Madden 13: Breaking Down This Year's Top Cover Contenders

EA Sports hit a gold mine with attention and hype for their cover selection process in 2011, so they are expanding it to a field of 64 this year. This is March, after all.

Now, they will have a play-in round where each team's two most popular players will go head-to-head for the local title of their team's representative. You can see the full field here.

It is broken down by conference, so let's cut to the chase. I'll predict the final four, and then my choice for the winner.

This is my prediction for the fan voting—not who I believe should be the next player on the football simulation.

Tim Tebow: Denver Broncos

Did you even have to wonder? Tebow is perhaps the most popular player in the league. Only Aaron Rodgers' jersey sold more than Tebow's, and remember, Tebow didn't start for the Broncos until Week 4. Imagine how close he could have come to Rodgers had he started in the first three weeks.

Tebow will grab nearly all of the Colorado vote, but he certainly has his haters that will want anyone except him on the cover.

Who wins out?

Mike Vick: Philadelphia Eagles

Vick was edged out by the Browns' Peyton Hillis and a ridiculous Cleveland-based campaign that vaulted the RB past Vick in the voting.

Hopefully, EA has instituted some type of rule or fail-safe for this virtual ballot-box stuffing. Vick is one of the game's most popular and exciting players. 

It seems only logical that he be on the cover.

Aaron Rodgers: Green Bay Packers

No. 1 in jersey sales in 2011 and QB for a team that finished the season 15-1; that makes him a strong candidate. Add in the fact that the Packers have one of the strongest and loyal fanbases in the country, and Rodgers is certainly a big favorite.

As a Bears fan, it's hard for me to fathom, but Rodgers could be the pick.

Terrell Suggs: Baltimore Ravens

Here is the player I'm picking to be the recipient of a locally based push for the cover. Ravens fans are a proud bunch, and Suggs is a big-profile, outspoken character. He could get some love from Ravens fans in this process.

It wouldn't be as bad as Hillis in 2011 because Suggs actually won Defensive Player of the Year.

He is a primary force for one of the NFL's best defenses, and it's been seven years since a defensive player was on the cover. Fittingly, it was Ray Lewis, the original Raven, then. Could it be Suggs now?

Prediction

This is a tough one, but I'm going with Tebow. I just think Tebow-mania will overpower Tebow haters in the end, and the Broncos' polarizing QB will get even more face time.