Basketball is the President's game, and this week has been no different -- as everyone discussed (and fretted over) their picks, so did Barack Obama, releasing his bracket in a live broadcast on ESPN on Wednesday. So how did the bracketologist-in-chief do? The answer: Not so great. But not so bad, either.
Obama got 11-of-16 picks right on his first day. He missed on his home state team, Illinois, who lost to Western Kentucky. His other misses included VCU, who lost to UCLA, as well as his picks against Michigan, Texas A&M, and LSU, who all won their first round matchups. Overall, 11-of-16 probably puts Obama in the bottom third of your pool, unless your pool is just universally bad, which it might well be. (Don't feel bad: ours is too.)
Still, there is a bright side for the President's bracket: Of all of the games he got wrong yesterday, none will cost him a Sweet 16 pick. It might dismay Illinois fans to know he picked Gonzaga over the Illini in the second round. Same for the rest of his borderline upsets -- none are advancing past the second round, and thus none will really hurt his bracket chances.
In other words, Obama's message-consistent, straightforward, and pragmatic bracket has created some short term issues, but none that will necessarily cost him in the long term. That sounds an awful lot like someone's campaign style, doesn't it?
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger whose bracket is in way, way worse shape than Barry's. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, FanHouse, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
