The GHSA’s biennial reclassification has reformed the the state’s 57 regions, giving the 2026 season a new look.
Here are our choices for the 10 best regions
Region 1-7A: Region 1 from the GHSA’s highest class is the most famous region historically even when the schools have changed over the years. This year, it’s the same five teams, all playoff-worthy. In the top 10 of the AJC Varsity/GHSF Daily rankings are No. 6 Valdosta, No. 7 Colquitt County and No. 8 Lowndes. Richmond Hill returns 18 starters, and Camden County is a top-25 teams in the classification according to the computer Maxwell Ratings, so all could make the playoffs. This is the state’s hardest region in which to have a winning record in region play, per Maxwell.
Region 2-6A: No. 1 Thomas County Central, No. 6 Lee County and No. 8 Houston County start in the top 10. Thomas Central was the 5A champion in 2025. Coffee was a state champion in 2023. Tift County and Northside of Warner Robins are top-32 teams, per Maxwell, giving this region six worthy playoff teams.
Region 3-6A: Creekside, the 2025 Class 4A champion, opens ranked No. 3. Hughes, a 2022 champion, is No. 5. They are south Fulton County neighbors that haven’t played each other since 2019. Woodward Academy, Newnan and Lovejoy also are top-20 Class 6A teams, according to Maxwell’s preseason rankings. This region has 20 3-star or higher prospects spread among six teams. That’s the most of any region. Creekside has seven of them.
Region 6-6A: Only Kell, at No. 10, got a top-10 AJC ranking, but there are five returning playoff teams plus River Ridge, which went 7-3 last season. The others are Rome, Sequoyah, Creekview and Woodstock.
Region 7-6A: The depth is a question, but few regions are as stacked 1-3 as this one with No. 2 Gainesville, No. 4 Milton and No. 7 Roswell. Gainesville lobbied to be with non-metro Atlanta teams, but Region 8 successfully moved to block that.
Region 2-4A: Six top-20 teams play here, according to the Maxwell Ratings. They are No. 3 Troup and No. 5 Peach County from the AJC preseason, plus Mary Persons, Upson-Lee, Spalding and Baldwin.
Region 1-3A: Reigning champions Carver of Columbus and Worth County, ranked No. 1 and No. 3 respectively, and Sumter County is No. 4. No other region has three top-four teams.
Region 3-3A: Toombs County was a state champion and runner-up the past two seasons in Class A Division I. Now, the Bulldogs are in 3A and open the season ranked No. 2 and back in a region with No. 7 Appling County and No. 10 Pierce County. The most recent time they were in the same region, in 2023, they finished in a three-way with one loss apiece. Pierce won the title, and Toombs won it the next year a class below.
Region 1-2A: This league has four top-10 teams: No. 3 Fitzgerald, No. 4 Thomasville, No. 8 Brooks County and No. 10 Dodge County, plus Cook, which the Maxwell Ratings have at No. 11. Bacon County and Berrien are top-32 teams, giving this region seven legitimate playoff teams, per Maxwell.
Region 2-2A: AJC Varsity/GHSF Daily has four ranked teams here: No. 2 Swainsboro, No. 5 Dublin, No. 6 Bleckley County and No. 10 Dodge County. Maxwell has Ace Charter, Vidalia and East Laurens in the top 32, giving this region seven legitimate playoff teams.
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