NATIONAL RANKINGS

Where Georgia high school football teams rank in major national preseason polls

Reigning national champ Buford comes into 2026 ranked No. 1 in two national polls.

Buford's Deion Miller (center left) and Ethan Hauser (center right) tackle Carrollton's Cameron Wood (left) during the Class 6A GHSA championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in December. Buford won 28-21 to finish the season undefeated. (Jason Getz/AJC 2025)

By Chip Saye

1 hour ago

The high school football ranking sources that collectively determined Buford to be the national champion in 2025 are now projecting the Wolves to be the best team in Georgia and a national title contender again this season.

Buford, coming off a 15-0 season that ended with its 15th state championship (14th since 2000) but first in Georgia’s highest classification, enters the 2026 season No. 1 nationally in the MaxPreps and ESPN SC Next preseason rankings and in the top 11 of the other eight polls considered by AJC Varsity. The Wolves are the highest-rated Georgia team in every poll except for Rivals, which has Carrollton No. 7 and Buford No. 9.

Last season, Buford became the first Georgia team in 10 years to finish a season ranked No. 1 nationally in at least one poll. The state’s most recent national champion had been Colquitt County, which ended the 2015 season No. 1 in the High School Football America and Prep Force rankings.

Carrollton, Grayson, Creekside and Thomas County Central also received Top 25 recognition in this year’s preseason polls.

Carrollton, which lost to Buford in the Class 6A championship game last season, is ranked in the Top 25 in nine of the 10 polls, with highs of No. 7 in the ESPN and Rivals rankings.

Grayson captured eight Top 25 recognitions, with a high of No. 8 in the ESPN poll. Creekside, the Class 4A champion in 2025, is in the top 25 of seven polls and as high as No. 10 in NationalHSFB.com. Thomas County Central, last year’s Class 5A champion, is ranked No. 16 in the Massey Ratings and No. 25 in NationalHSFB.com.

Here is where Georgia teams stand in the major national preseason polls.