With just one week in the regular season of high school football remaining before the postseason, a look at the current Class AA public-school power rankings suggests several northwest Georgia teams would be playoff-bound if the state playoffs began today.

Using the current public-school rankings and a 32-team bracket format, Model High School would enter the playoffs as the No. 8 seed and host No. 25 Dade County in the opening round. A victory would likely set up a second-round matchup against either No. 9 Fitzgerald or No. 24 Rabun County.

At the top of the field, undefeated Heard County would claim the No. 1 overall seed and open the playoffs against No. 32 Coosa.

Another local team, Pepperell, would make the postseason as the No. 18 seed. The Dragons would travel to face No. 15 Berrien County in what projects to be one of the most competitive first-round contests in the bracket.

Meanwhile, Armuchee would narrowly miss the postseason, sitting at No. 41 in the public-school rankings and outside the top 32 qualifiers.

Projected First-Round Matchups

  • No. 1 Heard County vs. No. 32 Coosa
  • No. 2 Thomasville vs. No. 31 Jefferson County
  • No. 3 Dublin vs. No. 30 Bacon County
  • No. 4 Bleckley County vs. No. 29 Washington
  • No. 5 Jeff Davis vs. No. 28 Vidalia
  • No. 6 Bremen vs. No. 27 East Laurens
  • No. 7 Commerce vs. No. 26 Gordon Lee
  • No. 8 Model vs. No. 25 Dade County
  • No. 9 Fitzgerald vs. No. 24 Rabun County
  • No. 10 Social Circle vs. No. 23 Fannin County
  • No. 11 Jasper County vs. No. 22 Mt. Zion (Carroll)
  • No. 12 Putnam County vs. No. 21 Brooks County
  • No. 13 Laney vs. No. 20 ACE Charter
  • No. 14 Swainsboro vs. No. 19 Dodge County
  • No. 15 Berrien vs. No. 18 Pepperell
  • No. 16 Cook vs. No. 17 Screven County

For local football fans, the biggest storyline is Model’s positioning near the top of the bracket. The Blue Devils not only appear poised to host a first-round game but could potentially advance deep into the postseason with favorable matchups in the early rounds.

Pepperell, meanwhile, remains firmly in the playoff picture and would enter the tournament as a dangerous lower seed capable of pulling an opening-round upset. Coosa would qualify as the final playoff team, earning a trip to face the state’s top-ranked public-school program.

Should the rankings hold, Floyd County could be represented by three teams in the state playoffs, with Model, Pepperell and Coosa all earning postseason berths.