It’s March Madness time again, and like no president before him had done, President Obama has taken the time to publicly fill out an NCAA March Madness bracket, letting everyone know what his final four picks will be.
He has proven over the years that he is a big fan of college basketball, and has even shown a bit of favoritism toward certain teams in a way. From 2009 until 2013, President Obama has picked three different teams to win the championship, and he as been correct once.
In the era that has become known as “Barack-etology,” Obama has picked Indiana (over Louisville in 2013), Kansas (over Ohio State in 2011 and Kentucky in 2010) and North Carolina (over Kentucky in 2012 and Louisville in 2009).
However, he did also correctly pick that Louisville would go to the championship in 2013, a game that they won. He predicted that they would lose to Indiana, and Louisville ended up winning when they beat another Big Ten school, Michigan.
Obama has the same final four as me so this is good when I don't win again this year I can actually blame it on Obama
— tony peter prince (@TheTonyPrince) March 19, 2014
Speaking on last year’s championship game, President Obama said that it was “one of the best championship games that any of us have seen in a very, very long time.”
This year could be the most exciting one that basketball fans have seen in a while since no team seems to be a real front-runner heading into the tournament, except possibly Florida, who went undefeated in conference play, and earned the No.1 overall seed.
As a result, President Obama only has two No.1 seeds in his final four, but as most people know, a Final Four that consists of four No.1 seeds almost never happens. The president’s final four picks are Florida, Arizona, Michigan State, and Louisville.
Do you agree with Obama’s picks? Who will be making the Final Four this year?
Obama has the same final four as me. Where does that put me in the presidential line of succession? #Baracketology
— Russell Steinberg (@Russ_Steinberg) March 19, 2014
Obama knows what's up by picking state to go to the final four.
— Matt Pierce (@MattPierce97) March 19, 2014
Last year Obama’s men’s bracket ranked 2,080,996 out of 8.15 million entries in ESPN.com’s free ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge, placing him in the 74.4th percentile. Every year is different though, and this could be his year again.
Michigan State and Louisville are the No.4 seeds in the East, and Midwest, respectively. However, both teams are on a role after winning their conference championships, and are likely contenders to win it all. They are led by Michigan State’s Gary Harris, and Louisville’s Russ Smith, both contenders for the Wooden Award.
President Obama correctly placed Louisville in the championship last year, but do they have the potential to get back? They lost Peyton Siva, but still have a load of talent on their team, and are seeking another championship.
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