There were plenty of close calls for the state’s No. 1-ranked teams last week, but only one fell by the wayside. That meant very few changes at the top of the GPB Rankings.

Thomson, the defending Class 2A champion, lost its opener to Class 4 No. 7 Burke County 14-12. As a result of the close loss, the Bulldogs dropped two spots to No. 3. Fitzgerald, which lost to Thomson in the 2022 title game, moved into the No. 1 spot after blanking Irwin County 28-0.

The other No. 1 teams remained the same: Buford in 7A, Hughes in 6A, Ware County in 5A, Benedictine in 4A, Cedar Grove in 3A, Prince Avenue Christian in Class A Division I and Schley County in Class A Division II.

"Here's the first week of the question, 'Just how far do you drop someone for losing a non-region game?' Well, not much, really,” GPB’s Jon Nelson said. “Carrollton does drop, but not out. Marist does drop, but not out of my ballot. Warner Robins drops, but not a lot.

"See where I'm going here? Unless the game was a total shocker, there's some shifting but it's not the end of a rankings season. There's some really cool non-region matchups and rivalry games again this week. Let's see what happens and how much of what I said goes into the blender.”

Nelson was referring to Class 7A Carrollton, who fell just short in its upset bid against defending Class 6A champion and No. 1-ranked Hughes. Carrollton lost 39-34 and slipped from No. 2 to No. 3. Warner Robins lost 26-19 to Class 6A No. 5 Lee County and dropped from No. 3 to No. 4 in the Class 5A rankings. Marist lost to Class 6A No. 2 Gainesville 34-26 and dropped out of the rankings.

There were numerous teams who moved into the rankings for the first time: Class 7A – No. 8 Parkview, No. 9 Norcross and No. 10 Brookwood; Class 6A – No. 8 Thomas County Central; Class 5A – No. 10 Jones County; Class 4A – No. 8 Wayne County; Class 3A – No. 10 Adairsville; Class 2A – No. 10 Spencer; Class A Division I – No. 10 Rabun County; Class A Division I – No. 8 Jenkins County, No. 9 Telfair County, No. 10 Aquinas.

You can also keep up with our rankings and team movement up and down the pool on a weekly basis here. 

Class 7A

  1. Buford
  2. Colquitt County
  3. Carrollton
  4. Mill Creek
  5. Walton
  6. Milton
  7. Westlake
  8. Parkview
  9. Norcross
  10. Brookwood

Also receiving votes: Camden County, Grayson, North Cobb.

Class 6A

  1. Hughes
  2. Gainesville
  3. Roswell
  4. Rome
  5. Lee County
  6. Woodward Academy
  7. Houston County
  8. Thomas County Central
  9. Northside Warner Robins
  10. Brunswick

Also receiving votes: Marist, Douglas County.

Class 5A

  1. Ware County
  2. Creekside
  3. Cartersville
  4. Warner Robins
  5. Coffee
  6. Jefferson
  7. Hiram
  8. Calhoun
  9. Dutchtown
  10. Jones County

Also receiving votes: Clarke Central, Northside-Columbus, Kell

Class 4A

  1. Benedictine
  2. Troup
  3. North Oconee
  4. Cedartown
  5. Perry
  6. Bainbridge
  7. Burke County
  8. Wayne County
  9. Stockbridge
  10. Spalding

Also receiving votes: Baldwin, Holy Innocents’, Westminster, Central Carroll

Class 3A

  1. Cedar Grove
  2. Calvary Day
  3. Carver Atlanta
  4. Sandy Creek
  5. Thomasville
  6. Savannah Christian
  7. Carver Columbus
  8. Stephens County
  9. Peach County
  10. Adairsville

Also receiving votes: Hebron Christian, Mary Persons, Oconee County.

Class 2A

  1. Fitzgerald
  2. Appling County
  3. Thomson
  4. Callaway
  5. Fellowship Christian
  6. Rockmart
  7. Pierce County
  8. Northeast
  9. Athens Academy
  10. Spencer

Also receiving votes: Putnam County, Eagle’s Landing Christian, Columbia, Jeff Davis, Cook

Class A Division I

  1. Prince Avenue Christian
  2. Swainsboro
  3. Lamar County
  4. Elbert County
  5. Irwin County
  6. Bleckley Count
  7. Dublin
  8. Brooks County
  9. Trion
  10. Rabun County

Also receiving votes: Bryan County, Darlington, St. Francis, East Laurens, Mount Vernon

Class A Division II

  1. Schley County
  2. Johnson County
  3. Early County
  4. Manchester
  5. Clinch County
  6. Bowdon
  7. McIntosh County Academy
  8. Jenkins County
  9. Telfair County
  10. Aquinas

Also receiving votes: Wilcox County, Charlton County, Lincoln County, Dooly County, Turner County, Macon County, Wheeler County