MACON, Ga. — The Georgia High School Association approved changes to how teams are selected and seeded for bracket sports, including high school football.
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Under the previous format, the 32-team playoff for each classification consisted of the top four teams from each region. Now, the playoff brackets will be based on a points formula similar to rating percentage index used by the NCAA.
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Only teams that win their regions are guaranteed playoff spots. The rest of the playoffs will be decided based on No. 1-No. 32 seed rankings for each classification.
GHSA members voted 66-1 to approve the points system, which will start during the 2026-2027 school year.
“The GHSA debuted this PSR formula back in 2024 for Class 3A, 2A, and Class A Division I, along with the private-school division, and now is ready to apply it across the state. It’s going to enable the GHSA to get the best 32 teams on the field to play or court in postseason,” a GHSA spokesperson said in a statement. “The goal is to make sure we have the best eight in the quarterfinals, the best four in the semi-finals, and the best two in the championship.”
There are also minimum number of regular-season game requirements for each bracket sport:
- Football (9 games)
- Softball (20 games)
- Volleyball (30 matches)
- Basketball (22 games)
- Baseball (20 games)
- Soccer (14 games)
- Lacrosse (14 games)
- Tennis (14 games)
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