Clarke County schools learn PSR in their first season under the formula

Clarke County’s two public high schools are learning a new playoff formula and a new classification at the same time.

The Georgia High School Association now uses its Postseason Ranking formula, or PSR, to fill and seed playoff brackets in every classification. For the previous two seasons, it was used only in some smaller classifications, so neither Clarke Central nor Cedar Shoals played under it last school year.

PSR ranks teams on three numbers. A team’s winning percentage counts for 35%, its opponents’ winning percentage counts for 35% and its opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage counts for 30%.

Region champions receive a top-16 seed and a first-round home game. PSR fills the rest of the 32-team bracket.

Kent Morrow, a GHSA associate director, said in a Sept. 3 interview the system will “ensure that we get the very best 32 teams into the playoffs.”

Chris Aiken, Clarke Central’s associate athletic director, said the school is still learning.

“Yes, the information is available,” he said. “We’ve shared it, but I have a sheet of notes in front of me, so I can make sure that I don’t misspeak on it. That’s how new it is and fresh it is.”

Aiken, a former Clarke Central boys soccer coach, said his teams once used easy Tuesday games to prepare for tough region games on Fridays.

Under the old system, region finish decided everything. Cedar Shoals boys basketball went 17-9 overall and 9-3 in region play in 2025-26 but missed state after a 64-57 loss to Walnut Grove in the Region 8-4A tournament. Walnut Grove entered that game 4-20 and went on to state, where it lost 70-23 to Ware County.

L’Dreco Thomas, Cedar Shoals’ athletic director and boys basketball coach, said he will not avoid strong opponents.

I’d rather test myself and see where I am, and during the season see what we need to work on in practice to get better, and to be one of the better teams,” Thomas said. “So I haven’t changed my approach much.”

Both schools moved to Region 8-6A this year. Clarke Central moved up from Class 5A, and Cedar Shoals moved from Class 4A at Thomas’ request.

Clarke Central, which finished 6-6 last season, was 5-1 and No. 7 in Class 6A as of Oct. 7, after a 14-7 win at Walnut Grove on Oct. 2. The Gladiators’ only loss came Sept. 4, 17-10 to North Oconee.

Cedar Shoals was No. 30 in Class 6A as of Oct. 7. The Jaguars went 0-10 in each of the past two seasons, and their 33-17 win over Seckinger on Aug. 28 was their first victory since 2023. Their most recent game was a 14-7 win at Mountain View on Oct. 2.

In softball, Clarke Central (3-19) was No. 58 in Class 6A (.349) after a 15-10 loss at Rabun County on Oct. 5, and Cedar Shoals (7-16) was No. 60 (.325). In volleyball, Clarke Central (15-18) was No. 43 (.495) and Cedar Shoals (3-29) was No. 60 (.364).

“I think every team in this region can truly possibly say that they have a chance to win a region championship, so it’s a more level playing field,” Thomas said.

Georgia Bosart, Tate Howard and Nyelle Royal are students in the undergraduate certificate program in the Carmical Sports Media Institute at UGA.