Barack Obama Shares His NCAA Tournament Bracket Picks

The 44th president of the United States has made his NCAA Tournament bracket picks.

President Barack Obama speaks about how the Tennessee Promise needs to be implemented nation wide during his speech at Pellissippi State Community College Friday, Jan. 9 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn. President Barack Obama along with Vice President Joe Biden and Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, made a visit to Knoxville, Tenn., to discuss new initiatives to help Americans go to college and receive the skills they need to succeed. (Shawn Millsaps/Special to News Sentinel) | Shawn Millsaps / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017, is a certified ball knower when it comes to basketball.

Obama has always been passionate about the game. He played competitively while he went to high school in Hawaii and even installed a basketball court into the White House so he could play pick up games whenever he found spare time from running the country.

Like just about every other basketball fan, Obama can't wait for the NCAA Tournament festivities to begin. And on March 20, he shared his bracket picks for both the men's and women's NCAA Tournament.

When it comes to his women's picks, Obama has UCLA, South Carolina, USC, and Notre Dame making it to the Final Four. From there, he has both South Carolina and UCLA (the top two national seeds) advancing to the national championship game.

College basketball fans will recall that UCLA and South Carolina squared off for a game on November 24, 2024. UCLA emerged victorious from this contest, producing a 77-62 win at home and cementing themselves as national championship contenders.

But Obama expects South Carolina to exact revenge in his predicted NCAA National Championship, slotting Dawn Staley's Gamecocks squad to win the championship.

As for the men's side, Obama has Duke beating Florida in the championship.

I’m cutting it close, but here are my #MarchMadness picks. Who do you have winning it all?

This year, three of our @MBK_Alliance students will be going down to the Final Four to learn from the people who make it all run. We can’t wait to hear more about their experience. pic.twitter.com/kL5Wc3RlkE

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 20, 2025

The former president selecting South Carolina doesn't come as a surprise, as this is the team he has selected to win the past four NCAA Tournaments, according to an X post from The State reporter Michael Sauls.

In case anyone was curious I went back and looked at President Obama's recent picks to win it all on the WBB side:

25: South Carolina
24: South Carolina
23: South Carolina
22: South Carolina
21: Baylor
19: UConn
18: UConn
17: UConn https://t.co/KBs6buPCd8

— Michael Sauls (@mcsauls) March 20, 2025

Of course, the Gamecocks have won in two of the past three seasons, so Obama has done pretty well to this point. Perhaps fans would be wise to heed his NCAA women's college basketball knowledge.