Oconee County Schools Adjust as PSR Takes over Playoff Path

Georgia high school teams no longer know their postseason path before the season begins.

After two years of use for smaller schools, the Georgia High School Association’s Post Season Ranking formula, or PSR, now sets playoff brackets in all seven classifications.

Oconee County High School already has some experience with it. As a Class 3A school last year, the Warriors played in a classification where PSR set the playoff seeds, though the top four teams in each region were still guaranteed spots, with the top two getting priority seeding based on PSR ranking.

Last school year, nine Oconee County teams reached state in sports seeded by PSR. Girls soccer, the No. 1 seed, reached the final before losing 2-1 to Jefferson. Girls tennis, seeded No. 2, finished as runner-up to LaGrange. Football, seeded No. 20, won 39-37 at No. 13 Northwest Whitfield in the first round, and softball, seeded No. 26, swept No. 7 Luella on the road in the first round. PSR also is used for volleyball, baseball, boys and girls basketball, and flag football.

This year, only region champions are guaranteed a spot. They receive a top-16 seed and a first-round home game, and PSR fills the rest of the 32-team bracket.

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%. Wins over non-GHSA schools count as 0.9 of a win.

“I think it’s definitely going to benefit when you have a tough region, which we do in some of our sports,” North Oconee athletic director Cassy Moon said.

North Oconee volleyball shows how the numbers add up. As of Oct. 7, the Titans were 27-6, a .815 winning percentage after adjusting for a non-GHSA win. Their opponents had a .618 winning percentage, and their opponents’ opponents had a .548 mark. That produced a PSR of .666, No. 4 in Class 5A. North Oconee last played Oct. 6, a 3-0 win over Madison County.

The formula has also changed scheduling. North Oconee baseball, last season’s Class 4A runner-up, played three Florida teams in a spring break tournament in 2026. For 2027, every opponent on its schedule is a GHSA member.

Oconee County football, now in Class 4A, has faced a demanding schedule. The Warriors lost 42-21 to North Oconee, 22-3 to Clarke Central and 20-0 to Jefferson. As of Oct. 7, those opponents ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, No. 7 in Class 6A and No. 14 in Class 5A. At 3-3, Oconee County, whose last game was a 24-21 win over Cherokee Bluff on Oct. 2, was No. 28 in Class 4A, still inside the playoff field.

Oconee County coach Ben Hall said he has not changed his scheduling philosophy.

“We’re in a spot where we’re going to play really competitive nonregion opponents just because of our geography and where we are,” Hall said. “And we feel like if we take care of our business in nonregion, the PSR and all that will take care of itself.”

North Oconee football was 5-1 and No. 2 in Class 5A as of Oct. 7, its last game a 55-0 win over Winder-Barrow on Oct. 2. The Titans beat then-unbeaten Clarke Central 17-10 on Sept. 4, and their only loss came 20-14 at Jackson County, the top-ranked team in Class 6A.

GHSA’s rankings as of Oct. 7 had both schools inside the 32-team field in all three sports. In football, North Oconee (5-1) was No. 2 in Class 5A with a PSR of .714. Oconee County (3-3) was No. 28 in Class 4A (.510).

In softball, North Oconee (23-3) was No. 7 in Class 5A (.645), and Oconee County (15-11) was No. 18 in Class 4A (.567). In volleyball, North Oconee (27-6) was No. 4 in Class 5A (.666) after a 3-0 win over Madison County on Oct. 6, and Oconee County (32-12) was No. 3 in Class 4A (.622) after a 2-0 loss to North Gwinnett on Oct. 3.

I think it’ll be interesting to see it all play out after a full year of all of the sports,” Moon said.

Bryce Holder and Kris Wilhelm are students in the undergraduate certificate at the Carmical Sports Media Institute at UGA.