GHSA rubber-stamps retaining reclassification plan, combining Class A, and seedings over regions for playoffs
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The videotaped and posted universal coin flip is being put out to pasture.
The GHSA executive committee voted Monday to adopt a new playoff rating system starting next year that will seed all 32 teams in the postseason.
The means there will be no meetings of equal teams – teams of the same region seed – in the playoffs, and no need for a coin toss to determine the home team.
There was more discussion - albeit lighthearted - about the demise of the coin flip, executed for years by former executive director Robin Hines, than about any of the topics at the meeting at Macon’s Marriott City Center.
In fact, the three eligibility appeals heard first took longer than the actual business meeting of representatives from every region in every class in the state as well as at-large members.
The executive committee approved retaining the same reclassification format for 2026-28, but it has eliminated the split in Class A, and now there will be a straight-up seven classifications, while retaining one private school playoff classification for teams in Classes AA, AAA, and AAAA. That’s a change from Class A/Division I,, AA, and AAA.
The state Department of Education will release enrollment figures later this month or in early November. The GHSA will then break down the seven classifications in order of enrollment, including out-of-zone numbers, allow for appeals, put teams in regions, and then hear appeals.
“Once that happens, schools will have a week to appeal,” said reclassification committee chair Curt Miller, the athletics director at Oconee County High near Athens. “We'll hear the appeals. Hopefully before we're going home for Christmas, well before that, we're back meeting to ratify reclassification for the 2026-28 school years.”
And the plan to simply seed teams 1-32 - with priority going to region champs - cruised through without discussion. All had been approved by committees on Sunday for proposal and approval Monday.
Gone, for at least two years, are the days of the top four teams automatically making the playoffs. Region champs will get one of the top 16 seeds, even if the postseason ranking lists them lower than that. The hope is for the best teams to make the postseason and advance.
It will be in place for football, softball, volleyball, basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse and tennis. This is the second year of having a rating system for three groups, but with the region placing still having an impact.
Executive director Tim Scott said the association returned $670,000 to member schools recently in waived dues and catastrophic insurance fees.
He said the state wrestling tournament will have to take a one-year hiatus from the Macon Coliseum this year because of a large teachers convention that weekend being hosted at the Marriott.
The successful and packed tournament will be held at the new Clayton County Convention Center, an 8,000-seat facility – a little smaller than the Coliseum – that opened at the location of Southlake Mall in Morrow, about 70 miles north of the Coliseum.
Scott said it’ll be a one-year move, noting afterward that between wrestling and basketball.
“Macon’s been great to us,” Scott said. “They take care of us pretty good.”
In fact, the budget presented at the meeting showed that revenue from the wrestling state tournament increased from $307,982 to $355,115, and basketball state tournament from $723,660 to $915,700.