The Buford [GA] Wolves are AllSportsPeople High School Football National Champions for the 2025 season.
The Wolves debuted at No. 12 in the preseason edition of AllSportsPeople High School Football Top 25, and steadily worked their way up to the top position by defeating all comers and finishing 15-0. That included a 28-21 win over the No. 3/SN No. 2 Carrollton [GA] Trojans in Georgia's GHSA Class 6A state championship game.
In a year defined by upsets with national championship contenders dropping almost every week, Buford managed to escape 2025's war of attrition unscathed and did so in the only state with three top-10 teams.
Here's a closer look at Buford's incredible season in addition to a look into how we ultimately determined our national champion.
David McGregor/Buford High School Football
Determining high school football's national champion
There is no official system that exists to determine high school football's national champion.
No playoff committee bunkered in a hotel conference room. No defined process that outlines the criteria to determine which teams should be eligible. No consensus algorithm or computer rating. There isn't even a single major poll like the AP Poll or a Coaches Poll that exists to determine high school football's national champion.
Instead, high school football's national champion is chosen by individual organizations that issue rankings during the season and crown their own champions at the conclusion of the season.
A beautifully imperfect balancing act of art and science.
From start to finish, five teams held the top spot in our weekly rankings: Mater Dei (CA), Bishop Gorman (NV), St. John Bosco (CA), IMG Academy (FL) and Buford (GA).
- No. 1 Mater Dei until losing to Centennial (CA)
- No. 1 Bishop Gorman for one week until losing to Mater Dei
- No. 1 St. John Bosco for until losing to Mater Dei
- No. 1 IMG until Buford advanced to Georgia 6A semis
- No. 1 Buford to the finish
As previous No. 1 teams lost along with perennial heavyweights in Texas falling (all four teams in the two Texas 6A title games have at least one loss) and a 3-loss team winning California (Carson Palmer's Santa Margarita, who is playing as well as anyone!), our final choice whittled down to Buford, IMG Academy and St. Frances.
It's worth noting that IMG Academy and St. Frances were originally scheduled to play in mid-December before that game ultimately fell through due to scheduling concerns. While IMG finished 9-0 and St. Frances (9-1) comfortably handled Utah powerhouse Corner Canyon in a late addition to the schedule (and billed by some as a national title game), neither could ultimately match Buford's wire-to-wire body of work.
However, both IMG Academy and St. Frances could still stake claim to a national title. Along with AllSportsPeople High School Football Top 25, seven other major selectors are used here weekly to compile AllSportsPeople Composite Rankings – an attempt to determine a consensus No. 1 and, eventually, a consensus national champion.
The final edition of those composite rankings will be issued next week after all the final rankings have been released. Buford was No. 1 headed into Tuesday night's contest, but the margin was close, and we won't know if they are the consensus national champions until all those final rankings are released and compiled.
David McGregor/Buford High School Football
Buford's path to SN's 2025 national title
Here's a full look at Buford's run to the title along with how the Wolves progressed week-by-week in our national poll.
| DATE | RNK | OPPPONENT | RESULT |
| 8/14 | No. 12 | vs. No. 14 Milton Eagles | 20-13 |
| 8/22 | No. 12 | at Benedictine Cadets | 42-14 |
| 9/5 | No. 10 | vs. Roswell Hornets | 65-21 |
| 9/12 | No. 9 | vs. Douglas County Tigers | 34-26 |
| 9/19 | No. 9 | vs. Discovery Titans | 71-7 |
| 10/3 | No. 9 | at Collins Hill Eagles | 34-3 |
| 10/9 | No. 9 | at Dacula Falcons | 58-7 |
| 10/17 | No. 6 | at Central Gwinnett | 75-0 |
| 10/24 | No. 6 | vs. Mountain View Bears | 55-7 |
| 10/31 | No. 6 | vs. Mill Creek Hawks | 35-3 |
| 11/14 | No. 6 | vs. Richmond Hill Wildcats | 45-0 |
| 11/21 | No. 5 | vs. Newton Rams | 31-14 |
| 11/28 | No. 5 | vs. Douglas County Tigers | 30-15 |
| 12/5 | No. 2 | at Valdosta Wildcats | 39-7 |
| 12/16 | No. 1 | vs. No. 3/SN No. 2 Carrollton Trojans | 28-21 |
Entering the season ranked No. 12 in SN's preseason Top 25, Buford immediately made noise, knocking off the defending Class 5A champion and SN No. 14 Milton [GA] Eagles, 20-13, on August 14. The Wolves followed that up with a one-sided 42-14 win over the eventual Class 4A runner-up Benedictine [Savannah, GA] Cadets on August 22 before taking an early bye week.
By the time their next game rolled around on September 5, Buford was ranked No. 10 in the country, and the Wolves celebrated that Friday night by storming past the Roswell [GA] Hornets, 65-21 – a team that would eventually advance to the Class 5A semifinals. Buford moved up to No. 9 the next week, a position they would hold for four weeks.
Three games. Three signature wins. Turns out Buford was just getting warmed up.
Prior to their October 17 game against Central Gwinnett [Lawrenceville, GA], the Wolves moved up to No. 6, and they won by their biggest margin of the season in a 75-0 rout of the Black Knights.
It was at this point Buford arrived as a serious threat to win the national title as the Wolves appeared on a postseason collision course with fellow Georgia powerhouse, Grayson.
Buford maintained No. 6 position for five weeks, including a bye week before the start of the playoffs where the Wolves earned their second shutout of the year in a 45-0 whitewashing of the Richmond Hill [Suwanee, GA] Wildcats.
Buford then moved up to No. 5 for two weeks, but their second win of the season over the Douglas County [Douglasville, GA] Tigers earned them a promotion to No. 2.
They held that spot for just one week before taking over the top position from the IMG Academy [Bradenton, FL] Ascenders. Carrollton's dominant upset of Grayson propelled it up the rankings, leading to a No. 1 vs No. 2 national showdown for the Georgia 6A state title.
Given other dominos namely in Texas and California, that ultimately served as SN's national championship game.
- Georgia 2025 playoff brackets (6A/5A/4A)
- Florida 2025 playoff brackets (7A/6A/5A/4A)
- Louisiana 2025 playoff brackets (Division I/II)
- Texas 2025 playoff brackets (6A/5A/4A)
Georgia high school football national champions
Buford's path to the 2025 national championship ran through Valdosta, Georgia, on December 5 – a fitting path considering Valdosta High School's national title history.
The Wildcats are credited with six national titles, dating back to 1962. That includes two USA Today Super 25 national titles in 1984 and 1986.
The most recent national title for a team in the Peach State prior to this season came via the Colquitt County [Norman Park, GA] Packers who won the 2015 national championship from High School Football America. The Calhoun [GA] Yellow Jackets were credited with a 2011 small school national championship by MaxPreps Small Schools rankings – the first national title by a Georgia school since the Parkview [Lilburn, GA] Panthers claimed the 2002 title courtesy of USA High School Football.
Other Georgia schools with national championships in football include the Warner Robins [GA] Demons (1976 and 1981), LaGrange [GA] Grangers (1991), and Thomasville [GA] Bulldogs.