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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, March 20, 2010

NCAA hoops: Kansas, Villanova bust Obama's men's bracket


Associated Press

NEW YORK — For everyone who picked Kansas to win the men's NCAA basketball title, the president feels your pain.

President Barack Obama's bracket was busted Saturday when the Jayhawks, the tournament's top seed, were stunned by No. 9 seed Northern Iowa 69-67. Obama picked Kansas to beat Kentucky for the championship.

The First Fan could take some solace in the fact his women's bracket was perfect through the first 12 games Saturday, ranking him tied for first overall with thousands of others on ESPN's leaderboard.

He played it mostly safe with the women, picking a Final Four that included all No. 1 seeds: Connecticut, Tennessee, Stanford and Nebraska. Obama has Connecticut, which has won a women's NCAA-record 72 straight games, beating Stanford for the title.

His men's bracket was looking good — he correctly predicted 25 of 32 winners — after the first round, but took a big hit early Saturday when No. 2 seed Villanova was upset by 10th-seeded Saint Mary's 75-68. Obama, who correctly predicted North Carolina's title last year, picked the Wildcats to make the Final Four.

Then came the bracket-busting loss by Kansas, which was picked by 42.2 percent of ESPN users — including the president — to win it all.

Obama correctly picked four of the eight winners Saturday.

He still has two of his Final Four teams remaining — Kentucky and Kansas State — and five of his final eight teams. Despite losing his predicted champion, Obama still ranked 215,325, which placed among the top 95.5 percent of fans who filled out brackets on ESPN's Web site.