How reclassification, fewer classes will reshape 2024 season

The GHSA reclassifies its member schools every two years. Here’s how the latest reclassification and football changes will reshape this season.

*Fewer classes: The GHSA has seven classifications this year instead of eight. Class 7A is gone, and Class 6A is the highest. After running with eight classes since the 2015 football season, the GHSA hopes contraction will make classes deeper and more competitive, give schools simpler scheduling and lighter travel and make all sports easier to manage.

Assessment: Fewer classes will make 6A, 5A, 4A and A Division II deeper and stronger. The other classes will be weaker without private schools in their playoffs. Seven classes and only 56 regions (instead of 64) are easier to manage. The new private playoff division and the ratings formula (explained below) will add more work. Fewer classifications will not reduce travel.

*Private playoffs: The 25 private schools playing region schedules in classes 3A to A will play among public schools in the regular season, then enter their own state playoff. So while it’s seven classes, it’s still eight championships. The 3A-A private division is the latest version of what produced private-only football champions from 2012 through 2021. After the GHSA abolished Class A Private following the 2021 season, small private schools dominated classes 3A through A in all sports, winning 75 state titles over two years, up from the 33 when they were most recently contained.

Assessment: The GHSA’s public-school majority will accomplish its goal of curbing private-school sports dominance while not isolating them totally, allowing them to compete with public schools in the regular season. Their co-existence in region play will make playoff picking and seeding for 3A-A playoffs problematic.

*Rankings formula: The GHSA will seed playoff teams in Classes 3A through A Division I, plus the 3A-A private division, with its new Post Season Ranking Formula (PSRF). Each 3A, 2A and A D-I team will earn a rating that multiples the team’s W-L percentage with its opponents’ W-L percentage and its opponents’ opponents’ W-L percentage. The PSRF is similar to the ratings percentage index (RPI) the NCAA sometimes uses.

Assessment: The GHSA’s rating formula is simple to compute and understand, but computer rankings experts look down on RPI-like models and say they poorly measure schedule strength.

*Playoff seeding: For classes 6A-4A and A Division II – those that don’t use the rankings formula – it’s the same as always. That is, each class will take the top four teams from each region and seed them 1-4 based off region finish to form a 32-team playoff bracket. In the other classes (3A to A Division I), the PSRF will select and seed the public playoff teams. Region champions and runners-up get automatic berths and higher seeds. Public teams finishing third or fourth are guaranteed playoff berths, and those finishing fifth or below can qualify. After private teams are parceled out, there might be fewer than eight region champions. A public team finishing second to a private team remains a second-place team for seeding purposes. In the private playoffs, all 25 teams will qualify. They will not get extra credit for playing in a higher class, such as Class 3A vs. 2A.

Assessment: The GHSA’s preferential seeding for region winners and runners-up (a champion always higher than a runner-up, and a runner-up higher than all others) ensures adequate selection and seeding for 3A-A public schools. The PSRF will do much worse seeding the private schools because of profound differences in region and strength among teams playing across three classes. Good private teams in tough 3A or 2A regions will be at a disadvantage to Class A teams. Seeding with a points formula also will lead to longer first-round road trips than the GHSA’s traditional playoff-bracket method. For example, the Maxwell Ratings first-round projections have Northwest Whitfield traveling 330 miles to Bainbridge in the Class 3A first round.

*North vs. south: The GHSA’s playoff bracket historically matches teams from regions 1-4 and then 5-8 in the first round. The lower-numbered regions are more likely to have south Georgia teams. The format is meant to limit travel. Against decades of precedence, the GHSA this season will have the following region-vs.-region matchups: 2 vs. 8, 1 vs. 5, 6 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 4. As metro Atlanta sprawls, more and more metro schools are playing in regions 1-4, and those that habitually end up in 1-4 get more than their share of south Georgia playoff assignments.

Assessment: Worth a try. It will be fairer to north-of-Macon teams traditionally assigned to regions 1-4. According to Maxwell's 2024 first-round projections, the change would add an average of 32 round-trip linear miles, or about an hour drive time, per game.