Late PSR recalculations bump teams from playoffs after being told they were in
In an official teleconference meeting with GHSA officials on Saturday morning, representatives from Coosa and Chamblee were told their teams had qualified for the playoffs in 2A and 6A. Three hours later they were told they were out.
It turned out that not all scores were included in the Post Season Rankings totals, and when the information was updated, it altered the standings. Chamblee and Coosa both dropped out the playoffs, abruptly ending the season for both teams.
“We were on a (GHSA) Zoom call (Saturday) morning with everybody else when they released the bracket,” Coosa coach Jason Howard said. “Then they sent an email out at (noon) stating because people had not put in their scores, things had changed and we were out.”
No official from the GHSA called to explain the situation or apologize for the mistake, Howard said.
“I was disappointed. I was upset,” Howard said. “If they did not know that it was finalized at that moment, they shouldn’t have released it.”
Coosa went 3-7 and finished fifth among the public schools in Region 6-2A. After the latent scores were included in calculations, Utopian Academy (4-6) entered the bracket at the No. 31 spot. Bacon County (2-8) fell to No. 32 and Coosa was pushed out.
Chamblee went 6-4 and finished fourth in Region 4-6A. They were replaced by Veterans (4-6) for the final state playoff spot in the 6A bracket. Chamblee initially drew defending state champion Thomas County Central as its first-round opponent. Chamblee coach Bob Swank did not respond to AJC Varsity’s request for comment.
The PSR rankings, a mathematical formula based on win-loss record, opponents’ record and opponents’ opponents’ record, is being used by all eight classifications this year. It replaced the old system where the top four teams in each region qualified for the state playoffs and were plugged into predetermined brackets.
Last year, PSR was used to seed four playoff brackets, including Class A Division 1, in which Coosa played. The Eagles made the PSR-seeded bracket in 2024, however that was under coach Geoff Cannon.
Needless to say, Howard is not a PSR fan.
“If we had taken the top four in our region, we wouldn’t have gone, but we would have known at the end of the day that we weren’t going,” Howard said. “We wouldn’t have been told, ‘Hey, you’re going,’ and then told three hours later, ‘Hey, we messed up. Never mind. Our rankings have changed and y’all are out.’”
Howard is in his first year as head coach at Coosa, after spending 20 seasons as a head coach in Alabama. Although his team would have been prohibitive underdogs in their first-round road game against top-seeded Heard County, Howard said he would have valued an extra week of practice.
“My last 10 years (in Alabama) that we went multiple rounds in the playoffs, I had stopped doing spring (practices) because we pretty much got those extra days of practice from the playoffs when it meant something,” Howard said. “This upcoming week, this extra week of practice, would have been critical for our young kids.”