It's that time of year again!
March Madness is upon us, but we're referring to another time of year, the time when former President Barack Obama releases his bracket for the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament.
Since 2009, Obama has released his picks live on national television or on social media.
This year he will do so on "Ways to Win," a new podcast that debuted Tuesday from his Higher Ground production company.
Hosted by National Association of Basketball Coaches Executive Director Craig Robinson, Obama's brother-in-law, and celebrated University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari, the theme of the podcast focuses on lessons learned from the game of basketball that translate to life off the court.
"The first year I did this, 2009, right? I'd been sworn in. And I picked North Carolina. ... And they won. And my bracket was beautiful and people were pretty impressed. They thought, 'Look at the President United States. He's in the top 4% of all the people who enter in their brackets publicly. And I was kind of feeling it, and I thought, You know what, I think this is what's going to happen every year.'"
"And I'm pretty sure each year I've lost since then. So, I have not necessarily picked a winner [lately]."
That's right, the former president appears to be sticking with the chalk in picking the #1 overall seed UConn Huskies to make it to the Final Four out of the East Region and to win it all. He has them taking down Calipari's Wildcats, a #3 seed in the South Region, in the championship game.
Though his bracket has the top overall seed going all the way, Obama did pick some upsets, including a predicted win by #13 seed Vermont over #4 seed Duke in the South Region and #12 New Mexico defeating #6 Clemson in the West Region.
Sticking with a theme, Obama has #1 overall seed South Carolina winning it all in the women's NCAA Championship tournament.
"Dawn Staley I think is outstanding and just has attitude and swag, and you can tell her players just love her and she's tough and they play disciplined," he said. "I am a big admirer of her."
