Count former president Barack Obama among those who waited until the last minute to fill out their brackets for the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.
Just as he did throughout his presidency, Obama has stepped right up and boldly . . . gone with chalk, choosing the teams you’d expect to be around through the Final Four and posting them on a site that urges you to sign up to “keep up with President Obama, the Obama Foundation and the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.”
He has the Duke men and UConn women cutting down the nets when it’s all over. How he gets to that point on the men’s side is interesting. He has two of the No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four (North Carolina and Duke) with No. 2 seeds Tennessee and Michigan losing in the semifinals. He predicts that Gonzaga, one of the other No. 1 seeds, will be upset by No. 4 Florida State and that Virginia will lose to Tennessee. He went with an all-ACC Duke-North Carolina matchup in the April 8 championship game.
On the women’s side, he has three of the four No. 1 seeds advancing, with No. 2 UConn upsetting No. 1 Louisville while Baylor, Notre Dame and Mississippi State (the other top seeds) get through to the Final Four. He has Baylor and UConn playing in the championship game April 7.
Obama has had mixed results with his brackets. Last year’s tournament, marked by upset after upset on the men’s side, wasn’t a total loss for him because Loyola-Chicago advanced to the Final Four.
“Incredible to have a Chicago team in the Final Four,” he tweeted at the time. “I’ll take that over an intact bracket any day!”
Here’s how Obama has done with his picks to win it all over the years (via CBS):
Men’s tournament:
2009: Obama picks North Carolina (actual winner: North Carolina)
2010: Obama picks Kansas (Duke)
2011: Obama picks Kansas (UConn)
2012: Obama picks North Carolina (Kentucky)
2013: Obama picks Indiana (Louisville)
2014: Obama picks Michigan State (UConn)
2015: Obama picks Kentucky (Duke)
2016: Obama picks Kansas (Villanova)
2017: Obama picks North Carolina (North Carolina)
2018: Obama picks Michigan State (Villanova)
On the women’s side:
2010: Obama picks UConn (actual winner: UConn)
2011: Obama picks U-Conn. (Texas A&M)
2012: Obama picks Baylor (Baylor)
2013: Obama picks Baylor (UConn)
2014: Obama picks UConn (UConn)
2015: Obama picks UConn (UConn)
2016: Obama picks UConn (UConn)
2017: Obama picks UConn (South Carolina)
2018: Obama picks UConn (Notre Dame)
