NATIONAL RANKINGS

Carrollton reaches its highest ranking of the season in national polls

Buford remained the consensus highest-ranked Georgia team for another week.

Carrollton players run through their banner before their game against Buford in the Class 6A GHSA football championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

By Chip Saye

44 minutes ago

Buford remained the consensus highest-ranked Georgia team for another week, but Carrollton reached its highest ranking of the year when it was elevated to No. 2 in the Massey Ratings, four spots ahead of Buford.

Carrollton, which lost to Buford in last year’s Class 6A final in what amounted to a national championship game, is ranked in the Top 18 in all nine of the polls considered by AJC Varsity and in the Top 6 of four. Buford is in the Top 6 in all nine polls, with a high of No. 2 in the High School Football America and ESPN rankings.

The Massey Ratings had a season-high 18 Georgia teams in this week’s Top 100, including five teams — No. 62 Creekside, No. 73 Cartersville, No. 78 Blessed Trinity, No. 90 Westlake and No. 92 Marietta — that were outside the Top 100 last week.

Thomas County Central, the 2025 Class 5A champion, is in the Top 25 of eight polls. North Gwinnett and Lee County also received Top 25 recognition in at least one poll.

Here is where Georgia teams stand in several national polls. The numbers on the left are this week’s rankings; the numbers in parentheses are last week’s rankings.