The President met with ESPN’s Andy Katz on Tuesday to name his picks for the 2015 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, and he predicted Kentucky would complete its unbeaten season to triumph over Villanova in the final championship game. The Commander-in-Chief has completed the “Presidential bracket” since he took office in 2009.
Obama’s picks show very little love for the nation’s underdog teams, but he has some surprising upsets with No. 10 Davidson besting No. 2 Gonzaga to compete against No. 3 Iowa State in the Sweet Sixteen.
Obama’s Elite Eight features match-ups between Duke and Iowa State, Villanova and Virginia, Kentucky and Notre Dame, and Wisconsin and Arizona, with Kentucky, Arizona, Duke and Villanova proceeding to the Final Four.
ESPN notes the President’s odds are already off: on his bracket BYU beats Ole Miss., but BYU was knocked out in an opening round game on Tuesday.
The President’s picks for the women’s tournament are set to be released on Thursday.
See Photos of Barack Obama in College
Chance Encounter In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use in her portfolio.Lisa JackHandsome
Of her first meeting (in a campus eatery) with Obama, Jack remembers only that "He was really cute. But what else does a 20-year-old girl remember?"Lisa JackStyled
In the photos, Jack says, "You can see he is just posing, initially, but as the shoot goes on, he starts to come out. He was very charismatic even then."Lisa JackProp
Jack never realized her dream of becoming a photographer and is now a psychologist.Lisa JackPose
Jack and Obama would see each other only a few more times while students. But in 2005, while on a tour, she spotted Obama on Capitol Hill and yelled hello. "He knew exactly who I was after all this time," Jack says. "I was amazed."Lisa JackDoubt
On a dare from a skeptical friend, Jack decided to track down her negatives from the shoot.Lisa JackSearcher
Initially, before she dug the film out from her basement, Jack never thought her pictures would have much life beyond her own darkroom.Lisa JackSmile
When she found them, the images of Obama "blew me away," she says. "I had no idea I'd taken a whole roll of film."Lisa JackCharm
For a while, Jack put the negatives in a safety-deposit box, so that they could not be used until after the election, when there would be no chance they could be used for a political purpose.Thoughtful
Today, Jack says, she hopes the photos reveal a "spirit of fun and thoughtfulness."Lisa JackThe Man Who Would Be President
"I'm not political," Jack says, "(But) these are historic photos and they should be shared."Lisa Jack
