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As we noted in First Thoughts, President Obama’s March Madness bracket this year has all No. 1 seeds in the Final Four -- Kansas, Ohio State, Pitt, and Duke. In his yearly ESPN segment on the bracket, the president, an avid basketball fan, said it was the first time he has ever picked all No. 1s. In the championship, the president picked Kansas over Ohio State, despite the fact that the Jayhawks were his title pick last year and exited in a second round upset to Northern Iowa. This is the fourth time President Obama has released his March picks, the third time as president. So how has he fared?
Past results:
--In 2008, then-Sen. Obama correctly picked three of the Final Four teams, but not the champion (Kansas) or runner up (Memphis).
--2009 was a strong year for the President -- he accurately picked 87.5 percent of the Sweet Sixteen and chose the eventual Champion, UNC.
--The president struggled last year, failing to pick a single team in the Final Four. Then again last year was a difficult year to predict, and the president’s winter may have been a bit filled with the fight over something else… health care reform.
Campaign connection?
--Three teams (Duke, Ohio St., and Pitt.) in the President’s Final Four come from Swing States.
--Six of his Elite Eight come from swing states (Seven of eight if you count Indiana – Purdue).
--Seven teams he has in the Elite Eight come from states the president carried in 2008, the only exception being his pick to win it all: Kansas.
--Of the seven schools to make the Final Four since President Obama was inaugurated (Michigan St. made it twice), six come from states he carried in 2008. West Virginia last year is the exception.
--Of the 12 top-seeded teams this year, 10 come from states the President carried in 2008, the exceptions being BYU and Kansas.
Some other points:
--The president is doubling down on Kansas to win it all this year despite their failure to do so last year—a repeat pick paid off for him in 2009, when he picked UNC for the second year in a row, and they won.
--The president is long on Kansas historically—this year, he’s putting them in the Final Four for the third time in four years. Then again, Kansas has done very well in the past decade or so in the NCAA.
--Despite a close relationship with his personal aide Reggie Love, who played basketball at Duke, this is the first time the president has Duke advancing to the Final Four.
NBC’s Domenico Montanaro notes other interesting picks in Obama's bracket this year:
--Upsets: No. 12 Richmond over No. 5 Vanderbilt; No. 11 Gonzaga over No. 6 St. John’s; No. 11 Marquette over No. 6 Xavier.
Also, some Republicans are criticizing the president for putting out his NCAA bracket: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Tweeted: "How can @BarackObama say he is leading when puts his NCAA bracket over the budget & other pressing issues? http://bit.ly/ieSuCI"
For Priebus, Wisconsin has a potentially tough draw in the first round against Belmont and then possibly Kansas State. Obama has Wisconsin losing to K-State.
Leave a Comment:
Got that Spanky? Do you have any questions?
Thank you President Obama,
Your interest in collegiate sports shows you shows you are a man of the people.
I like your pick of Louisville in the sweet 16, but I picked UCLA beyond the first round.
I certainly enjoyed reading your basketball predictions. Speaking of predictions, can you please tell
me if my family on the west coast is getting nuked, or not? That would be great info, even better
than your college basketball predictions.
Amazing - the president and I picked the exact same teams for the final four! Oh, wait a minute - that was a no-brainer (literally) so Priebus can relax - It's not like the president spent any time filling out his bracket. Priebus probably spent more time composing that tween - give me a break!
I do Bev, as a matter of fact.
And since we are now on a sports related topic, what do you think about Adrain Peterson's comments regarding the NFL? Do you think the NFL is actually just modern day slavery, like our man Adrain says? And if so, is it possible to be a slave when you pull down $10.2 million per year?
Also I was wondering what your thoughts are on John Conyers' comments about Obama failure to lead?
And Ursula - really, that's amazing? Picking all the number ones is just another form of voting "present." [See first read, try as yo might, you just can't cheerlead Obama right now. At least that's what they are saying on Firedoglake].
Ok First read - looks like you are left with Obama's golf scores from yesterday, right?
Hard hitting, thought provoking. On the bright side, maybe this drivel will turn Anna Molly's frown upside down.
Spanky, you just look for something to attack - my point was that the president breezed over the final four picks contrary to Priebus' fears that he was wasting time on something frivolous. I don't agree with the president 100% of the time but I support him all the same. If you dislike this site so much, why don't you read something else? You're not going to sway opinion with your attack-dog dialogue.
Spanky-
I do Bev, as a matter of fact.
And since we are now on a sports related topic, what do you think about Adrain Peterson's comments regarding the NFL? Do you think the NFL is actually just modern day slavery, like our man Adrain says? And if so, is it possible to be a slave when you pull down $10.2 million per year?
Well, I'm not familiar with incident.
Spanky
No matter how much money you have, if you mind is in shackles you're a slave to your own thoughts. Kinda like you since your mind, judging from your endless questions, it appears to be in a state of total confusion.
I'm not piquing any color arousals; am I? It can happen to anybody; right?
Say Ursula - who do you suppose the Libyan rebel leader has in his final four?
What? I can't persuade you? Shocked, I'm just shocked.
Like Bev. So Bev, I guess what you are saying is that Peterson is the slave owner. And dear, you always "pique" arousal in me. Especially with all your tea-bagger comments - I loves me a good tea-bag, just like you. :)
Spanky-
Like Bev. So Bev, I guess what you are saying is that Peterson is the slave owner. And dear, you always "pique" arousal in me. Especially with all your tea-bagger comments - I loves me a good tea-bag, just like you. :)
Me? You're crazy. I'm not a tea bag.
No bev, we have been over this ad nausum - you are the tea-baggie. Yours is the forehead the sack slides across.
Come on, you bring that act up every day, repeatedly. You are all over it. Good for you girl!
Read that while sitting on an office chair with wheels...it shot across the room and I was literally ROTFLMAO.
Now where is Bev's comment when you need a laugh Spanky? The forehead for the sack.....priceless.
So we have known for months (years) that Bev is the racist. Wonder how much of Adrian Peterson's money we shoud take to support the poor. What he's a slave???? how can that be???? What you say he's a millionare??? why aren't we tax ing him to the hilt. He should be supporting the poor, what he's NOT???? Imagine that.....oops forgot he gives money to charity and to his church ........ oh that makes the difference
Good post janet,
But what you forget, these guys in the NFL do have a lot of expense to pay for: 'roids that the NFL is blind to unless you are dumb enough to get caught; a possee of people to fluff up your ego; a supply of guns to take into clubs and shoot yourself with; the lawyer fees when they accidently punch-out a wife or girlfriend or both.
Supporting the poor, money to charity or church? For a wealthy young man that has a career longevity of 5 years. Perhaps taking diction lessons would prepare many of these young men for the future. Or continuing an education - really and not at a football school. Or finding a true financial man to manage his fiscal life for the future after football.
The President is a knowledgeable basketball fan, he has done well in his picks.
Would like to make sure that by the 2013 Tournament, former President Obama will have the time to attend as many of the NCAA games in person as he wants to...
Oh Bob-
You are such a silly man.....former President Obama.
Let the foolishness begin. How dare he? And Reince, give it a rest. If you think the President can fix everything in the time it takes for him to do his brackets, then you guys must really think he's the messiah and can fix any and every thing right, quick, and in a hurry. This constant drone of criticism of every single flippin thing the President does is really getting old. It's like white noise-something that is always there but really not paid attention too, except for the press who gets a kick out of it.
President Bush endured twice as much vicious nastiness from the Left for 8 years.
I agree with you Joi---I like that the President has outside interests and I don't expect him to work 24/7. I think he works really hard for the American people most of the time and like everyone needs to recharge his batteries occasionally.
Here's what I don't get about the conservatives--they don't like a thing that the President does and they think he is wrong in everything he does so why do they want him to work harder?
Wow, Obama's picks. Who actually cares other than MSNBC?
Now for an interesting question MSNBC, not a snowball, what is the energy policy for this country during this oil crisis?
safecracker-1205811
Wow, Obama's picks. Who actually cares other than MSNBC?
FOX generates lots of excitation at the mention of Ronald Reagan and G.W. Bush daily.
Maybe you should see yourself over there, if it's caring you're looking for.
No Bev, I would rather stay here and read your useless rants. They're always good for a laugh.
Good one....at least the weight of the world is having no effect on his sports accumen.
Bev,
Bev,
Bush and Reagan ( actually did you know Reagen died) aren't president anymore. Everything is now Obama's responsibility
Could we at least not put this in the Politics section?
Come on Suzy - John Bailey must be mighty proud of this work. I'm sure he attended a top notch school.
bob, you got that right. But it wasn't just the Left. Imagine what the media would be saying about Bush if he was in office with the way thing are now.
 safecracker,
Several million people in this country fill out NCAA brackets.  So someone must care or ESPN wouldn't want to keep doing the segment every year. After all, they are in business to make money by getting ratings. I can't believe everyone who watches ESPN is also a First Read regular.
As you can see Joi and Ursula the Repubs hate President Obama, so it does not matter what he does! They will come up with any reason to hate him!! They hated Jesus, Martin L. King and any other great man!
Exactly wrong Tommy.
I do not hat the plumber I hire. I hire him to do a job, if he does not, say because he's out golfing, or picking bracket, I be more than annoyed at him.
See Obama has a job to do. There are, despite what the insightful articles around here might suggest, a few kinda important things going on. You know like the deficit, Japan, and the Libyan rebels who are literally being slaughtered right this second.
But hey, you know who hates Jesus? Muslim Terrorists. Say what's going on with KSM's trial? How about Hasan's trial?
Tommy the pipes are leaking bad, and the plumber we hired does not seem to be doing anything.
"...if he does not..."
say, clearing brush, on vacation, choking on a pretzel,...
see how silly it sounds?
Now watch this (sic. golf) swing,...
How much brush got cleared when an entire country was trying to topple a dictator? How much brush was cleared when nuclear reactors were melting down?
How much when there was no budget and the government was in danger of shut down.
Ok Clara it's your point, so what do you have? Clara are you familiar with John Conyers? You aware of what he said about O yesterday? Do you disagree, and if so why?
How silly does it sound Clara. How silly is the reality to you?
That's right, how SILLY of me - while Katrina victims were DROWNING on American soil, W was presenting McCain a Birthday cake on the tarmac,...
I'll go tit for tat with you, buttwipe. BUSH was the WORST President in the history of this country. He was ASLEEP at the wheel for 9/11 and he blundered and fumbled his gaffe a day self through 8 horrific years that left us in economic RUINS; but if you choose to compare International Crises with Domestic ones - GAME ON.
Gee Clara, can you get more out of touch?
Tell us what you would have done during 9/11? Obama makes Bush look like Oppenheimer.
The Katrina warnings from the weather services were as explicit and graphic as humanly possible and yet thousands of the sick,lame and lazy refused to remove themselves from danger. They were drowning during the hurricane, not afterwards. Zero effort was being made by the mayor of New Orleans(democrat and racist) , the people of New Orleans or the state of Louisiana.
If you want to complain about the mortgage meltdown, don't forget the democrats in the congress and senate that demanded, required and insisted Freddie and Fannie underwrite loans to people who had no chance of ever making a payment, much less paying it off.
Of course we all understand when libtards make mistakes it is ALWAYS someone else's fault.
Forgot to plan for retirement? Blame those evil corporations.
To cheap to pay for your own healthcare? Blame Republicans and nevermind you spend the money on cellphones, cableTV, new cars, big screen TV's, booze and drugs.
Crappy credit, can't afford a house? No worries , underwrite it with govt funds.
To lazy to work, get welfare, a free house, govt medical and food stamps.
To stupid or confused to vote an issue and you want to run for president with ZERO experience? Vote "Present" hundreds of times, write an autobiography about your life in which you accomplished NOTHING and promise "Hope and Change" to the uninformed idiots of the world. Then if you get elected, pay them off with money you DO NOT HAVE.
Since you can "go all day" here is a question. Barack Obama and the socialists are currently budgeting 50% in excess of all the money received from taxpayers. Where does the extra $1,500,000,000,000.00 dollars a year come from and who pays it back?
Oh BTW, if you undid the "Bush tax cuts" the "rich" would only pay an additional 70 billion dollars a year in taxes. That leaves $1,430,000,000,000.00 to account for so you can't blame the "rich".
svopilot
You are a complete moron - and while thought to be rare - you display the preponderance daily.
Yes those who live in poverty and the old or infirm did not have the means to hop a greyhound and head to a hotel to 'ride out' the storm. And once the levees broke and the water began to rise AFTER the hurricane, MANY PEOPLE DROWNED. But in YOUR out of touch world, we should call them names and make fun of them?
Who's out of touch, troll? By the way, when calling someone STUPID, it's best to know how to use the word 'too'. As in, you're TOO dumb to even realize you're an idiot.
You think exactly like an entitled American. I hope G-d has mercy on your soul - I certainly wouldn't.
Yeah that must be it. Typical socialist, you cannot address a single point intelligently.
You can't explain how to balance a checkbook, much less create a budget that lives within your means. Can't explain all those votes of "present" by your lord and master? Can't explain why it is the "rich" or corporations ruining your life. Odd as always since most of what you have for possessions was made by a corporation somewhere.
Bus rides out of an area in an emergency are free, even for socialists. The funny part is that the democrats who ran New Orleans refused to operate buses. If I'm not mistaken it was a hurricane, right? It took DAYS to get there and yet the elected officials(most of them democrats) did almost nothing and the inhabitants did even less.
Do poor people have feet? Simply going for a walk would get you to higher ground. That of course is a non-starter to the welfare for all crowd. Walking involves a person making an effort on their own behalf. Does poverty keep you from walking?
I feel that I am entitled to keep the money I earn with the sweat of my brow. The property I bought is mine, the car I own as well. Of course for you, "entitled" means something completely different. It means living off the rest of us, working less and getting more from those folks who actually PAY taxes. It means you can afford an Iphone, DirectTV, an Xbox, smokes, booze, weed and a 60" plasma but NOT health insurance, car insurance or school lunches.
Of course you wouldn't have mercy on me, you are after all a socialist. You feel it is your right to take from those who work hard and give to those who don't. You feel that my property should be siezed from me and divided among the lazy and undeserving because it irks you to see people advance themselves.
You actually invoked "God"? Who are you kidding, if you ever set foot in a church it was to steal from the collection plate. You are a bag of wind.
your two year old STALE talking points are not worthy of an intelligent response because quite frankly - they exhibit no intelligence in the making.
Screw you. You keep yours and have a nice life. I don't think it's going to play out for you how you anticipate; but we're all entitled to our opinions.
Go ahead and say it, you are about to bust a gut. Tell us how the socialists are going to take over and "rise up" to steal the wealth and property of people who dared to work and earn a living.
Or how you can't wait to put whomever it is your despise to death, imprison them for contrary opinons or how wonderful your life would be if others would simply pay for it.
I know how it must get "stale" the whole living wthin your means thing. Balanced budgets are never an issue when you never have any intention of paying off the debt.
Accepting responsibility for your own actions, the welfare of your own family or the messes you make never seem to be part of the socialist ethos.
Having a war of wits with you is not quite as tough as outsmarting the world's smartest termite. But you go ahead and consider yourself a genius, every socialist with a GED seems to think they are brilliant, you are no different.
I put his picks in our Office Bracket Picks Pool. It cost $20 to enter...I don't think he'll pay since he is already over $14,200,000,000 in debt.
Yeah, this is important. We can skip the wars, the train wreck of a budget, utter lack of leadership, limp overseas policy, nevermind the massive earthquake and disaster in Japan and who really cares about jobs, the economy and the looming oil crisis.
It all pales in comparision to the Idiot-in-Chief's picks for a basketball game. Could there be anything LESS IMPORTANT than this?
Clara KCMO said:
I'll go tit for tat with you, buttwipe. BUSH was the WORST President in the history of this country. He was ASLEEP at the wheel for 9/11 and he blundered and fumbled his gaffe a day self through 8 horrific years that left us in economic RUINS; but if you choose to compare International Crises with Domestic ones - GAME ON.
NEWSFLASH: Bush is not the PRESIDENT!!
BTW - if this is all you got you better go find your "GAME" before you make anymore comments like that childish rant above - cus sister that ain't goin to cut it!!
Now go tell mommy that someone was not nice to you!!
Pathetic!!
Screw you. And if the mess lingers on into future periods, you bet your 'sweet' ass I'll be there to point it out.
Obama is the worst president ever, he's taken Carter's position. The man just does not care about anyone or anything. He does what he wants and if things are tough, he just ignores them. With all that's going on in this country and the world, Obama can't sit still, he's now going to travel to Latin America, does that make sense to you ? He should be in Washington working on the budget, jobs and economy, but he's not. I just don't understand his supporters, tho I have noticed that they're even having trouble defending his actions. Where is our President ??? He's famous for poking his nose into everything at every time, but now he's "hiding" ??? I have never seen such arrogance of a President and with less caring for his country. Voters made a huge mistake in electing and our country is paying for it.
No, you mean W. Bush. You need more more tea.
Osama Hussein Obama Mohammed took some time off from golf to fill in his bracket. As long as he focuses on these activities he can't f up the country anymore than he has so far. Keep it up Barry - U da man.
You are a funny little Tea Boy.