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The first round of the Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote has ended with few surprises. The higher ranked seed won in every matchup except for #7 Ray Rice (who lost to #10 Peyton Hillis) and #8 Julius Peppers (who lost to #9 Adrian Peterson).

Voting for the second round has begun today at ESPN.com/maddenvote and with it comes a few very interesting matchups:

Aaron Rodgers (#1) vs Sam Bradford (#8)
Danny Woodhead (#4) vs Hakeem Nicks (#5)
Maurice Jones-Drew (#3) vs Jamaal Charles (#6)
Matt Ryan (#2) vs Peyton Hillis (#10)

Phillip Rivers (#1) vs Adrian Peterson (#9)
Drew Brees (#4) vs Mark Sanchez (#5)
Michael Vick (#3) vs Andre Johnson (#6)
Hines Ward (#2) vs Patrick Willis (#10)

Voting for round two continues through April 3rd.

The show must go on. Lockouts can’t stop EA’s Madden NFL series as the latest entry is set to be released under every platform under the sun this August as usual. Today we get the first teaser trailer for Madden NFL 12, with those titillating menus, classic gameplay, and that sweet HD grass you just want to rip up and smell.

ANYWAY, don’t forget you can win your very own copy of Madden NFL 12 by making your own bracket for the cover athlete, and we strongly suggest joining the Warp Zoned group in EA’s bracket challenge.

It’s 4 PM and, as promised, EA Sports and ESPN have unveiled the bracket for the Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote. You can vote for the winners of the 16 initial matchups now at ESPN.com or fill out your own bracket using the Madden NFL Bracket Facebook bracket.

The five-week long tournament will choose the Madden NFL 12 curse victim cover athlete on April 27 with a new round commencing every week. Each team is represented in the bracket and the #1 seeds went to Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers) and Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers). However, some of the choices are just baffling:

The Denver Broncos selection is Tim Tebow, who spent most of the season as the third-string quarterback. Tom Brady and Wes Welker of the New England Patriots were passed over for running back Danny Woodhead. No player from the Seattle Seahawks was deemed worthy with EA choosing The 12th Man instead.

You can click on the bracket to get a larger picture of the matchups and remember to vote early and vote daily for your favorites.

Did Marquette kill your Final Four bracket yesterday? Or maybe it was Florida State. Or maybe, like President Obama, your bracket is still relatively pristine.

Whatever your bracket looks like, EA Sports is giving gamers a second chance to prove their bracket prowess with the Madden NFL 12 Bracket Challenge. EA has selected 32 players (one from each team) to compete in a single elimination tournament to determine the cover athlete of Madden NFL 12. That’s right, the recipient of the curse is on us now.

EA will reveal the full bracket on ESPN’s “SportsNation” today at 4 PM (Eastern Time) today. But they did say that Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers, Madden NFL 11 cover athlete Drew Brees (who won a three-way fan vote), Madden NFL 2004 cover athlete Michael Vick, Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson and Julius Peppers are among the finalists.

Madden fans can create their own bracket by using the Madden NFL Bracket application on Facebook. The winners of each matchup will be chosen through daily voting at ESPN.com/maddenvote.

The top two bracketologists will win the Grand Prize of $2,000 and two tickets to Super Bowl XLVI. Eight 1st Place winners will receive four tickets to an NFL game of their choice. “Group Winners” will receive a copy of Madden NFL 12 when it’s released in August.

We’ll be back with the full bracket later today.