President Barack Obama

With the 2011 March Madness Tournament over, the results and in and Barack Obama’s 2011 Barackets beat 87.4% of ESPN’s 6 million or so bracket entries. This was despite having had no teams past the Elite 8 as da Prez picked heavily for the favourites in a year where parity was more the rule than the norm. However, he was bailed out by the fact the parity was so strong that less than 30% of entries had even one team in the Final Four. Translate that and it meant less than 30% had an entry that potentially had a chance to get points past the Elite 8 round or half the tournament! That’s one way to get bailed out for not being able to get points for half the tournament.

Now, if only the POTUS’ political foresight and planning only worked as well!

My brackets only beat 64.4% of the entries, losing to the POTUS for the first time in 3 tries. I had beaten him in 2009 and 2010.

I was fortunate enough this year to be able to attend March Madness in person for the first time in about 20 years of watching it. I watched the Southeast Regionals and tonight’s finals and I had a pretty good time. However, I’ll be honest in that I didn’t have a great time because I didn’t really see any basketball powerhouses like North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. or any such programs with a fan base that travels really well. I was thrilled to catch a glimpse of Jimmer Fredette, even if not on his best game, and to be immersed in Butler culture to get some real Cinderella experience as they won the SE Regionals, but was disappointed their lack of a real inside game and sometimes sketchy shooting caught up with them tonight. Still, it was fun and I’m definitely coming back for more!

And I intend to beat the POTUS again next year, and four more years after that! 😉

Btw, what’s with Bulldog Cinderellas? First we had Gonzaga, then as they start losing the rep, Butler takes over. Maybe something to keep in mind as you pick for 2012. Who’s another Bulldog who might be a Cinderella? Georgia?