Region 7-AAAAAA
Alpharetta Raiders
Cambridge Bears
Centennial Knights
Chattahoochee Cougars
Dunwoody Wildcats
Johns Creek Gladiators
North Atlanta Warriors
Northview Titans
Pope Greyhounds
GHSA SOFTBALL STATE SEEDING PROPOSAL
The GHSA’s current placement for teams earning a trip to the state final (Elite Eight) in
Columbus is simple based on “Positions” without any contemplation of a seeding process
to determine the most legitimate double elimination tournament.
Schools proposing:
Region 7-AAAAAA
ISSUE at QUESTION:
Teams earning a trip to the Elite Eight are simply securing a Position in a double elimination
tournament that is not seeded therefore there is great possibilities the best two teams face
off in the first game or early rounds instead of being on opposite ends of the bracket.
Example:
2016 AAAAAA Bracket

1st Round Game #4 was between (Reg.7 #1) Cambridge and (Reg.6 #1) Creekview
o These were not only two number one seeds, but by far the best two teams in the
tournament, which proved true when Creekview won four games in the losers
bracket to make it back to play Cambridge in the championship.

Understandably, if all eight #1 region champions make it to Columbus then you have
#1 vs #1 but the legitimacy of the bracket is still not considered by just placing these
winners into a Position on the bracket
Further Study…..
2016 AAAAAAA Bracket….Mill Creek and North Gwinnett, the two teams in the finals,
played in the second round, not the semifinals.2016 AAAAA Bracket…..same situation as
AAAAAAA, where Buford and Walnut Grove played in round two and again in the
championship.
2016 AAAA Bracket…based on the championship teams, Central, Carroll and Northside,
Columbus, this bracket worked correctly by these two teams playing in the semifinals and
again in the championship.
2016 AA Bracket….Vidalia lost in round one to Dodge County, who lost in the semifinals.
Vidalia came back through the losers bracket beating Dodge County 2-1 in the losers
bracket finals to reach the championship and force an “if” game….here is the result of two
strong playing in the first round, who probably should have at least not faced each other
until the second round.
2016 A Brackets….both A brackets worked similar to AAAA bracket….Here a power ranking
system is already in place so there is some type of seeding from the beginning….
Region 7-AAAAAA
Alpharetta Raiders
Cambridge Bears
Centennial Knights
Chattahoochee Cougars
Dunwoody Wildcats
Johns Creek Gladiators
North Atlanta Warriors
Northview Titans
Pope Greyhounds
Proposal:



Once the final eight (8) teams have been determined, a seeding process take place
instead of a team simply earning a Position in the bracket.
This seeding process could consider different criteria and be completed in a variety of
methods.
Use a method similar to what is already in place for volleyball or wrestling, so that the
best teams are not playing each other in the first round.
Method(s) of Seeding:
Below our criteria that could be solely used or combined to determined seeding:
1) Overall Records
2) Maxpreps rankings
3) Maxpreps Playoff Predictions
4) Coaches Rankings
5) Strength of Schedule (would require some form of review)
6) Power Rankings (similar to single A classification—this could be completed after the
region seeds have been determined so it is set before the playoffs begin)
7) Commonly played opponents
8) Head-to-Head contests
Who would do the seeding?
1) A pre-determined panel of coaches/ADs across the state (similar to volleyball) OR
2) A panel of coaches consisting of the Final 8 teams (similar to wrestling) OR
3) The GHSA softball subcommittee OR
4) simply rely on Maxpreps computer models.
Conclusion
As you can see from the 2016 state tournament held in Columbus, there were multiple
instances where the best two teams were not playing in the semifinals round, which puts
one of those teams at a significant disadvantage to have a fair chance at winning the
championship. With the expansion to eight different brackets in 2016 and beyond, we
should now look at the credibility of the overall tournament especially since the quality of
the game of softball has grown tremendously in the state of Georgia. By seeding the final
eight teams- a practice that takes place in other sports such as volleyball, wrestling, and
track- we would increase the probability that the best teams would not play early in the
tournament as we saw multiple times in 2016 and probably years before.