Morena Baccarin, Homeland
Why She Will Be Nominated: She perfectly plays the long-suffering not-quite-widow with her own secrets.
Why She Won't: Fortunately for us, this Showtime series is filled with outstanding performances. Will her stellar acting be overlooked while Claire Danes & Co. get all the accolades? Because they definitely will be getting accolades.
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Why She Will Be Nominated: As one of the gems of the Emmy-loved CBS show, she should be nominated.
Why She Won't: It's getting quite crowded in the supporting actress race. Plus, costar Archie Panjabi (who won two years ago) could also be in the running.
Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter
Why She Will Be Nominated: One of the best characters in the Showtime series despite the icky step-incest storyline.
Why She Won't: Not the strongest seasons of Dexter to date, actually it was probably the weakest. And she has yet to clinch a nomination.
Joelle Carter, Justified
Why She Will Be Nominated: This beautiful badass should get a nod solely for her frying-pan backhand. Epic.
Why She Won't: Her standout costar, Margo Martindale, won the Emmy last year, but can the lesser-known Justified stars catch attention this year?
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Why She Will Be Nominated: We're not sure where she tapped into two seasons worth of grief, but damn is she a pretty crier.
Why She Won't: Only time will tell if the critical backlash against The Killing will affect it's award chances.
Holliday Grainger, The Borgias
Why She Will Be Nominated: She is absolutely captivating as the pope's daughter and political pawn. From youthful innocence to jaded maturity, she shined in the second season.
Why She Won't: Sadly not much Emmy love in the acting department for this series. Yet.
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Why She Will Be Nominated: Oh Joany. Poor girl went through the wringer this season, but kicking out her husband and basically prostituting herself for Jaguar led to some of the best moments of the season. Score for us.
Why She Won't: After about 10 minutes of contemplating, we couldn't come up with one reason why she won't be nominated.
Regina King, Southland
Why She Will Be Nominated: Softened by her pregnancy and still trying to be a tough detective, this season showed Lydia's greatest range.
Why She Won't: Southland may be the little cop show that could, but it still doesn't get a whole lot of respect in the awards arena.
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Why She Will Be Nominated: To be perfectly honest, we've loved her since she seduced Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting, so we adore her as the calculating and conflicted mob-boss wife.
Why She Won't: You must've been getting into the moonshine. She'll be in the mix.
Gretchen Mol, Boardwalk Empire
Why She Will Be Nominated: She might be the worst mother on cable, but she is just so compelling. Plus, she got some great material last season, icky incest reveal and all.
Why She Won't: It's getting crowded in Atlantic City, with great actresses that is, and a nomination might go to her costar instead.
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Why She Will Be Nominated: The winner of this category in 2010 lost to Margo Martindale's Justified performance last year. But she's a standout in a great cast with a rotating door of fantastic guest stars.
Why She Won't: Fighting with Alicia left Kalinda out in the cold this season. Could that hurt her nomination chances?
Lana Parrilla, Once Upon a Time
Why She Will Be Nominated: The Evil Queen we love to hate. She is two parts awesomely bad and one part sympathetic. Not easy to pull off.
Why She Won't: We'll just have to see if Emmy voters find this ABC series magical.
Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men
Why She Will Be Nominated: Always impressive as the smart and complicated daughter of Don Draper, she was certainly featured this season during her shuffling between parents.
Why She Won't: This season had less family heartbreak and more rebellious preteen. Just putting it out there, she'll have a great career regardless of Emmy nods.
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Why She Will Be Nominated: If it were up to us, the queen of one-liners would just receive all the awards preemptively.
Why She Won't: She may have won the Emmy last year when Downton competed in the mini-series category, but now she's in the competing with the big boys considerably more competitive ladies.
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones
Why She Will Be Nominated: An absolute delight to watch, this young actress proved she could stand toe to toe with any of the formidable actors in the HBO fantasy. P.S. We still could go for an Arya and Tywin (Charles Dance) spinoff.
Why She Won't: Emmy voters might've overlooked this little firecracker when she was still dressing as a boy.
NEXT GALLERY: 2012 Emmy Contenders: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama