NCAA Brackets 2015: Updates on President Obama, Jay Bilas and Experts' Brackets
Feeling bad about your NCAA tournament bracket? Did you have Virginia heading all the way to Indianapolis? Or perhaps peg Kansas as the team that would finally topple Kentucky? Are you wondering why you'd have thought such things, and are you eager to put this whole tournament mess behind you?
Well, you're not alone. In fact, most everyone left this weekend with their brackets in tatters to a certain extent. I have all four of my Final Four teams remaining (Kentucky, Arizona, Oklahoma and Duke) but watched on as SMU blew a perfectly solid chance at an Elite Eight run, neither Valparaiso nor Buffalo got upset bids done and Stephen F. Austin proved to be a one-year wonder.
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Want to know what makes me feel better about myself? That nearly every famous person with a bracket is doing just as poorly—if not worse. Included among those are the leader of the free world, a handful of experts and a puppet frog.
With that in mind, let's check in with a quick roundup of how notable celebrities are doing in their brackets.
All Your Bracket Essentials
President Barack Obama
National Percentile: 42.0 Percent
Best Pick: Dayton over Providence
Worst Pick: Villanova to championship game
After a decent enough round of 64, things started to fall apart for POTUS over the weekend. Losses by Virginia and Villanova rendered his entire East Region moot, the Iowa State-Davidson pick for the Sweet 16 was already dead in the water and he was one of many people taken down by the Wichita State upset.
Even worse for the president is that he became something of a national punching bag following huge upsets. First, Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter mocked Obama after taking down Baylor. Then things got a little more chippy when North Carolina State's Cat Barber went all NSFW (language warning) on the president after taking down Villanova.
Barber later took to Twitter to say he got caught up in the moment, but the damage—mostly to Mr. Obama's bracket—was already done.
Jay Bilas
Best Pick: Wichita State over Kansas
Worst Pick: Virginia to Final Four
Not all that much worked out for the Bilastrator over the first weekend. Most of his upset picks wound up coming up short. Texas couldn't take down Butler, Buffalo failed to pull things off against West Virginia and BYU didn't even make it past its First Four game. Like the president, Bilas was also name-dropped by those offended by his decision not to pick them.
"I'm going to have really lost my mind when I start paying attention to what Jay Bilas and those people say," West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said, per Tim Graham of The Buffalo News. "I mean, Jay always does those tweets, 'Got to go to work.' I'm trying to wonder what that is."
Bilas was also undone by the Virginia-Villanova combo platter of losses, which turned his East Region into a vast wasteland. His best pick of the first few days was the Wichita State over Kansas upset, but Bilas will have a tough time outdoing other experts through the rest of the tourney.
Joe Lunardi
National Percentile: 77.0 Percent
Best Pick: Wichita State over Kansas
Worst Pick: Villanova to championship game
The king of bracketology is doing fine after the first two rounds, sitting in the 77th percentile after doing just well enough in most cases. Lunardi's bracket did not have many crazy upsets, so he was one of the biggest benefactors of Friday's chalk fest.
His good times didn't last into the weekend, however, as Villanova's loss stripped him of a title-game team. He'd jumped off the Virginia bandwagon a bit earlier than most, having the Cavaliers lose to Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, so their loss wasn't nearly as crushing. As we've tended to see with these brackets, choosing Kansas to bow out early was the way to go for most people correctly predicting big round-of-32 losses.
That said, it'll be hard to recover after Villanova dropped out.
Kevin Hart
National Percentile: 85.8 Percent
Best Pick: UCLA to Sweet 16
Worst Pick: Villanova to championship game
Say what you will about Kevin Hart, but he does well in these celebrity-based competitions. The winner of multiple NBA All-Star Celebrity Game MVP awards came out like gangbusters on the first two days of the tournament, correctly predicting upsets from UCLA and UAB. He added a Michigan State triumph over Virginia and a UCLA trip to the Sweet 16.
Everything would be going swimmingly had he not fallen victim to the Villanova curse. The Wildcats' loss stripped Hart of a championship-game participant and likely took him out of the running to win the overall celebrity crown. His choice as a champion, Kentucky, still remains, but there are too many celebs who have both of their title-game selections remaining.
Oh well. At least he's not getting crossed by Mo'ne Davis anymore.
Jeff Goodman
National Percentile: 68.7 Percent
Best Pick: Wichita State over Kansas
Worst Pick: Ole Miss to Sweet 16
Goodman gets special recognition here since of all the celebrities and experts listed on ESPN's index, he and J.A. Adande have the highest possible remaining points. All of Goodman's Final Four teams (Kentucky, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Gonzaga) are still kicking too, as are each of his Elite Eight teams.
He was one of only a few experts to not get burned by the East Region, as he had Virginia bowing out against Michigan State and Villanova losing in the Sweet 16. Add in yet another smart choice of Wichita State over Kansas, and you have the makings of a very solid bracket.
Of course, Goodman's first weekend probably could have gone better. He missed on nearly every upset pick he made over the first two days, highlighted by the likes of Buffalo, Wofford and Stephen F. Austin going down. He also had 11th-seeded Ole Miss going to the Sweet 16, which ended in disappointment when Xavier blew out the Rebels.
But if things continue going the way they did Saturday and Sunday, Goodman might wind up with the last laugh.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
All brackets are via ESPN
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