Barack Obama’s NCAA Bracket Busted – Again
When it comes to filling out March Madness brackets, you probably don’t want to follow President Obama’s lead.
And hey, we get it – filling out a winning bracket is no easy feat. The quest for a perfect bracket in this year’s NCAA Tournament lasted just 26 games, and even that felt like a marathon. Plus, Obama probably has more important things to worry about than scouting the Middle Tennessees of the world, even though he only has a few months remaining in office. Having said that, his March Madness picks have been pretty brutal.
His biggest sin? Not learning from past mistakes. Of the eight brackets he’s filled out since he took office in 2009, Obama has picked Kansas to win the national title on three occasions — first in 2010, then in 2011 and 2016. Those were pretty safe bets considering the Jayhawks were the No. 1 seed in their region each of those years, but they never even made it to the Final Four. And with Villanova laying the smackdown on the Jayhawks in the Elite 8 over the weekend, Obama’s plan to start strong and finish strong – “Success at the beginning, success at the end,” he told ESPN – has gone down the drain.
That puts his record at 1-7 during his time in office, which isn’t great considering his lone victory came during his first year on the job.
In 2009, Obama picked North Carolina – and they won. The following year, he went with Kansas, who were upset by Northern Iowa in the second round. Undeterred, he chose the Jayhawks again, and they lost again…this time in the Elite 8. In 2012, he went back to the Tar Heels. They lost to Kansas.
In 2013, Obama changed things up and went with Indiana. You can guess what happened. Michigan State in 2014? Nope. Kentucky in 2015? So close.
Perhaps we’re being too critical: Obama did pick his hometown Hawaii over California in the first round of this year’s tournament, and the Rainbow Warriors scored their first NCAA Tournament win in five attempts. Surely that counts for something, right?