Barack Obama has an unfortunate history of picking losers in the NCAA tournament.  He hasn’t picked the tournament winner correctly since selecting North Carolina 2009 (last year he picked Michigan State to meet Louisville in the final and neither made it past the Elite Eight), but regardless, literally every year ESPN devotes an entire segment, called “Barack-etology” to his picks. 

If you, like me, had Kentucky going all the way this year, well, Barack Obama probably just cursed your bracket. Sorry.

In ESPN’s annual installment of “Barack-etology,” the president made a safe bet on top-seeded Kentucky to win it all, saying, “They are prohibitive favorites and for good reason.”

Mr. Obama put three No. 1 seeds – Kentucky, Villanova and Duke – along with No. 2 seed Arizona in his Final Four. And he projected that Kentucky would prevail over Villanova in the title game.

While the president’s late-tournament picks were heavy on top seeds, he did predict a few upsets along the way, including an early loss for No. 2 seed Gonzaga.

“I am not down on Gonzaga,” Mr. Obama said. “There’s going to be an upset somewhere.”

The Gonzaga upset isn’t necessarily a bad prediction. Obama has them being knocked off by #10, Davidson, and ESPN’s anchors seem to agree. He went rather safe with the rest. But while much of the March Madness speculation does hinge on past performance, the tournament’s actual outcome is anyone’s (somewhate educated) guess.

The ESPN segment finished with Barack Obama giving a host of suggestions to the NCAA on how it could improve college basketball. I highly doubt they’ll take them.