NATIONAL RANKINGS

Top 3 Georgia teams hold their spots in national rankings after regular season

Buford is the highest-ranked Georgia team.

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

36 minutes ago

There was little movement among the top Georgia teams in the national high school football rankings, so Buford, Carrollton and Thomas County Central will enter the playoffs this weekend as the state’s consensus highest-rated teams.

Thomas County Central moved up one spot in the Massey Ratings (to No. 6) and the USA Today rankings (to No. 13) and held its position in the five other polls monitored weekly by AJC Varsity. The Yellow Jackets rank No. 16 or higher in all seven polls.

Buford is the highest-ranked Georgia team. The Wolves are in the top 10 of every poll with a peak of No. 2 in the ESPN rankings. Carrollton is the top Georgia team in the Massey Ratings, at No. 4, and is ranked No. 14 or higher in every poll.

Sumter County coach Will Rogers was hired in 2023, inheriting a team that had won one game each of the previous three seasons. (Jason Getz/AJC file)

History-making Sumter County coach resigns to care for mother in Atlanta

November 12, 2026

The only other team with top 25 recognition is Lee County, which is No. 25 in the NationalHSFB.com rankings.

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.