Obama fills out NCAA bracket for ESPN
WASHINGTON — March Madness is back at the White House.
For the third consecutive year, President Barack Obama has filled out an NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN. His predictions for who will make it to the Final Four will be closely guarded until the network reveals them today.
Obama told Pittsburgh TV station KDKA on Tuesday that he thinks the University of Pittsburgh will make it to the Elite Eight. He says it’s a good-looking team with a chance to go deep.
Obama also made picks for the women’s tournament.
The basketball-player-in-chief is 1-1 when it comes to college basketball’s national championship.
He correctly picked North Carolina to win in 2009. Last year, he went with Kansas, but Duke ended up taking home the trophy.
—The Associated Press
Every year when the NCAA tournament bracket comes out, there’s a team, maybe a couple, that stand out as the ones to beat.
Last year, to a certain extent, it was Duke. Kansas, with those five future pros, was the bracket behemoth in 2008, and Florida was the no-brainer the year before.
This year, there doesn’t seem to be that one team that’ll be at the top of everyone’s bracket. It’s probably closer to a dozen. Heck, there are five or six teams just in the Big East that could be considered legitimate title contenders.
Certainly, going with one of the top four seeds is a pretty safe route, but each one in this year’s field of 68 has enough flaws that it’s going to be difficult to feel certain about the final pick at the middle of the bracket.
To help out, here’s a rundown of the favorites, with opening odds to win the title from the folks at Glantz-Culver:
Ohio State
Odds to win championship:
The Buckeyes are as deep and talented as any team in the country and have a national-player-of-the-year candidate in freshman Jared Sullinger. The Buckeyes also have sharpshooter Jon Diebler, who led the
nation in 3-point shooting at 50 percent.