The state basketball tournament will enter the quarterfinals next week, and that marks the first round in which region champions and same-seeded teams can face each other.
A universal coin flip conducted by the GHSA on Tuesday morning came up tails, meaning that teams positioned lower on the brackets will be at home in those matchups.
In other cases, the higher-seeded team will be at home.
The coin flip means that five No. 1-ranked girls teams could be on the road next week. Those would be Westlake at No. 3 Grayson in AAAAAAA, Lovejoy at No. 3 Northview in AAAAAA, Carver-Columbus at No. 7 Heritage-Ringgold in AAAA, Beach at unranked Lovett in AAA and Fitzgerald at No. 6 Douglass in AA.
Only two No. 1 boys teams might be traveling. Those would be Upson-Lee in AAAA to No. 3 St. Pius in AAAA and Woodville-Tompkins to No. 5 Elbert County in AA.
In most all of those cases, a central or south Georgia team would be traveling into north Georgia. That also happened last year, when six south Georgia region champions wound up playing in north Georgia while no north Georgia region champions had to travel to south Georgia. Tails favors north Georgia.
Of course, all those potential matchups this year require that those teams win their second-round games, which are being played Wednesday and Thursday.
The quarterfinals are Feb. 26-27. The semifinals will be March 2 on neutral courts, and the finals are March 6-9 in Macon.
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