Oliver Letwin brought about the indicative votes through an amendment to May's Brexit plan. TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images

While lawmakers squabble about what they may or may not be debating tomorrow, let's look ahead to Monday -– the second day of indicative votes in a process controlled not by the government, but by the former minister and current MP for West Dorset, Oliver Letwin.

If Wednesday was the group stages – or, as American sports fans might say, the regular season – Monday is intended to be the playoffs, where the biggest winners (or rather, smallest losers) advance to a straight vote.

It's expected MPs will only be able to opt for one option on Monday, in order to provide a more conclusive result. Exactly how many choices will be put to them remains to be scene.

Michael Heseltine, a former Deputy Prime Minister under Margaret Thatcher, told CNN’s Richard Quest on Thursday that he expected the organizers of Monday’s debate to combine some of the proposals that got the most votes on Wednesday. He suggested that a combination of a customs union deal with a confirmatory second referendum could command a majority that would “get us out of this mess.”

That view was echoed in the Commons, where former Conservative minister Edward Leigh said "there is nothing to stop" Oliver Letwin -- who orchestrated the indicative votes process -- from "whittling down the options to one option, which almost certainly given the results last night would be permanent membership of the customs union."

"There is nothing to stop him putting this in a Bill, there is nothing stopping him making that an Act of Parliament and then the choice will be between -- and I say this to my colleagues - permanent membership of the customs union or a general election," he added.

A customs union plan came the closest to reaching a majority of voting MPs last night, losing by 271 votes to 265, while a second, confirmatory referendum picked up the most votes in favor – that plan lost by 295 votes to 268.

And Chuka Umunna, an Independent Group MP and leading campaigner for a People's Vote, is optimistic the plan will have a hearing.

"We were never going to get a result that determined what we were going to do next," he told the BBC. "This is the first part of a process... the second part is due to be on Monday, and obviously I'm happy because the People's Vote option polled the highest."

But he suggested there may be more than one option for MPs to chew over. "We now need to whittle down the options further on Monday, to maybe two or three options, and then make a decision," he said.