Predicting Obama’s NCAA Predictions

I’m not a David Frum fan per se. However, he is one of the few conservatives that I actually listen to when he appears on MSNBC or CNN.

Here, predicts how President Obama will make his picks for the 2011 NCAA tournament next Tuesday.

Frum puts a delightful political spin on the POTUS’ picks. The thing is, he just may have hit on something. Check it out…

Frum Forum

President Obama will be completing his NCAA men’s basketball tournament picks on Tuesday afternoon so they can be revealed on ESPN Wednesday. The president takes his basketball seriously, but rest assured that his political team will make sure that Obama takes this opportunity to score a few bonus points with the voters (and fans) of the nation’s swing states. Rather than dissect his decisions post hoc, below are a few predictions as to how the president will balance his inner basketball guru with his day job as the world’s leading political figure.

East: The president will have Ohio State beating North Carolina in the round of 8. There are a lot of crazy Buckeye fans in Ohio that vote.

West: Michigan will get out of the first round despite being ripe for an upset. The president will have Arizona knocking off Texas. He will also have Penn State winning its first round game over Temple. Ultimately, he picks Duke. Sure, it’s an elite private school….but it is in North Carolina.

Southwest: Expect the president to pull a fast one on us and pick UNLV over the largest school in his home state, Illinois. The people in Illinois like him. The people of Nevada are, well, less sold on his virtues.

Obama will also shock us and pick Georgetown to fall in the first round, since there is nothing to be gained by supporting an elite private school located inside the beltway (also, Georgetown has looked awful without its star player Chris Wright and it is far from clear whether Wright is actually going to be healthy). Ultimately, the president picks Notre Dame to emerge from the bracket. Let’s not forget that the president spoke at the home of “Touchdown Jesus” and the school not only has clout in Indiana, it also has a huge nationwide fanbase.

Southeast: The president advances Michigan State over UCLA in the first round, leading him to have to pick between a Michigan school and the University of Florida. Having already pleased Michigan State alums by picking them to upset UCLA, Obama will pick Florida to advance all the way to the Elite 8. He’ll also have Wisconsin heading to the round of 16. Eventually, the president will have Pitt and Florida clashing in the battle of chalk. An unenviable decision to make for a man that needs to win both states, the president will opt for Pitt.

Thus, Obama will have a Final Four of: Ohio State, Duke, Pitt, Notre Dame. In his national championship game, the President will have Pitt knocking off Ohio State.