What is the FIT? A Deep Dive into the New High School Playoff Format
The high school football regular season is over. Some teams want to forget about their campaigns, while some will look back and relish in their success.
However, some of those fans who would look to forget their season might get to see their teams play football in November. The Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) approved a new plan in October to expand the playoffs, creating the Florida Invitational Tournament.
Think about it like the NIT in college basketball. The teams that do not make the playoffs receive an invitation to the tournament. This gives teams the chance to chase a state title even after missing the playoffs.
It started last year when the rural class adopted the system, and it benefited some teams. Dixie County (Cross City) went 4-6 and made the inaugural FIT. They won three straight in the tournament and had a chance to win the first championship. However, they lost in the final round to Fort Meade 21-13.
The FHSAA has expanded the FIT to two 16-team brackets for high school classes 1A-7A. One version will be from Class 1A-3A in their own bracket, the other will be from Class 4A-7A. The third is a 12-team playoff bracket featuring rural class teams.
In the Class 1A-3A tournament, Dunnellon takes the No. 1 seed. The Tigers went 4-6 in the regular season but faced an abundance of playoff teams. They started by going to Tallahassee to play FSUHS, losing 17-14, before being shut out by Bradford the next week. With more losses along the way to playoff teams like Vanguard (Ocala), Eastside, Hawthorne and South Sumter, the Tigers had some serious opponents on their schedule.
Their opponent — Pensacola High School — also had a gauntlet. They had six of their opponents go over .500, including St. Michael Catholic (Fairhope) from Alabama, who went undefeated and is coached by NFL great Philip Rivers.
Fort White headlines the rural class bracket. They went 6-4, but did not make the playoffs due to the strength of schedule. They came in as the No. 17 in the rural class, which means they just missed the playoff cut.
The Indians played some good teams, but were on the wrong side of a majority of these games. They started their season with a 20-3 loss to Taylor County before losing in a heartbreaker on the road to Fernandina Beach, 28-27, a few games later. Pair that with a district loss by one score to 8-2 Lafayette on the road and a home routing of Newberry, and that’s how you get a strong non-playoff team.
The six other teams Fort White beat have a combined 19 wins this season. This resulted in their negative strength of schedule according to the FHSAA.
Fort White comes in as the No. 1 seed in the Rural class FIT, where they are on a bye this week. They play the winner of Jefferson County and Wildwood.
Category: Football, High School Sports
