The New Year is a chance for a fresh start for sports handicappers. If last year wasn’t a great one for your bankroll then this year can only be better. If it was a great year then this year can be even better. To get you excited for what is to come here’s a listing of some of the most exciting highlights on the calendar this year — one for each month of 2012.

January — BCS Championship

This is what we have been building towards all year. Make sure you get your fix of offense before this one starts because past history tells us that this one could be 0-0 heading into quadruple overtime. SEC lovers will just tell you that’s because the defense in the league is so good. Everyone else will just hate the SEC even more than they already do.

February — Super Bowl

Unlike the BCS Championship, there is a good chance that this National Championship will be offensively explosive. Three of the five 5,000-yard passing seasons in history all occurred this year from playoff-bound quarterbacks, and Green Bay’s offense is every bit as good. Combine that skill with some decidedly lousy defenses and this Super Bowl could be one for the fans. With our luck, though, it will wind up being a Denver 7-3 win over Atlanta.

March — NCAA Tournament

Thanks to the resurgence of my beloved Michigan Wolverines led by phenom point guard Trey Burke, every other team in the country is playing for second place. Finishing second in the NCAA Tournament is nothing to be ashamed of, though. For the first time in a while that second-place team likely won’t be Butler.

April — Baseball

The season technically starts in late March, but April is all about the new season for true fans. All eyes are going to be on the Angels this year after their wild offseason spending spree. Given their knack for underachieving and disappointing fans in recent years, though, you have to imagine that both Pujols and Wilson will be injured by the time April ends. Of course, and injured Pujols would still be far more productive than a healthy Vernon Wells has been.

May — Triple Crown

In 1977 there was a Triple Crown winner — the second in five years. There was another the next year. It seemed like winning the Triple Crown was too easy. It hasn’t been done since, and with every missed opportunity my soul takes another beating. I am absolutely certain that this is the year that the drought finally ends, and that racing again gets the attention it deserves as a result. Of course, I’ve been just as certain every year since 1979.

June — Euro 2012

Soccer is one of the easiest sports to get into when a major event is on, and the easiest to ignore when there isn’t one. This is the second biggest tournament in the world, so June will be the time when everyone is a soccer expert again — even if they don’t know the difference between a halfback and a hatchback.

July — Olympics

The eyes on the World will be on London in July and August. This is the one time every four years when people can convince themselves that betting on trampoline, air pistol, or judo is a good idea. There is no better opportunity to procrastinate in the world than the Olympic Games.

August — NFL Preseason

What is there not to like about the NFL Preseason? I mean, you get to see starters play for several minutes using a limited playbook and then you get to watch guys with no hope of making the team struggle to score against other guys who are destined for the CFL. And you get to pay regular season prices to go to the game. It’s like Christmas in August.

September — Football frenzy

As a sports fan there are few times better than September. The football offseason seems endless, so with 60 college games on Saturday and 16 more on Sunday and Monday September is like a glorious oasis at the end of a drought. At this time of year every team still has hope and every bettor feels like they are invincible.

October — World Series

The Fall Classic defines October. If recent history has taught us anything it is that the Yankees won’t win the World Series, and it will all be A-Rod’s fault.

November — NBA starts

Late October or early November is when the NBA season starts. Or rather, that’s when it should start. With the incredible incompetence displayed by both sides in the NBA Lockout last year I have all the faith in the world that they can find a way to cause this year’s season to be delayed as well.

December — Heisman Trophy

Obviously, this will go to Michigan QB Denard Robinson after his record-breaking season. You might as well lock in your bet today. I would have picked something later in the month — like the classic NBA games on Christmas Day or some of the always exciting bowls late in the month, but since the world is scheduled to end on Dec. 21st I decided to get the highlight out of the way while we still have a planet.