Prep Bowl XXIX begins today at the Metrodome

Happy day after Thanksgiving - or Black Friday or whatever it is you want to call it. For some, it's just another Friday. But for four high school football teams, today is Championship Day.

Prep Bowl XXIX kicks off at 10 a.m. at the Metrodome with the Nine-Man championship between Lanesboro and Cromwell. Three games will follow, with two more set for Saturday afternoon. Used to be the MSHSL crammed all six state championships into one day. Back in those days (which really wasn't all that long ago) we would have been nearly 90 minutes into the Nine-Man title game. But as it stands now, Cromwell has just taken the field for warm-ups; those fired-up Burros from Lanesboro have been out there since 9:00.

For the most part, yesterday's monster feast and subsequent food coma has worn off. Good thing, too, because it's another long day in the press box. But I am ready for more football. Good news: NO FORECASTED ICE STORMS!

Onward. Here is today's schedule, and please remember all times are approximate:

Nine-Man (10 a.m.): Lanesboro (11-2) vs. Cromwell (8-4)

Class 1A (1 p.m.) Barnesville (13-0) vs. New Ulm Cathedral (12-1)

Class 2A (4 p.m.) Caledonia (13-0) vs. Triton (13-0)

As you can see, some rather intriguing match-ups today. How about those bookends? A couple of Nine-Man teams that, let's be honest, really didn't expect to be here and two 5A schools from right smack dab in the metro that have impressed us writers from Day 1. The middle games will, of course, be fantastic as well.

Please do check out our previews for today's games: Nine-Man, 1A, 2A, 5A.

We'll get things started here in downtown Minneapolis in about a half hour. Check back here for game updates from Jim Paulsen, David La Vaque and the always merry Michael Rand throughout the day. I'll also chime in on Twitter all day long. Follow me @stensation.