 - 228BufordAAAAAA
Wed, Dec 1795.05AAAAAThomas County Central65.6%27 - 216GainesvilleAAAAA
Mon, Dec 1584.46AAAACreekside87.6%34 - 1618BenedictineAAAA
Wed, Dec 1777.43AAA PublicSandy Creek78.9%28 - 1612JeffersonAAA Public
Wed, Dec 1774.91Smaller PrivateHebron Christian66.1%29 - 245Calvary DaySmaller Private
Tue, Dec 1666.84AA PublicCarver (Columbus)82.7%23 - 716Hapeville CharterAA Public
Tue, Dec 1665.04A Division I PublicToombs County74.8%28 - 208Worth CountyA Division I Public
Mon, Dec 1557.86A Division IILincoln County65.5%28 - 244BowdonA Division II

About the Author

Loren Maxwell

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