People will announce its Sexiest Man Alive for 2012 this week, forcing last year’s winner, Bradley Cooper, to pass his crown of sexiness on to some other well-deserving bastion of male hotness. The website Gossip Cop recently reported that the glossy magazine has chosen Channing Tatum to serve in this crucial role. Because this is a matter of national security and newsstand sales, People has not confirmed that report. That means all we can do is speculate about who may soon be deemed the most alluring guy on the planet.

Look, the presidential election is over, so we have to speculate about something. Here are five contenders for the title: