Discussions involving who the Marshall Owls could call conference foes in the future appear to have stalled.

Marshall Public Schools Supt. Caleb Petet provided an update during his report at last week’s board of education meeting, describing the prospects of Marshall having a new home when the North Central Missouri Conference dissolves next year as, “bleak.” However, he tells KMMO News that discussions could pick back up in the fall with several NCMC schools and others.

Marshall had been among seven schools that took part in an luncheon hosted in January by Moberly to explore the formation of a new conference, which would succeed the NCMC in fall 2026. At least two discussions have taken place since then. Last week Moberly Schools Supt. Cristina Wright expressed continued optimism that a new league would form.

Following Fulton’s announcement last summer that it would join the Tri-County Conference, the NCMC’s five remaining schools voted in October to dissolve the league after next school year. Without a conference home, Marshall would have to schedule all their regular season games as an independent. Smith-Cotton spent two years as an independent following the dissolution of the West Central Conference in 2018, before becoming a founding member of the Central Missouri Activities Conference.