Former President Obama put out his guesses for March Madness, expressing his opinion on the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments before they begin this week.
Obama chose the University of Connecticut Huskies as the winners of the men’s tournament, backing the No. 1 seed to defend their title and secure the program’s sixth national championship after their victory last season.
The former president played it safe, only picking a much lower seed to win three first-round matches. He selected No. 11 New Mexico to defeat No. 6 Clemson, No. 13 Vermont to surprise No. 4 Duke, and No. 11 North Carolina State to defeat No. 6 Texas Tech.
All of the tournament’s four No. 1-seeded teams reached the Elite 8 in Obama’s bracket, with the Final Four comprising No. 1 UConn, No. 3 Baylor, No. 3 Kentucky, and No. 1 Purdue.
He discussed the selections during a guest appearance on the debut episode of the “Ways to Win” podcast, co-hosted by legendary Kentucky coach John Calipari, who won the 2012 national championship with the Wildcats, and former Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law.
“The first year I did this, 2009, I’d been sworn in, I picked North Carolina. This is the one with [Ty] Lawson and [Tyler] Hansbrough. And they won,” Obama said on the podcast. “My bracket was beautiful, and people were pretty impressed. They thought, ‘Look at the president of the United States, he’s in the top 4 percent of all people who entered their brackets.’
“I was kinda feeling it, and I thought this was what was going to happen every year,” he continued. “I’m pretty sure each year I’ve lost since then.”
For the women’s tournament, Obama selected another No. 1 seed to win it all in South Carolina. In his bracket, the undefeated Gamecocks defeat the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes in the national championship game.
Fellow No. 1 seed USC also reaches the Final Four, with No. 1 Texas falling to No. 4 Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. No. 2 Stanford defeats Gonzaga to secure the last Final Four spot, as predicted by Obama.
The podcast is produced by Higher Ground, Obama’s own media production firm.
