Obama's NCAA Tournament Picks

According to Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, these are Barack Obama's March Madness picks for the NCAA basketball tournament currently underway (click on the images to make larger):

At first glance, I thought Barack was going with the safe method of picking the higher seeded teams over the lower seeded ones until the final four.  I looked a bit closer, and found that not to be the case.

Sure, you could actually watch college basketball or do research it to find out which teams boast a  better record than others, have injuries or key players in or out at any given time.  Most of us in office pools across the nation just decide based on prejudice for or against a particular school, based on alma mater or regional loyalties, or the highly scientific WAG method (Wild Ass Guess).

Obama and I have pretty similar picks, up to a point.  I was a little astonished that he picked Pitt (#6) over Stanford (#3) in the South Division.  Then, it occured to me, that Stanford is in California, where he lost the primary, and Pitt is in Pennsylvania, which has not held its primary yet.  Same goes for the East Division, where he picks North Carolina to go all the way and become National Champions.  Could this also be a wink and a nod toward Tarheels uber-fans John and Elizabeth Edwards?

My theory fell apart in the West Division, where he picks UCLA to go to the final four over Duke.  If he were going for the NC vote, wouldn't he pick Duke?  Maybe, maybe not.  Maybe the voters he's trying to appeal to aren't exactly Duke material, the blue collar Joe Six Packs (those with the beer, not the abs) and Nascar Dads that he needs to win over to make a dent in McCain's appeal in that state probably didn't go to Duke.  He could throw that division to latte-sipping liberals of UCLA and possibly pick up a few California superdelegates along the way. 

Well played, Obama.  Well played.

In the Midwest Division, we see familial loyalties come into play. His mom and grandparents were from Kansas, so Kansas reigns supreme.  Choosing Georgetown shows that he's ready to assume his place in Washington or perhaps employ a cadre of smart Georgetown Law School grads in his administration.

Isn't it interesting that Florida and Michigan aren't even in the tournament?  Did Howard Dean have anything to do with this?

So, there's my political analysis of Barack Obama's bracket picks. I'm going to track our win-loss records against each other, and report on it again at the end of the tournement.  If I win the office pool, I'm donating the money to the "Send the MOMocrats to the Democratic National Convention Fund."

I'm sure it's possible that his picks were not that calculated or politically motivated, and maybe, like mine, it's all just a WAG.

Anybody know where I can find Hillary's picks?

--Glennia

Comments

[jaelithe]

My, what a bold move on his part to release such sensitive information during the primary season!

[Lawyer Mama]

I love this! It's too bad the general election will happen before college football bowl season.

[SheilaBD/xiaolinmama]

Oh man - he chose UCLA to lose in the finals to North Carolina! What?? Ugh, I may have to give up my Obama mama shirt! :) Politics aside - I thought he recognized talent when he saw it:)