Appendix PSR - Post Season Ranking Formula

Last Updated: Wed, 07/08/2026 - 11:56am
2026-2027

APPENDIX 'PSR'

POST SEASON RANKING FORMULA

1. Core Post Season Ranking Formula

The GHSA Post Season Ranking Formula (PSR) is calculated using three weighted components:

PSR=(WPx0.35)+(OWPx0.35)+(OOWPx0.30)

Where:

  • WP = Winning Percentage
  • OWP = Opponents’ Winning Percentage
  • OOWP = Opponents’ Opponents’ Winning Percentage

2. Winning Percentage (WP)

Formula

WP=Weighted WinsActual Contests Played

 

Weighted Win Values

Contest Type Win Value
Home Win 1.0
Away Win 1.0
Neutral Site Win 0.9
Non-GHSA Opponent Win 0.9

Additional Notes

  • Maximum non-GHSA wins counted = 20% of scheduled contests 
  • Any wins beyond the 20% limit become: 0" (No Contest)" 

3. Opponents’ Winning Percentage (OWP)

Formula

OWP=Opponent WP (excluding games vs team)Number of Opponents

Key Rule

When calculating an opponent’s WP:

  • Remove all contests played against the team being evaluated. 

4. Opponents’ Opponents’ Winning Percentage (OOWP)

Formula

OOWP=Opponent OWPNumber of Opponents

Key Rule

  • The team being evaluated IS included in the opponent’s OOWP calculation. 

5. Full PSR Example

Assume:

  • WP=0.800000
  • OWP=0.650000
  • OOWP=0.700000

Step 1 — Apply Weighting

WPContribution=0.800000x0.35=0.280000
OWPContribution=0.650000x0.35=0.227500
OOWPContribution=0.700000x0.30=0.210000

Step 2 — Add Components

PSR=(0.280000)+(0.227500)+(0.210000)=0.717500

6. GHSA Tiebreaker Order

If schools finish with identical PSR totals:

  1. Head-to-Head Result 
  2. Highest WP 
  3. Highest OWP 
  4. Highest OOWP 
  5. Coin Toss 

7. Region Champion Seeding Principle

Formula Concept

  • Region Champions are guaranteed a home playoff game.
  • Region Champions are seeded first by PSR order.
  • Remaining playoff teams are then seeded strictly by PSR ranking.

8. Example Seeding Logic

Example — 5 Region Champions

Seed    Assignment

#1  Region Champion (PSR #1)

#3  Region Champion (PSR #3)

#8  Region Champion (PSR #8)

#9  Region Champion (PSR #9)

#16 Region Champion (PSR #18)

Remaining teams fill all open seeds strictly by PSR ranking order.

9. Minimum Contest Requirements

Sport Minimum Contests
Football 9
Flag Football 14
Softball 20
Volleyball 30 Matches
Basketball 22
Baseball 20
Lacrosse 14
Soccer 14
Tennis 14

10. Important Operational Rules

Non-GHSA Contest Limitation

Maximum allowable non-GHSA wins counted:

Maximum Counted Non-GHSA Wins=0.20xScheduled Contests

Forfeit Rule

A forfeited contest:

  •     counts in the PSR formula 
  •     OR may be replaced by a makeup contest 
  •     schools must choose before the makeup contest is played 

11. Important Definitions

Term Definition
WP Team success
OWP Strength of opponents
OOWP Strength of opponents' schedues
PSR Combined playoff ranking metrics

12. Strategic Interpretation

The PSR system rewards:

  •     Winning consistently 
  •     Playing strong GHSA schedules 
  •     Opponents who also win consistently 
  •     Strong regional competition depth 

The formula reduces emphasis on:

  •     classification bonuses 
  •     margin of victory 
  •     subjective ranking systems 

OWP Explained:

In the Georgia High School Association Post Season Ranking Formula (PSR), the “OWP excluding games vs. team” rule is designed to prevent a team from artificially helping or hurting its own strength-of-schedule rating.

The GHSA definition states:

“Opponents’ Winning Percentage (OWP) … is calculated by taking the average of the WP’s for each of the team’s opponents with the requirement that all contests against the team in question are removed from the equation.”

Here is what that means in practice.

Basic Concept

OWP measures how strong your schedule was by looking at how well your opponents performed.

But when calculating each opponent’s winning percentage, the games they played against YOU are removed.

That avoids circular logic.

Example

Assume Team A played Team B twice.

Team B’s full record

  • 8-2 overall 
  • Two losses came against Team A 

If GHSA used Team B’s full record:

  • Team B WP = 8/10 = .800 

But that would reward Team A twice:

  1. Team A already gets credit for beating Team B 
  2. Team A would ALSO inflate its OWP because those wins weakened Team B’s record 

So GHSA removes the games against Team A.

Team B record excluding Team A games

  • Remove the two losses to Team A 
  • Team B becomes 8-0 

Now:

  • Adjusted WP = 1.000 

That adjusted number is what counts in Team A’s OWP.

Why GHSA Does This

The exclusion:

  • Prevents double-counting 
  • Makes schedule strength more independent 
  • Rewards teams for scheduling strong opponents rather than merely beating them 

This is similar to the old NCAA RPI methodology used in basketball and baseball. 

Full OWP Process

For Team A:

  1. Take every opponent on Team A’s schedule 
  2. Compute each opponent’s WP 
  3. Remove games played against Team A from each opponent’s record 
  4. Average all adjusted WPs 

Formula conceptually:

OWP=Opponent Adjusted WPNumber of Opponents

Important Detail: Repeat Opponents

In GHSA PSR, opponents are counted per game, not just once.
So if:

  • You play Team B twice 
  • Team C once 

Then Team B’s adjusted WP is entered twice into the average.

The GHSA example explicitly states:

“Team A has played Team B twice and Team B WP would be counted twice.” 

So:

OWP=(Team B adjusted WP)+(Team B adjusted WP)+(Team C adjusted WP)3

Strategic Effect in GHSA PSR

Because OWP is 35% of the formula:

PSRF=(WPx0.35)+(OWPx0.35)+(OOWPx0.30)

scheduling strong opponents matters significantly.

A team can improve playoff seeding by:

  • Playing opponents who win a lot of games 
  • Even if those opponents lose to you 

Since your games against them are removed, beating them does not reduce their contribution to your OWP.

That is one reason strong schedules are heavily incentivized under the GHSA PSR model.

For your team:

  • Your WP (Winning Percentage)

Your actual games count normally.

If you beat an opponent:

  • it counts as a win in your WP 
  • it counts as a loss in their WP 

Formula:

WP=Wins(Wins+Losses)

Your OWP (Opponents’ Winning Percentage)

When GHSA evaluates your opponents for strength of schedule, it removes the games they played against YOU.

So:

  • your win over them is removed 
  • your loss to them is removed 

Only their games versus everyone else remain.

Example

Your team (Team A)

Record:

  • 8-2 

Opponent (Team B)

Full record:

  • 6-4 

One of Team B’s losses was to Team A.
 

For YOUR WP

You keep the win.

Your WP:

WP=810=0.800

For YOUR OWP

GHSA adjusts Team B’s record by removing the game against you.

So Team B becomes:

  • 6-3 instead of 6-4 

Adjusted Team B WP:

Adjusted WP=69=0.667

That 0.667 is what goes into YOUR OWP calculation — not .600.

Why This Matters

Without the adjustment:

  • every time you beat a team, 
  • you would lower your own schedule strength. 

GHSA removes your direct impact so OWP reflects:

  • how strong your opponents were against everybody else.