Through half the season, it looked like Lowndes was as much of a lock at No. 1 as there was in any classification. Their first five opponents had a winning percentage of .643, and the Vikings had beaten them by an average of 41 points per game.

Then last week against Northside-Warner Robins, three missed FGs and a nullified touchdown cost Lowndes the game (and unbeaten season and their No. 1 state ranking and their spot in numerous national polls).

So which No. 1 is most entrenched now? Two candidates jump out, but neither look as infallible as Lowndes looked a week ago.

Gainesville

Could be their year. The Red Elephants are a unanimous pick in Class AAA and breezing through the season. The offense gets all the love, but if they win it all this year, defense will be the reason why.

Still, we won't get our best regular-season read on the Red Elephants until they take on Flowery Branch on Nov. 6. Not to mention the fact that Carver-Columbus is equally as stacked, and all of the top 6 teams in Class AAA are dangerous against any opponent, even deep into the playoffs.

Wesleyan (Class A) is the other unanimous pick in the AP poll, and similar to Gainesville, the Wolves are crushing everything in their path.

Their total combined score through six games is 238-8, but that's come against teams that combine to win only 40 percent of their games.

Two other No. 1s (Calhoun and Griffin) have a chance to make a statement this week. See below for votes, notes and big games this week.

Class A

Rank, team, previous
1. Wesleyan (1)
2. Savannah Christian (2)
3. Johnson County (3)
4. Lincoln County (4)
5. Wilkinson County (5)
6. Treutlen (7)
7. Seminole County (8)
8. Twiggs County (9)
9. Holy Innocents' (10)
10. Greenville (-)

NOTES: Looks like a quiet week on the horizon for the top teams in Class A. No big tests, with one exception...

BIG GAME: Treutlen (6-0) vs. Emanuel County Institute (4-1). They're ranked No. 6 and 7 respectively in the AP poll, but this game is huge because of its region implications. Treutlen, ECI and Johnson County all make their home in Subregion B of Region 3-A and are jockeying for position for the region playoff week the first Friday of November.

Class AA

1. Calhoun (1)
2. Fitzgerald (2)
3. Buford (4)
4. Jefferson County (6)
5. Jefferson (7)
6. Lovett (3)
7. Dublin (8)
8. Chattooga (9)
9. Charlton County (-)
10. Armuchee (-)

NOTES: This is a mess. I had a feeling Lovett was a bit of a paper tiger, but I didn't expect them to lose in the regular season like they did last week to Westminster.

Buford is a legit No. 3.

But maybe they're not.

The Wolves beat Avondale 41-0 last week, but it was only a touchdown lead late in the 3rd quarter. They've got plenty of RBs (1,100 rushing yards through five games), but no back has topped 90 yards in a game and none have accounted for 300 yards so far this season. Still, depth and defense should carry Buford deep into the playoffs.

After that, I'm grabbing at straws - almost literally. Jefferson County has been good, not great, against so-so competition. Jefferson has been great against bad competition. Dublin has four of its five wins by a TD or less. And Charlton County's two-point squeaker win over Pierce County (which still hasn't won a game) is too much for me to overlook.

Two-loss teams Westminster and Thomasville are looking more and more appealing, and I'm getting the feeling the quarterfinalists in the playoffs will scarcely resemble the top eight at the end of the regular season.

BIG GAME: Calhoun (5-0) vs. Chattooga (5-0). A Chattooga win would make things a lot easier on the voters: Move Chattanooga way up, slide Calhoun a few spots, and suddenly the top 5-6 looks a lot more solid.

However, Chattooga barely won over Sonoraville last week - the same Sonoraville that Jackson County beat 42-7 earlier in the year. Don't think that bodes well for the underdogs.

Class AAA

1. Gainesville (1)
2. Carver-Columbus (2)
3. St. Pius X (4)
4. Peach County (5)
5. Washington County (4)
6. LaGrange (7)
7. Baldwin (-)
8. Jackson (8)
9. Flowery Branch (9)
10. Burke County (3)

NOTES: Baldwin's win over Burke County provides the shake up this week. Watch out for the Braves. Their only losses were to Carver-Columbus and Peach County, and they didn't lose either by much. I may have overreached by putting them at No. 7, but that was a good Burke County team that they beat by two TDs. 

Jackson, and especially FB, still have plenty of time to make up ground. Starting this week.

BIG GAME: Below Macon it's probably Peach County vs. Cairo - which should be a good one and could lift Peach over SPX with a convincing win.

But up here, I want to see Flowery Branch (5-1) at North Hall (3-2).

The Falcons can score with anybody, but they've had trouble stopping the run this year, and the inability to solve Creekview's Wing-T offense led to their only loss.

Meanwhile, the Trojans' own Wing-T is picking up steam with big wins in consecutive weeks over Creekview and White County.

This game won't have any bearing on the subregion standings, but it should be a good litmus test for both teams.

Class AAAA

1. Westside-Macon (1)
2. Griffin (2)
3. Southwest DeKalb (3)
4. Hillgrove (4)
5. North Clayton (5)
6. Marist (6)
7. Tucker (7)
8. Sandy Creek (8)
9. Apalachee (9)
10. Hiram (10)

NOTES: Not a bit of movement, but that'll change next week.

BIG GAME: Griffin (5-0) vs. North Clayton (6-0). Griffin's been the No. 1 team in the state in most polls since Tucker lost two weeks ago, and if they win Friday night, I might have to jump on the bandwagon as well.

Some numbers to consider:

No. 1 Griffin
PPG: 39.6  PAPG: 4.8  Opponents' winning percentage: .380

No. 6 North Clayton
PPG: 27.2  PAPG: 7.0  Opponents' winning percentage: .545

An "upset" in this one wouldn't surprise me.

Class AAAAA

1. Northside-Warner Robins (3)
2. Grayson (2)
3. Lowndes (1)
4. ML King (4)
5. Stephenson (5)
6. North Gwinnett (6)
7. Newnan (7)
8. Camden County (8)
9. Peachtree Ridge (9)
10. McEachern (10)

NOTES: Tough decision on No. 1 here. N'side jumps over Grayson because:

A. Nside's has two wins over ranked teams (my Class AAAAA No. 3 and Class AAA No. 2).

B. Grayson's best win was against my Class AAAAA No. 8.

And honestly, I still think Lowndes wins the state title, but last week showed it won't be given to them.

BIG GAME: Lowndes (5-1) vs. Valdosta (4-2). Should be interesting to see how quickly the Vikings recover from last week's disappointment. The fact that they come back with a rival should help.