Former President Barack Obama reveals Men’s NCAA Tournament full bracket picks, UConn national champions

Former President Barack Obama’s March Madness picks are in. On Tuesday, Obama continued his annual tradition of posting his completed brackets for both the men and women’s NCAA Tournaments.

Obama began the tradition in 2009, correctly predicting North Carolina to win the title. Since then, he has failed to correctly predict the NCAA Tournament champion. This time around, the 44th president didn’t take any chances, hedging his bets on the No. 1 overall seed.

“I’m going a little chalk this year, and I think UConn is gonna take it,” Obama said during an appearance on Ways to Win with Craig and Coach Cal. “But, you know who I’ve got playing them in the finals, is Kentucky.”

My picks are in! I sat down to talk about them with @CraigMalRob and @UKCoachCalipari on their podcast Ways To Win from @HGMedia. Check out our conversation wherever you get your podcasts. And please don’t rub it in when my bracket gets busted. https://t.co/pVLfuHjYmo pic.twitter.com/la2NTDh1z7

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 19, 2024

It’s difficult to fault Obama for his confidence in the Huskies. UConn cemented its spot as the No. 1 overall seed with its dominant 73-57 triumph over Marquette in the Big East Tournament Championship. The victory gave the Huskies their first Big East Tournament title since 2011 when Kemba Walker led the program on a miraculous run.

However, Obama isn’t only picking the favorites. He also chose No. 3 seed Kentucky to make a massive run through the South Region, defeating Houston to reach the Final Four. It’s certainly a vote of confidence after Kentucky fell in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to Texas A&M.

Of course, Obama didn’t only announce his championship matchup. He also revealed his Final Four predictions and gave his reasoning behind his other picks.

“I’ve got UConn, Kentucky, Purdue and and in the West, my big upset, I’m picking Baylor over UNC,” Obama said. “Tennessee’s team, looks to me well-rounded. I actually think they can beat Purdue. But, in the end, I picked Purdue just because they’ve been consistent throughout the year, and I think that’s gonna be a close game.

“I love North Carolina. I love the Tar Heels love, the tradition. But, I try never to just go straight chalk on my brackets. Houston is the No. 1 one seed, so I picked Kentucky over Houston. [UNC] is the other No. 1 seed that I felt was a little bit vulnerable despite the fact that they’ve got one of the best point guards in the country. So, I’m going with Baylor.”

Of course, Barack Obama couldn’t forget the women hoopers, either. Obama took less chances in his women’s bracket, picking South Carolina, Stanford, Iowa and USC to reach the Final Four. He ultimately predicted South Carolina to defeat Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes in the national championship.

Despite Obama’s rational reasoning behind each pick, he isn’t afraid to end up incorrect, especially if it puts a smile on college basketball fans’ faces around the country.

“My attitude is that it gives people great pleasure with all the intelligence I have available to me — the CIA, the NSA — all that in play, when they beat me, they feel good,” Obama said. “I want to I want to give people that satisfaction.”