It's time for a miracle, a Hail Mary pass, a 3-point shot from 50 feet at the buzzer.

That's probably what it will take to preserve the Mississippi Valley Conference as a football league and forestall the seemingly inevitable switch to Class 4A districts.

Conference officials are scheduled to gather with IHSAA representatives Tuesday morning at Washington High School to discuss the league's future. Most people think it's a foregone conclusion that all the MVC schools will be assigned to districts for next season, but there are a few conference principals and athletic directors who are hopeful of preserving the league.

It seems like an extreme longshot at this point, especially now that the Mississippi Athletic Conference has voted in favor of Class 4A districts, but it's not over until the IHSAA says it's over and that has not happened yet.

The Mississippi Valley Conference and the Mississippi Athletic Conference have been joined at the hip in this football debate, especially after Xavier and Wahlert from the Valley and Davenport Assumption from the MAC elected to drop to Class 3A district football and compete against teams in their proper enrollment group.

Their departure left the 21 other schools in the two leagues wondering what would happen next. The Class 4A schools in western Iowa switched to district football two years ago and the majority of the MAC schools want to join them now, leaving the Valley as the only league in the entire state that's still clinging to conference football.

Not every school in the MAC voted in favor of district football, however. The majority voted for districts, but it was not unanimous. That could be important if the Mississippi Valley Conference decides it wants to stick with league football.

There are only nine MAC schools at the Class 4A level, which is not enough for two districts of at least five teams apiece. They need a 10th, but there's no logical candidate if the 12 Valley schools stick with conference football.

Ottumwa has been mentioned by the IHSAA as a candidate to switch from Class 4A district football in the west to Class 4A football in the east if the MAC and Valley both move to a district format, but it seems a stretch to think the IHSAA would ask Ottumwa to join a Class 4A district that's heavily laden with teams from the Quad Cities.

Todd Tharp, an assistant director with the IHSAA, told the Des Moines Register that the IHSAA might ask the 21 Class 4A schools in the Valley and MAC to vote on whether they want district football or conference football to gauge the overall sentiment.

We know that at least one member of the MAC (and maybe more) wants to stick with conference football, so if at least 10 members of the Valley vote for conference football, there would be a majority in favor of the status quo.

It's not known if a simple majority of 11-to-10 in favor of conference football would be enough. Would 13-to-8 in favor clinch the deal? How about 14-to-7?

It will be interesting to see what emerges from Tuesday's meeting at Washington High School. The odds seem heavily stacked in favor of Class 4A districts, but maybe somebody will be able to save the day at the final horn.