Barack Obama picks Kentucky to make NCAA Tournament finals on Calipari's new podcast

John Calipari has a new podcast and he’s got a very big guest to tip things off. Former President Barack Obama joined Calipari and his co-host Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law and the former head coach at Oregon State, on “Ways to Win,” a podcast about using on-court wisdom to solve off-court problems.

The episode was taped after the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, so the bracket was a big topic of conversation. Obama has Kentucky as one of his Final Four teams, along with UConn, Baylor, and Purdue; in fact, he has the Cats losing to the Huskies in the finals.

“I’m going a little chalk this year and I think UConn’s gonna take it but you know who I’ve got playing them in the finals, is Kentucky,” Obama said. “I still have Houston getting to the Elite Eight but I think Kentucky beats them.”

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

Calipari and Obama covered several topics during the episode, chief among them how Calipari is getting his team in the right mindset for the NCAA Tournament. He mentioned how he took them bowling on Sunday and is now in “cheerleader mode,” encouraging them to play fast and free.

“You have to play like you have nothing to lose,” Calipari said. “How can you get yourself in that frame of mind? I’m not going to let anything happen to anybody in the room so let it go.

“You’re not going to be perfect, you’ll make mistakes but we just have got to make less than they make. You don’t have to make every shot but we are the best three-point shooting team in the country, so we’ve gotta keep playing that way. That’s our strength.”

Calipari said he believes Kentucky is one of six or eight teams that can win it all because they have a few players who can take over a game. He didn’t name names, but I will: Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard.

“You have to have a couple of stars who can just take over a game, even if it’s just for three minutes,” Calipari said.

“You got some dogs, right?” Obama said.

“Yeah, they take over,” Cal replied. “It may be on defense. It may be making four baskets in a row that creates a gap. I have those guys.”

“I know you don’t want me to jinx you but I agree with you that as young as your team is, that backcourt is impressive and you’ve got a bunch of folks who can put the ball in the hoop and you being one of the ten teams that can win it sounds right to me,” Obama said.

Here’s hoping. You can listen to the entire episode, which also includes a discussion about how Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) has changed the sport, below or wherever you find your podcasts.