by Kody Hackbusch

Created on: March 19, 2010

In March of 2009, Barack Obama made headlines appearing on ESPN to show off his official NCAA March Madness tournament picks.  After famously scrimmaging against them during his election campaign in 08, President Obama chose North Carolina to win it all, a prediction that proved correct.  The Tar Heels went on to defeat Michigan State by a score of 89 to 72.  This year, 2010, the president continued the tradition of publicizing his bracket on ESPN.  Sure he is the commander-in-chief and an avid basketball fan, but can he pick the winner two years in a row?  Get out your papers and see how you fare against the President of the United States. 

Starting in the Midwest Conference, Obama chose the University of Kansas to beat both Michigan State and Georgetown sending them into the Final Four.

During his ESPN interview the president scribbled down his choices on a large whiteboard, unfortunately he had a little bit of trouble spelling Syracuse which gave everyone a laugh; not to worry he did spell it correctly on his original paper bracket.  So for the Western conference he’s got Syracuse going down to Kansas State who will also have to defeat both BYU and Pitt to secure their spot in the Final Four.

If there were any upset picks, it would be 13th ranked Murray State over Vanderbilt.

On the other side, in the East, no surprise that Obama selected number 1 seeded Kentucky to sail past Texas, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

In the South, he set up Duke to win over Texas A&M and Villanova to beat Baylor.  The concluding match-up between Duke and “Nova” as the president calls them, was a bit personal.  The president’s special assistant and top aide Reggie Love was a former player for the Duke Blue Devils so no doubt there will be some light-hearted rivalry in the white house after Obama advanced Villanova to the Final Four. 

So the president likes Kansas versus Kansas State, and Kentucky versus Villanova to play in the Final Four in Indianapolis on April 3rd.   He says that Kentucky will win and play Kansas in the NCAA championship game.  Obama’s choice for the winner?  Kansas.  

Barack Obama clearly chose his bracket based on his sports knowledge and love of the game, a surprising move for any politician.  Many would assume that the president would choose schools in the swing states such as Ohio or that there would be some other political undercurrent to his picks.  Not this president, he’s got enough politicking to do in every other area of his life, his NCAA bracket reflects only that he is big fan of the game of basketball.

On the web:

See Barack Obama's official bracket here

Watch the ESPN video of his choices

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