Former US President Barack Obama is a huge basketball fanatic and often shares his thoughts and opinions on both NBA and college basketball. President Obama released his annual March Madness brackets on his Instagram, chalking out the trajectory for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. Interestingly, the former President picked South Carolina to go undefeated this season, winning over Iowa Hawkeyes to win the championship.
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President Obama believes, despite such stellar shows this season, luck wouldn’t favor the Hawkeyes this year either. Last season, the LSU Tigers handed the Hawkeyes a 102-85 defeat, winning their first title with Angel Reese and Co. This prediction comes despite Iowa’s Caitlin Clark having made some untouchable records, such as being the only NCAA Division 1 basketball athlete to tally 3000+ points, 900+ assists, and 800+ rebounds.
The case for South Carolina to win wouldn’t be as bleak, given their unstoppable 32-0 run this season. Fox Sports also noted that the Gamecocks remain the favorite to win the championship, with the Iowa Hawkeyes only having a +700 probability of winning against South Carolina.
For the men’s NCAA tournament, the former President picked UConn to win another NCAA title since last year. Obama’s Final Four picks for the men comprise 1-seeds UConn and Purdue from the East and Midwest, respectively, as well as South Region 3 seed Kentucky and West Region 3 seed Baylor. However, his brackets ultimately proclaim UConn as the eventual winner to claim the men’s national championship in 2024.
How did President Obama start with his March Madness picks?
President Obama started with his March Madness picks when he was sworn in as the POTUS in 2009. He had correctly picked the North Carolina Tar Heels to win the championship then, which he described in an appearance on the ‘Ways to Win‘ podcast.
“My bracket was beautiful, and people were pretty impressed. They were like, ‘Look at the President of the United States, he’s in the top 4% of all the people who enter in their brackets,” said the former President in a delighted manner, speaking to Craig Robinson and Kentucky coach John Calipari, about the first time he picked the teams.
Since 2009, Obama has failed to predict the NCAA champion correctly. He hit the bullseye again only in 2017 when he picked the Tar Heels to win the championship. Even though he seemed “sad” about it, he has been continuously giving out his picks for the love of the game.
