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Obama chooses Kentucky in 2015 NCAA Final Four. Are his picks getting better?

On Wednesday, the president unveiled his choice to win the NCAA tournament. What does his 'bracketology' record look like?

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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo/File
President Barack Obama waves to members of 2012-2013 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s championship teams from several sports on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 10, 2014.
  • By Jessica Mendoza Staff writer

The president of the United States has made a decision – about college ball, at least.

In keeping with tradition and his reputation as an avid basketball fan, President Obama sat down with ESPN’s Andy Katz Wednesday to fill out his NCAA tournament bracket for 2015.

His Final Four picks this year are Villanova, Duke, Arizona, and Kentucky, with Kentucky emerging victorious after facing Villanova in the championship.

It’s a pretty safe – you might say, conservative –  pick, and most sports analysts would agree that the University of Kentucky Wildcats are favorites for the title this season, having won every game they’ve played so far for a 34-0 record.

“I don’t think you can play a perfect basketball game any more than you can do anything perfectly,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Katz during their interview. “But these guys are coming pretty close.”

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the president’s bracketology record. This is the seventh year Obama has released his picks, and in that time, he’s only ever gotten one champion right: North Carolina in 2009.

Last year the president finished just under the 73 percentile, according to ESPN, when he had Florida, Louisville, Arizona, and Michigan State as his Final Four. Only Florida made it to the semifinals, and he missed out entirely on the winners, the University of Connecticut Huskies.

Granted, UConn pulled out a historic come-from-behind win against Kentucky in the finals. But the result only dragged down the First Fan’s bracketology status. Until then, the president had correctly predicted slightly under 30 percent of Final Four teams, according to The Hill.

In 2013, he predicted that Louisville and Indiana would meet in the title game, with the Hoosiers taking it all. The Cardinals did end up in the finals, but they beat out Michigan for the championship.

Obama, however, appeared confident predicting a perfect season for Kentucky this year.

“The chances are high,” he told Katz, laughing. “They are prohibitive favorites, and for good reason.”

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