By John Millea

The conventional wisdom says that the state champions in Class 5A and 3A have already been decided. A few teams other than Eden Prairie and Glencoe-Silver Lake might say otherwise, of course, and that's why we will all gather at the Metrodome on Friday and Saturday for the state football semifinals.

Glencoe will try to win its fourth straight title in 3A and Mankato West is going for back-to-back titles in 4A. Speaking of 4A, that might be the most balanced group of teams. St. Thomas Academy and Sartell will meet Friday and Mankato West will meet Totino-Grace on Saturday. Those are four undefeated teams, making 4A the only division with an all-unbeaten semifinal lineup.

I'm in the process of producing my predictions for the semifinals and I'm not ready to climb out on any limbs just yet, but it's safe to say that picking the 4A winners will be no easy chore.

A surprise (to me, anyway) in 2A was Waterville-Elysian-Morristown beating two-time defending champ Caledonia in the quarterfinals. The Buccanners proved that I often don't know what I'm doing, and on Saturday they will meet Eden Valley-Watkins. If there's a sentimental favorite in 2A it might be Luverne, which has been the state runner-up the past three years.

Fosston and Minneota are unbeaten in 1A; Fosston meets Adrian and Minneota will face Blooming Prairie, which brings the best nickname to the dome: Awesome Blossoms.

Nine-Man is full of angles, not the least of which is the return of Stephen-Argyle to the dome. The Storm won every title from 2003 through 2007 before their state-record winning streak ended at 76 games last season. They will meet Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley on Friday at 8 a.m., and C-G-B is unbeaten after finishing second in Nine-Man last year.

The countdown to the dome has begun. Let's hear your thoughts.

John Millea is on Twitter at twitter.com/stribjohn