With the Emmy awards a week away, I'm continuing to pick who I think should and who I think will win the major awards.

On Friday, I discussed the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category. Now come the categories for lead actress and actor, starting with the six worthy nominees for Lead Actress in a Drama.

Nominees:
Connie Britton, 'Friday Night Lights'
Glenn Close, 'Damages'
Mariska Hargitay, 'Law & Order: SVU'
January Jones, 'Mad Men'
Julianna Margulies, 'The Good Wife'
Kyra Sedgwick, 'The Closer'

Who will win: The temptation here is to say that one of the previous winners, such as Hargitay or Close, will take the award because of the Academy's lack of creativity with their picks. But Margulies is a known quantity -- she's been nominated six times for 'ER,' both in the lead and supporting categories, winning after the show's first season -- and 'The Good Wife' was widely-watched enough to make me think that she may get the award this year. She carried the first year hit on her shoulders and did a great job playing the wounded but resilient Alicia Florrick.

Who should win: It's a tie between Margulies and January Jones. I've already mentioned why Margulies deserves the statuette, but Jones also should bring home the prize. The episode she submitted, 'The Gypsy and the Hobo,' showed Betty Draper in all her ruthless glory, as she confronted Don about his true identity. Throughout season three, she painted the picture of a woman who was slowly unraveling as she found out the world she thought she knew didn't really exist. Jones also did a nice job of showing Betty's true nature coming out in full force, setting her up to be the worst wife and mother that we've seen on TV in a number of years.

Dark Horse: Connie Britton, if only because a) 'Friday Night Lights' deserves to be recognized on its way into series oblivion, and b) Britton has been the show's emotional core from the start.

Who do you think will take home the Emmy?

(Follow @joelkeller on Twitter.)