In a continuation of his personal March Madness custom, ex-President Barack Obama presented his National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament selections on Wednesday.
Mr. Obama, a participant in this activity since his presidential term began in 2012, predicts Arizona will emerge victorious in the men’s competition and UConn will secure the championship in the women’s event.
His predictions for both tournaments largely favor higher-seeded teams, a common characteristic of Mr. Obama’s past selections.
For the women’s bracket, he projects all four top-ranked teams — consisting of UConn, UCLA, Texas, and South Carolina — to advance to the Final Four, each overcoming the No. 2 seed in their respective Elite Eight matchups, with a single exception (he anticipates the No. 3 seed TCU defeating the No. 2 seed Iowa in the Sacramento 4 regional).
Regarding the men’s competition, his forecast places the top overall seed Duke facing Arizona in the final contest, alongside the South’s No. 3 seed Illinois and the Midwest’s No. 2 seed Iowa State progressing to Indianapolis. The only significant underdog victory he foresees, aside from the usual 8-9 and 7-10 seed pairings, is No. 11 South Florida triumphing over No. 6 Louisville in the East region.
Naturally, Mr. Obama is not the sole public figure participating in this annual tradition.
