There are several ways to multiply two numbers and get 48.

The athletic directors at the Class 4A football schools in Eastern Iowa think 6 times 8 is the best way to reach 48, but the athletic directors in Central Iowa think 8 times 6 is better.

The future of Class 4A football and the playoffs depend on the answer.

The Eastern Iowa A.D.s voted heavily in favor of dividing the 48 Class 4A schools into six districts of eight teams apiece for the next two-year cycle that begins with the 2016 campaign. However, the Central Iowa A.D.s voted heavily in favor of eight district with six teams apiece.

"It's interesting how the two sides of the state have different ideas about it," said Paul James, the athletic director and football coach at Cedar Rapids Washington.

The folks at the Iowa High School Athletic Association will have to figure it out.

Keep in mind, the playoff field for all classes in 2016 has been slashed from 32 teams to 16. Now the question becomes, how do you divide the 48 schools and what's the formula for making the postseason tournament?

If there are six districts with eight teams apiece, then it might make sense for the six district champions and six district runners-up to make the playoffs along with four at-large teams to fill the 16-team field.

If there are eight districts with six teams apiece, then it might make sense for the eight district champions and the eight district runners-up to make the playoffs and fill the 16-team field with no at-large berths.

There were eight districts for Class 4A football this past year, with the top four teams from each district making the 32-team field for the playoffs. Six of those districts had six teams and two of the districts had five teams for a total of 46 teams, but two more schools will be joining Class 4A in 2016 to reach 48 and make the division a lot simpler for the IHSAA.

James voted for the 6x8 concept. He favors six districts with eight teams apiece, which means there would be seven district games that count toward the playoffs and two non-district games that no not count. Most of the other A.D.s in Eastern Iowa agreed.

"I think it was the idea of having more games count towards your playoff berth," said James, who took Washington to the Class 4A championship game in 2014 and to the quarterfinals in 2015.

The athletic directors in Central Iowa like the 8x6 concept, with eight districts of six teams apiece, because it would give each school a lot more flexibility in scheduling non-district games. Only five of their games would count toward the playoffs under their plan, leaving them with four non-district games to play who they want.

It's a little trickier out west, with teams from Sioux City and Council Bluffs lumped together with all those CIML schools from Des Moines and the Des Moines suburbs. If they have four districts of six teams apiece in the West, they can possibly reduce the number of long trips and let more of the Des Moines schools play each other in non-district games.

"It allows schools to have a little more choice in who they're playing for their non-district games," said Gary Ross, the athletic director at Johnston High School and a member of the IHSAA Board of Control. "Do you want more games to count toward the playoffs, or do you want schools to have more choice on who they play for their non-district games?"

The Football Coaches Advisory Committee will be meeting with IHSAA representatives at the IHSAA office in Boone on Wednesday to make their recommendation. The Board of Control will discuss the matter at its regularly scheduled meeting later this month, but probably will not take a vote until its regular meeting in January.

Once the IHSAA makes a decision - 6x8 or 8x6 - it will assign schools to the various districts. Once that happens, each school will be asked to submit a list of its preferred non-district games and the IHSAA will arrange the schedules later this winter.

There are only two possible configurations for Class 4A - either 6x8 or 8x6 - but there are other possibilities for determining the playoff teams. In 8x6, for instance, they could take the eight district champs and eight at-large teams, based on a mathematical formula, rather than simply taking the eight district champs and eight runners-up.

If it's 6x8, they could take the six district champs and take 10 at-large teams, rather than six district champs, six runners-ups and four at-large teams.

"Would that cause more headaches or less headaches?," wondered Todd Tharp, the associate director at the IHSAA who oversees football.  "I think everything is on the table."

No matter what the IHSAA decides, somebody will probably be unhappy. When there were 32 teams in the playoffs, people complained that teams with 1-and-8 or 2-and-7 records had no business making the playoffs. But with only 16 teams in the playoffs next year, it's possible that a team with a 7-2 record (or even an 8-and-1 mark) could be left out.

Kennedy Coach Brian White, who led the Cougars to the Class 4A finals this year, favors the 8x6 configuration, with eight districts of six teams apiece.

"I have two reasons for that," he said. "First, it would let you reach out and play tough teams at the beginning of the year without the fear of it hurting your postseason chances.

"I feel like we have done that at Kennedy over the last two years and as a result it has made us a strong team. Plus, if Washington or Jefferson is not in our district, they WILL be our non-district opponents. That would limit our chances of playing different teams.

"Second, it would allow for more teams to still have something to play for late in the season. If you have eight-team districts, everything could just about be over for the bottom-half teams four weeks into the season, depending on how strong your district is."

Should it be 6x8 or 8x6? You do the math.