The field for the 71st annual Louisville Invitational Tournament to be played the week of January 8 has been announced. The sixteen teams in the field are:

 

1. Trinity

2. Fern Creek

3. Doss

4. Ballard

5. Butler

6. Waggener

7. Pleasure Ridge Park

8. Valley

9. Male

10. Bullitt East

11. Fairdale

12. St. Xavier

13. Jeffersontown

14. Iroquois

15. Southern

16. DeSales

11 Sixth Region teams, 5 Seventh Region teams. Sixth Region is deeper than the Seventh Region this year, but I am not sure by that much.

 

Sorry to see the Seneca Redhawks are not in the field. They don't have many wins, but their schedule has been brutal.

 

The Collegiate Titans and their 14-2 record, which is the most wins in the state, also not in the field.

 

A little surprised to see Southern in the field. The Trojans have no wins against teams in the field and losses to two teams not in the field, including a 25-point loss to Manual. But I readily admit I don't know all the intricacies of the SETH rankings.

 

The possibility of a Trinity-Fern Creek rubber match in the championship game is quite exciting.

The field for the 71st annual Louisville Invitational Tournament to be played the week of January 8 has been announced. The sixteen teams in the field are:

 

1. Trinity

2. Fern Creek

3. Doss

4. Ballard

5. Butler

6. Waggener

7. Pleasure Ridge Park

8. Valley

9. Male

10. Bullitt East

11. Fairdale

12. St. Xavier

13. Jeffersontown

14. Iroquois

15. Southern

16. DeSales

 

Is this listing by rank of the teams? Thanks

Here is the schedule:

 

1-8-18

Iroquois vs. Doss

Jtown vs. Ballard

Southern vs. Fern Creek

DeSales vs. Trinity

 

1-9-18

Male vs. Valley

Fairdale vs. Waggener

X vs. Butler

Bullitt East vs. PRP

 

1-10-18

Quarterfinals

 

1-12-18

Semifinals

 

1-13-18

Championship

Is this listing by rank of the teams? Thanks

 

Yes.

11 Sixth Region teams, 5 Seventh Region teams. Sixth Region is deeper than the Seventh Region this year, but I am not sure by that much.

 

Sorry to see the Seneca Redhawks are not in the field. They don't have many wins, but their schedule has been brutal.

 

The Collegiate Titans and their 14-2 record, which is the most wins in the state, also not in the field.

 

A little surprised to see Southern in the field. The Trojans have no wins against teams in the field and losses to two teams not in the field, including a 25-point loss to Manual. But I readily admit I don't know all the intricacies of the SETH rankings.

 

The possibility of a Trinity-Fern Creek rubber match in the championship game is quite exciting.

 

The scoring system is not perfect, it is a contention for all of Metro Louisville HS BB fans to pick it apart. However, it is a system that is in place. Coaches can choose to exploit the scoring system or just schedule as they feel best for their team in the long run. After all, it is just a seeding and criteria to get the top 16 teams. In the past few years, 20 teams were in it and there were byes awarded.

I agree with the Top 8 although Butler and Doss switching may have been more reflective of their season's efforts.

The 6th is really loaded this year and that is a bit unusual for such a ratio of 11/5. I agree Seneca should have been rewarded for their willing to play the best.

Don't expect a Trinity & Fern Creek matchup. This event is known to produce an upset of the top seeds, it almost inevitably happens.

Will the LIT be streamed by NFHS (which did the KOB) or by some other outfit? Thanks.

11

 

Sorry to see the Seneca Redhawks are not in the field. They don't have many wins, but their schedule has been brutal.

 

The Collegiate Titans and their 14-2 record, which is the most wins in the state, also not in the field.

 

.

Collegiate's schedule is awful,... I mean awful. I think they go 0-16 against these teams.

 

Seneca has a tough schedule,. at one point they were 1-9,.. now 4-9. 1-6 against the 16 team field

Collegiate's schedule is awful,... I mean awful. I think they go 0-16 against these teams.

 

Seneca has a tough schedule,. at one point they were 1-9,.. now 4-9. 1-6 against the 16 team field

 

This is true and illustrates that the SETH scoring system although with faults does do a good job overall getting the best teams. The LIT committee opted to drop from 20 to 16 teams this season to invite and DeSales is the last team in who I feel is better than both of those teams.

To consider that the 16th team in DeSales beat BOTH Bowling Green & Warren Central who are 2 of the top 3 teams in the 4th region lets you know how tough the combined 6th & 7th regions are this season. 11 teams from the 6th are in it and the last team in from the 6th is 2-0 against the top of the 4th region. That is sort of crazy when you think about it.