After regular seasons for softball and volleyball in which a number of teams spent time ranked in the state's top 10, it's now time for the state playoffs to get under way.

Five area teams in each sport advanced past their region and area tournaments last week, and will have a chance to play for a state championship.

First rounds for all the playoffs in both sports will be played on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

The higher seeds in each bracket will host the opening-round game.

SOFTBALL: Region 8-AAAA's third-seed Habersham Central will take on Creekview in Canton. In Class AAA, third-seed White County visits Allatoona.

In Class AA, Union County picked up a No. 1-seed in the state playoffs, while Dawson County and Buford are both No. 2 seeds. They will play North Murray, Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe and Manchester, respectively.

VOLLEYBALL: Area 8-AAA sent three teams (Gainesville, North Hall and West Hall) to the state playoffs.

North Hall, a two-seed, will host Westside-Augusta, while No. 3-seed Gainesville will play at Cross Creek at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

West Hall, seeded fourth in its bracket, also travels to Augusta for a match against Grovetown.

In Class A/AA, both Jefferson and Buford advanced to the playoffs as 2-seeds. Jefferson will host Landmark Christian, and Buford will host Brookstone.

ATLANTA FALCONS: The Falcons will host its second division game of the season on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Carolina Panthers.

They will be trying to pick up their first win in the division after falling to the Buccaneers 16-13 on Sept. 25.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: After a successful trip to Tennessee, the Bulldogs will try to make it four-in-a row when they travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be shown on Fox Sports South.

After surviving a late-game comeback attempt by Maryland in its last game, No. 13 Georgia Tech (6-0) will play at Virginia on Saturday. The game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be shown on ESPNU.