Maxwell’s playoff projections heading into Week 3

Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?

Yeah, Jim Mora, it’s Sept. 1, and we’re talking playoffs. Loren Maxwell, creator of the Maxwell Ratings, publishes his playoff predictions weekly on ajc.com, where he talks playoffs.

If nothing else, they’re newsworthy for the bracket alignment and region matchups, which change each year. And they’re great topics of motivation for the disrespected.

Below are the most likely first-round matchups 10 weeks out, according to Maxwell’s computer model.

Class 7A

Those Buford-Mill Creek (Oct. 13) and Carrollton-Westlake (Oct. 20) region games sure look good. And there’s about to be a run on thumb tacks in Kingsland. Camden County is projected to miss the playoffs.

R4 #3 Newton at R1 #2 Lowndes

R3 #4 McEachern at R2 #1 Westlake

R7 #3 Peachtree Ridge at R6 #2 Lambert

R8 #4 Mountain View at R5 #1 Walton .

R1 #3 Valdosta at R4 #2 Grayson

R2 #4 Pebblebrook at R3 #1 Harrison

R6 #3 West Forsyth at R7 #2 North Gwinnett

R5 #4 Cherokee at R8 #1 Mill Creek

R5 #3 Wheeler at R8 #2 Buford

R6 #4 Denmark at R7 #1 Norcross

R2 #3 East Coweta at R3 #2 Marietta

R1 #4 Richmond Hill at R4 #1 Parkview

R8 #3 Collins Hill at R5 #2 North Cobb

R7 #4 Meadowcreek at R6 #1 Milton

R3 #3 North Paulding at R2 #2 Carrollton

R4 #4 Brookwood at R1 #1 Colquitt County

Class 6A

Not sure Houston County is really going to finish in fourth place again, but if the Bears do, that could produce a Houston County-Marist first-round game. In fact, Marist and all of Region 4 will be under a sweep warning come November, according to Maxwell.

R4 #3 St. Pius at R1 #2 Thomas County Central

R3 #4 Jonesboro at R2 #1 Brunswick

R7 #3 Alpharetta at R6 #2 Creekview

R8 #4 Shiloh at R5 #1 Hughes

R1 #3 Northside (Warner Robins) at R4 #2 North Atlanta

R2 #4 Evans at R3 #1 Woodward Academy

R6 #3 River Ridge at R7 #2 Blessed Trinity

R5 #4 South Paulding at R8 #1 Gainesville

R5 #3 Alexander at R8 #2 North Forsyth

R6 #4 Etowah at R7 #1 Roswell

R2 #3 Effingham County at R3 #2 Mundy's Mill

R1 #4 Houston County at R4 #1 Marist

R8 #3 Lanier at R5 #2 Douglas County

R7 #4 Sprayberry at R6 #1 Rome

R3 #3 Lovejoy at R2 #2 Glynn Academy

R4 #4 Riverwood at R1 #1 Lee County

Class 5A

No. 2 Creekside, No. 3 Warner Robins and No. 4 Coffee are in the same quarter of this projected draw. The winners of regions 1 (projected to be Ware County) and 7 (Calhoun) might like what they see.

R4 #3 Chamblee at R1 #2 Coffee

R3 #4 Harris at R2 #1 Warner Robins

R7 #3 Dalton at R6 #2 Cambridge

R8 #4 Eastside at R5 #1 Creekside

R1 #3 Statesboro at R4 #2 Decatur

R2 #4 Ola at R3 #1 Northgate

R6 #3 Greater Atlanta Christian at R7 #2 Cartersville

R5 #4 Banneker at R8 #1 Jefferson

R5 #3 Chapel Hill at R8 #2 Flowery Branch

R6 #4 Centennial at R7 #1 Calhoun

R2 #3 Jones County at R3 #2 Northside (Columbus)

R1 #4 Jenkins at R4 #1 Tucker

R8 #3 Clarke Central at R5 #2 Mays

R7 #4 Hiram at R6 #1 Kell

R3 #3 McIntosh at R2 #2 Dutchtown

R4 #4 Arabia Mountain at R1 #1 Ware County

Class 4A

No. 1 Benedictine and No. 2 North Oconee will be in the same quarter of the draw if they win their regions. No. 6 Wayne County at No. 5 Perry would be a strong first-rounder, though both are bent on finishing higher than projected. Maxwell predicts Baldwin to the semifinals for the first time since 2005.

R4 #3 Whitewater at R1 #2 Cairo

R3 #4 New Hampstead at R2 #1 Baldwin

R7 #3 Northwest Whitfield at R6 #2 Stephenson

R8 #4 Cedar Shoals at R5 #1 Stockbridge

R1 #3 Westover at R4 #2 Trinity Christian

R2 #4 Howard at R3 #1 Benedictine

R6 #3 Hapeville Charter at R7 #2 Central (Carrollton)

R5 #4 McDonough at R8 #1 North Oconee

R5 #3 Lovett at R8 #2 Madison County

R6 #4 Westminster at R7 #1 Cedartown

R2 #3 Spalding at R3 #2 Burke County

R1 #4 Hardaway at R4 #1 Troup

R8 #3 North Hall at R5 #2 Pace Academy

R7 #4 Sonoraville at R6 #1 Holy Innocents'

R3 #3 Wayne County at R2 #2 Perry

R4 #4 LaGrange at R1 #1 Bainbridge

Class 3A

No. 7 Monroe Area at No. 6 Carver of Atlanta would be a first-round treat. Maxwell is projecting Stephens County to the semifinals for the first time since 1992.

R4 #3 Hephzibah at R1 #2 Carver (Columbus)

R3 #4 Long County at R2 #1 Peach County

R7 #3 Pickens at R6 #2 Ringgold

R8 #4 Hebron Christian at R5 #1 Cedar Grove

R1 #3 Crisp County at R4 #2 Morgan County

R2 #4 Jackson at R3 #1 Calvary Day

R6 #3 Bremen at R7 #2 White County

R5 #4 Douglass at R8 #1 Stephens County

R5 #3 Carver (Atlanta) at R8 #2 Monroe Area

R6 #4 Coahulla Creek at R7 #1 Dawson County

R2 #3 Mary Persons at R3 #2 Savannah Christian

R1 #4 Dougherty at R4 #1 Harlem

R8 #3 Oconee County at R5 #2 Sandy Creek

R7 #4 Wesleyan at R6 #1 Adairsville

R3 #3 Savannah Country Day at R2 #2 Upson-Lee

R4 #4 Richmond Academy at R1 #1 Thomasville

Class 2A

Maxwell projects North Cobb Christian to win its first region title and Redan to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

R4 #3 Washington County at R1 #2 Cook

R3 #4 Vidalia at R2 #1 Northeast

R7 #3 Fannin County at R6 #2 South Atlanta

R8 #4 East Jackson at R5 #1 Callaway

R1 #3 Dodge County at R4 #2 Putnam County

R2 #4 Southwest at R3 #1 Pierce County

R6 #3 Mount Paran Christian at R7 #2 North Murray

R5 #4 Redan at R8 #1 Fellowship Christian

R5 #3 Columbia at R8 #2 Athens Academy

R6 #4 Washington at R7 #1 Rockmart

R2 #3 ACE Charter at R3 #2 Appling County

R1 #4 Jeff Davis at R4 #1 Thomson

R8 #3 Union County at R5 #2 Eagle's Landing Christian

R7 #4 Model at R6 #1 North Cobb Christian

R3 #3 Toombs County at R2 #2 Spencer

R4 #4 Laney at R1 #1 Fitzgerald

Class A Division I

The 2022 finalists – No. 1 Prince Avenue Christian and No. 2 Swainsboro – are projected to meet in the quarterfinals. Also under this theory, Mount Vernon will win its first region title, Bryan County will host its first state playoff game, and Jasper County will host its first since 1992.

R4 #3 Heard County at R1 #2 Brooks County

R3 #4 Claxton at R2 #1 Swainsboro

R7 #3 Pepperell at R6 #2 Whitefield Academy

R8 #4 Athens Christian at R5 #1 Prince Avenue Christian

R1 #3 Pelham at R4 #2 Temple

R2 #4 Jefferson County at R3 #1 Metter

R6 #3 Mount Pisgah Christian at R7 #2 Darlington

R5 #4 Oglethorpe County at R8 #1 Rabun County

R5 #3 Social Circle at R8 #2 Elbert County

R6 #4 St. Francis at R7 #1 Trion

R2 #3 Dublin at R3 #2 Bryan County

R1 #4 Bacon County at R4 #1 Lamar County

R8 #3 Commerce at R5 #2 Jasper County

R7 #4 Dade County at R6 #1 Mount Vernon

R3 #3 Screven County at R2 #2 Bleckley County

R4 #4 Crawford County at R1 #1 Irwin County

Class A Division II

Macon County beat Clinch County last week, and Early County plays Schley County this week. If these projections hold, those games will be replayed in the second round. Maxwell also thinks that GHSF Daily’s second-ranked team in the class, Manchester, is the third-best team in Region 6.

R4 #3 Telfair County at R1 #2 Mitchell County

R3 #4 Portal at R2 #1 Clinch County

R7 #3 Christian Heritage at R6 #2 Macon County

R8 #4 Lincoln County at R5 #1 Johnson County

R1 #3 Terrell County at R4 #2 Dooly County

R2 #4 Lanier County at R3 #1 McIntosh County Academy

R6 #3 Manchester at R7 #2 Mount Zion

R5 #4 GMC Prep at R8 #1 Aquinas

R5 #3 Hancock Central at R8 #2 Greene County

R6 #4 Chattahoochee County at R7 #1 Bowdon

R2 #3 Charlton County at R3 #2 ECI

R1 #4 Miller County at R4 #1 Wilcox County

R8 #3 Washington-Wilkes at R5 #2 Wilkinson County

R7 #4 Bye vs. R6 #1 Schley County

R3 #3 Jenkins County at R2 #2 Turner County

R4 #4 Wheeler County at R1 #1 Early County

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Saye It Ain’t So: Surprising and notable results from Week 3

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