There's a way to save the Mississippi Valley Conference as a football league and forestall the move toward Class 4A districts.

There's also a way to save the Mississippi Athletic Conference, but the athletic directors at those Valley and MAC schools have to take charge and get it done.

Quickly.

It's really not that hard to solve the biggest problems facing both leagues, but the athletic directors have to band together and resolve the issues now that Xavier, Dubuque Wahlert and Davenport Assumption are moving from Class 4A to 3A next season.

It may be too late to save the leagues. We realize that. The switch from conference football to 4A district football for next year for the remaining 21 Class 4A teams may be inevitable, but it's worth a final try to see if the Valley and MAC can be saved.

The Metro Sports Report has devised a simple plan that has a chance to work, if people would just give it a try. The plan is based on three principles:

1. The Mississippi Valley Conference, now featuring 12 football teams, is split into two six-team divisions. Each team gets five division games and four non-division games. Traditional rivals are protected.

2. The Mississippi Athletic Conference, now featuring nine football teams, would play a round-robin schedule within their league for eight games and all of them would play one game against an MVC opponent.

3. Three Mississippi Valley Conference teams from Cedar Rapids/Marion would play Xavier, which would welcome 4A competition against traditional rivals in the years to come.

The three teams that play Xavier would have to accept receiving fewer playoff points because the Saints would be a Class 3A club. However, it's a small price to pay to preserve both leagues, especially since there would be 16 playoff berths available for only 21 teams.

Here is the proposal:

MVC DIVISION A: Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, Hempstead, Jefferson, Iowa City High.

MVC DIVISION B: Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Kennedy, Prairie, Iowa City West, Washington.

MVC SCHEDULES

CEDAR FALLS
Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, Hempstead, Jefferson, Iowa City High, Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Prairie, Davenport Central

WATERLOO WEST
Cedar Falls, Linn-Mar, Hempstead, Jefferson, Iowa City High, Waterloo East, Prairie, Iowa City West, Davenport North

HEMPSTEAD
Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, Jefferson, Iowa City High, Dubuque Senior, Prairie, Iowa City West, Washington

LINN-MAR
Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Hempstead, Jefferson, Iowa City High, Xavier, Kennedy, Waterloo East, Clinton

JEFFERSON
Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, Hempstead, Iowa City High, Kennedy, Washington, Xavier, Dubuque Senior

IOWA CITY HIGH
Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Linn-Mar, Hempstead, Jefferson, Iowa City West, Prairie, Bettendorf, Washington

WATERLOO EAST
Dubuque Senior, Kennedy, Prairie, Iowa City West, Washington, Waterloo West, Cedar Falls, Linn-Mar, North Scott

DUBUQUE SENIOR
Waterloo East, Kennedy, Prairie, Iowa City West, Washington, Hempstead, Davenport West, Cedar Falls, Jefferson

KENNEDY
Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Prairie, Iowa City West, Washington, Xavier, Linn-Mar, Jefferson, Pleasant Valley

PRAIRIE
Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Kennedy, Iowa City West, Washington, Iowa City High, Cedar Falls, Waterloo West, Hempstead

IOWA CITY WEST
Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Kennedy, Prairie, Washington, Iowa City High, Burlington, Waterloo West, Hempstead

WASHINGTON
Waterloo East, Dubuque Senior, Kennedy, Prairie, Iowa City West, Jefferson, Muscatine, Iowa City High, Hempstead

All nine games would count toward the playoffs within this conference alignment, so each game would be significant. If they all switch to Class 4A districts, only the four or five district games would count toward the playoffs and the others would be glorified exhibitions.

Some of the MVC schools may find fault with the two divisions and their assignment. Perhaps the divisions could be tweaked here or there, but we implore school officials to consider the big picture and put their self-interest aside for the greater good.

Do you really want a Class 4A district format next year that destroys the two proud football leagues? Do you really want to make it possible for a team with a 1-and-8 record to make the playoffs? Do you really want to eliminate conference standings and all-conference teams?

We ask the schools to take a serious look at our proposal. It's too late to bring Xavier, Wahlert and Assumption back in the fold, but it's not too late to save the Valley and save the MAC.