Where Georgia high school football teams rank in national polls (Aug. 20)

Most of the national high school football ranking services did not update their preseason rankings after a light schedule during the opening week of the season, but the ones that did rewarded the winners of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic and punished the losers.

Grayson, which lost to North Gwinnett 37-22 last week after trailing 37-0 in third quarter, took the biggest tumble. The Rams fell from No. 13 to No. 59 in the MaxPreps poll, from No. 19 to No. 47 in the Massey Ratings and from No. 12 to out of the Top 25 in USA Today’s rankings.

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North Gwinnett, on the other hand, moved up 39 spots to No. 38 in MaxPreps and up 42 spots to No. 15 in the Massey Ratings.

Roswell, which defeated Walton 32-20 last week, went from outside the Top 100 to the No. 55 spot in the Massey Ratings. Brookwood, a 52-7 winner of Cambridge, moved from outside the Top 100 to No. 90 in the Massey Ratings.

Buford, the consensus national champion in 2025, remains the highest-rated Georgia team in nine of the 10 polls. The Wolves open the season Saturday against Gainesville, which is ranked by four polls and has a high of No. 18 in NationalHSFB.com.

Here is where Georgia teams stand in several national polls. The numbers on the left are this week’s rankings; the numbers in parentheses are last week’s rankings. If there are no numbers in parentheses, the poll was not updated after last week’s games.

MaxPreps

(Full Top 100 list)

7. (7) Buford
19. (20) Carrollton
21. (22) Creekside
33. (34) Thomas County Central
37. (38) Gainesville
38. (77) North Gwinnett
46. (46) Milton
51. (51) McEachern
56. (56) Douglas County
59. (13) Grayson
82. (82) Lowndes
85. (85) Newton
91. (91) Valdosta
93. (93) Lee County

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High School Football America

(Full Top 100 list)

5. Buford
8. Carrollton
14. Grayson
24. Creekside
44. Thomas County Central
56. Gainesville
62. Hughes
73. Douglas County
75. Milton
79. Roswell
82. North Gwinnett
87. Lowndes
94. Colquitt County
96. Valdosta

Massey Ratings

(Full Top 100 list)

7. (7) Buford
12. (12) Carrollton
15. (57) North Gwinnett
16. (16) Thomas County Central
40. (41) Creekside
47. (19) Grayson
55. (NR) Roswell
56. (55) Hughes
65. (65) Rome
67. (66) Gainesville
76. (79) Lowndes
84. (87) Valdosta
89. (91) Benedictine
90. (NR) Brookwood
97. (97) Milton

Mister Football

(Composite list)

4. Buford
11. Carrollton
13. Grayson
22. Creekside
38. Thomas County Central
40. Milton
43. Gainesville

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USA Today

(Full Top 25 list)

11. (11) Buford
14. (15) Carrollton
18. (19) Creekside

ESPN SC Next

(Full Top 25 list)

1. Buford
7. Carrollton
8. Grayson
25. Creekside

Rivals

(Full Top 25 list)

7. Carrollton
9. Buford

High School on SI

(Full Top 25 list)

3. Buford
12. Grayson
15. Carrollton
17. Creekside

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NationalHSFB.com

(Full Top 25 list)

6. Buford
10. Creekside
18. Gainesville
25. Thomas County Central

The Sporting News

(Full Top 25 list)

3. Buford
13. Carrollton
15. Grayson

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How top-10 teams fared in GHSA football opening week

North Gwinnett and Roswell moved up in their classifications with wins in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic. Also, Brookwood entered the 7A rankings and Grayson fell out.

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