For the sixth straight year, ESPN will air President Barack Obama filling out his NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournament bracket. Andy Katz was at the White House watching the President do the men’s bracket while Rebecca Lowe witnessed him unveiling his women’s bracket.
The unveiling will be part of a half-hour program which airs Wednesday, March 19 on ESPNU called “Barack-Etology.”
Some of the Katz interview with the President already aired on SportsCenter last night, but the entire session will be seen on ESPNU later today.
Here’s the press release from ESPN.
Barack-etology: President Obama Fills Out Men’s & Women’s Brackets in ESPN Exclusive
ESPN.com Unveils President Obama’s Final Four Selections of: Men’s: Arizona, Florida, Louisville and Michigan State
Women’s: Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame and Stanford
Excerpts of Interview Aired on SportsCenter
Full Men’s Interview to Debut on Wednesday, March 19, and Women’s on Friday, March 21; Brackets Available on ESPN.com afterwards
Special ESPNU Tournament Countdown: Barack-etology Wednesday, March 19In an ESPN exclusive, President Barack Obama filled out his bracket predictions for the 2014 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships Tuesday with Andy Katz and Rebecca Lobo. ESPN.com unveiled his men’s and women’s Final Four predictions at 8 p.m. ET while excerpts of the “Barack-etology” interview aired on Tuesday’s 11 p.m. SportsCenter on ESPN. His complete men’s and women’s brackets will debut on the 9 a.m. SportsCenter today, and Friday, March 21, respectively. Both interviews will also be available on ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile platforms, and on subsequent editions of SportsCenter and various ESPN platforms, following the debuts.
The President is predicting a Men’s Final Four of Arizona, Florida, Louisville and Michigan State, and a Women’s Final Four of Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame and Stanford. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN FULL COURT will present all 63 games from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship for the 11th consecutive year from March 23-April 9.
This marks the sixth straight year President Obama has completed a men’s bracket exclusively with ESPN and the fifth he has publicly provided his bracket for the women’s tournament.
Katz – an ESPN.com senior writer, on air reporter, and host of ESPNU’s Katz Korner and The Experts – conceived the idea of the President filling out a bracket on air following an interview with him in 2008. He has conducted the interview with the President on his tournament predictions all six years. This marks the first time Lobo – who will serve as a studio analyst on ESPN’s coverage of the entire NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship – has interviewed the President on his women’s bracket selections.
President Obama’s men’s and women’s brackets will be posted on ESPN.com shortly after each is unveiled on SportsCenter and will appear alongside those from the millions of fans expected to play in ESPN.com’s free ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge and ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge bgames.
In addition, ESPNU will televise Tournament Countdown: Barack-etology on Wednesday, March 19, at 5:30 p.m. The second consecutive year of the special program will include additional footage, behind-the-scenes access and bracket analysis.
In 2013, President Obama’s men’s bracket ranked 2,080,996 out of 8.15 million entries, placing him in the 74.4th percentile. He correctly picked Louisville to play in the championship game, but predicted Indiana, which was not in the Final Four, to win it all. President Obama placed in the 69.2th percentile of his women’s bracket entry last year.
History of President Obama’s Final Four & Championship Predictions
President Obama has selected 15 different teams to reach the men’s Final Four. Seven of the teams have been picked to reach the Final Four in more than one year, led by Ohio State (2013, 2012, 2011) and Louisville (2014, 2013, 2009) with three each. The five teams with two selections are Florida (2014, 2013), Kansas (2011, 2010), Kentucky (2012, 2010), North Carolina (2012, 2009) and Pittsburgh (2011, 2009). The remaining eight teams include Arizona (2014), Duke (2011), Indiana (2013), Kansas State (2010), Memphis (2009), Michigan State (2014), Missouri (2012) and Villanova (2010).
In the previous five years, the President has picked three different teams to win the men’s championship, taking Indiana (over Louisville in 2013), Kansas (over Ohio State in 2011 and Kentucky in 2010) and North Carolina (over Kentucky in 2012 and Louisville in 2009). His prediction for this year’s championship will be revealed on Wednesday.
The President has included Connecticut in his Final Four all five years and Notre Dame (2014, 2013, 2012, 2010) on four occasions. Baylor (2013, 2012, 2011) and Stanford (2014, 2011, 2010) have been predicted to reach the Final Four three times, Tennessee (2011 and 2010) two, and California (2013), Louisville (2014) and St. John’s (2012) one each. President Obama has picked two different teams to win the championship in the previous four women’s brackets: Baylor (over Notre Dame in 2013 & 2012) and Connecticut (over Baylor in 2011 and Stanford in 2010).
And we’re done here.
