Obama’s Bracket for 2011 NCAA Tournament

Written by Jack Jones

President Barack Obama recently filled out his 2011 NCAA Tournament bracket, so let’s take a look at what the big cheese thinks about this year’s field.

What first jumps out at me is that Obama went with an ultra-conservative NCAA tournament bracket. The only upsets he picked in the first round were Marquette, Illinois (of course), Richmond, Florida State, Gonzaga, and Michigan State and the lowest seed he has slated in the Sweet Sixteen is a five (both Arizona and Kansas State).

College basketball pundits have been saying that the difference between the best and worst teams in this year’s field is smaller than ever, however, I see this bracket as one that does not have the potential for as many first round upsets as in years past. So, who knows, the President’s strategy might just work out. Here’s a look at how Obama sees each region shaking out:

East Region

#11 seed Marquette over #6 seed Xavier is the one upset the Commander-in-chief chose in the East for the first round, but otherwise his picks follow the old “higher seed moves on” formula. There are not any surprises in the second round either, with the #1, #2, #3, and #4 seeds all advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. The rest of this region plays out the same with #1 Ohio State and #2 North Carolina moving on to the Elite Eight and #1 Ohio State representing in the Final Four.

Southwest Region

In the Southwest Obama gets into some first round upsets, taking #9 Illinois over #8 UNLV, #12 Richmond over #5 Vanderbilt, and #10 Florida State over #7 Texas A&M. The second round, however, takes the same path as the East with all four of the top seeds advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. He then chooses #1 Kansas and #3 Purdue as the Elite Eight squads with Kansas moving on to the Final Four.

West Region

No chances taken in the first round in the West Region by the President. All top seeds move on. Easy enough, right? He does however finally pick something other than seeds 1,2,3, and 4 to go to the Sweet Sixteen by boldly choosing the 1,2,3, and (gasp) 5 seeds, taking #5 Arizona over #4 Texas. For the Elite Eight he goes with #1 Duke and #1 UConn, moving Duke on to the round of four.

Southeast Region

Obama goes with two upsets in first round in the Southeast, #11 Gonzaga over #6 Saint John’s and #10 Michigan State over #7 UCLA. Again, he does not get very bold after the first round, picking the 1,2,3, and 5 seeds to move on. #1 Pitt and #2 Florida are his representatives in the Elite Eight and he completes the perfect #1 seed Final Four with Pitt moving on to join Ohio State, Duke, and Kansas.

Final Four & Championship Round

It happened in 2008, so why can’t it happen again? All four #1 seeds advance to the Final Four. For the championship round he picks overall #1 seed Ohio State to face the #1 out of the Southwest, Kansas, who he has chosen as this year’s NCAA Champion.

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