Where do Gainesville area football teams land in the latest MaxPreps rankings?
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A new rankings system has hit Florida high school football.
During this most recent offseason, the FHSAA announced it was ditching its own computer rankings system in favor of MaxPreps. The association voted 10-0 in February after years of criticism towards the FHSAA rankings and its unclear formula.
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It hasn’t been a smooth sailing six weeks into the 2026 season. The FHSAA Executive Board decided to not use human oversight for the rankings and rely solely on the computers. That has led to even more confusion than the FHSAA rankings, and that impacted the Gainesville area this week.
Buchholz defeated a previously undefeated Forest squad and moved down six spots in the MaxPreps rankings from No. 27 statewide to 33. MaxPreps has said, though, that the rankings restart every week instead of a week-to-week change, which might explain the massive and confounding weekly switches.
Still, the rankings hold enormous weight. A district championship still secures a postseason spot, but the placing of each team and the at-large bids are still determined by MaxPreps.
MaxPreps released new rankings on Sunday and Thursday, as opposed to the old Tuesday date of the FHSAA.
Here’s where Gainesville area ranked in the Sunday, September 27, rankings.
Hawthorne football sitting pretty
The Hornets are a local team the MaxPreps rankings have viewed favorably. Hawthorne ranks No. 1 currently in Class 1A, ahead of Carrollwood Day due to a stronger strength of schedule. The USA Today Florida Network poll ranks the Patriots in the top spot.
Even if Carrollwood does overtake the Hornets, the gap is large between No. 2 and 3. A top two seed still allows Hawthorne to host in the state semifinals.
Open division or high seeds for Columbia and Buchholz football?
Right now, Columbia and Buchholz remain firmly outside the top eight of open division, but they both hold high spots in their classes.
The Tigers have a comfortable lead over Mosley for the No. 1 seed in Class 4A-Region 1, even though American Heritage passed this past week for the top spot in 4A.
However, MaxPreps failed to give Columbia as big of a boost as expected for defeating Trinity Christian in Jacksonville September 18.
Buchholz’s drop six spots allowed Mandarin to pass the Bobcats. Of course a trip to Jacksonville for the Class 5A-Region 1 final is a nightmare. The good news, though, for Buchholz is that 5A’s top three teams – St. Thomas Aquinas, West Boca Raton and Armwood – are in the open division at the moment.
Can Santa Fe and Bradford football keep home games?
Both the Raiders and Tornadoes are favorites to win districts, so that gives them a nice advantage. However, a top four seed guarantees a host game.
Bradford us just barely ahead of Tampa Catholic for a top four seed in Class 2A-Region 2. Santa Fe, meanwhile, is behind Merritt Island and Eau Gallie for the No. 3 spot in Class 3A-Region 2.
Which are the bubble teams?
Williston, Suwannee and Newberry are each No. 9 in their respective regions. The Red Devils in Class 1A-Region 1 sit behind Taylor County for the eight spot. Suwannee is behind Bay in Class 3A-Region 1, and Newberry is behind Calvary Christian in Class 2A-Region 2.
What about volleyball?
Volleyball retains the traditional FHSAA rankings. In the latest rankings, we have Santa Fe just on the edge of the open division at No. 10, but the top seed in Class 3A-Region 1. Branford and Williston are the top seeds in Region 3 and 4 respectively of the Rural Class.
Buchholz is No. 3 in Class 5A-Region 1, while Oak Hall, Gainesville High, St. Francis Catholic and Countryside Christian are each in playoff positioning as of now.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram - Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Where do Gainesville area football teams land in the latest MaxPreps rankings?