Obama's Bracket: Comparing President's Picks to Jay Bilas' Bracket

If you remember President Barack Obama's March Madness picks last year, he actually didn't do half bad. Even his selection of Kansas as the national champion was a good, heady pick.

Well, we are going to pit Obama against ESPN's Jay Bilas this year, just for fun. Now if Obama beats Bilas, he can become a college basketball analyst instead (just kidding...or am I?).

First off, here's a look at Obama's bracket for the 2012 NCAA tournament:

As you can see, Obama has Kentucky, Ohio State, Missouri and North Carolina advancing to the Final Four, and North Carolina winning it all.

As for the upsets, let's start off at the South Regional. Obama has 2011 darling VCU upsetting Wichita State in the Round of 64, which may be a bit of a reach. He also has Xavier upsetting Notre Dame, which I don't see happening.

In the East Regional, Obama takes West Virginia over Gonzaga in the Round of 64, which is certainly possible.

In the West Regional, the president takes Virginia over Florida in the Round of 64. He also takes New Mexico over Louisville in the Sweet 16, a pick I love (New Mexico is a sleeper this year for me).

In the Midwest Regional, Obama goes with NC State over San Diego State, a pick I understand given SDSU's rough loss to New Mexico, but nonetheless hate because I graduated from San Diego State.

Obama also has NC State upsetting No. 3 seed Georgetown in the next round before ultimately falling to Kansas. His other upset is Purdue over St. Mary's, which may be his worst pick of the tournament.

Now we head over to Bilas' picks.

Bilas has Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan State and North Carolina advancing to the Final Four, and Kentucky winning it all.

In the South region, he has No. 11 Colorado upsetting No. 6 UNLV in the Round of 64. He has Wichita State upsetting Indiana in the Round of 32.

In the East region, Bilas has no upsets in the Round of 64, which will probably come back to haunt him. He has Vanderbilt upsetting Wisconsin in the Round of 32. He goes on claiming Vanderbilt will "upset" Syracuse in the Sweet 16, which isn't as hard to fathom anymore given the recent loss of Fab Melo.

In the West region, Bilas has Saint Louis knocking off Memphis in the Round of 64, which will certainly raise some eyebrows. Bilas likes the matchup, writing, "Saint Louis is able to slow teams down and can take care of the ball."

As for the Midwest region, Bilas likes Cal over Temple, noting Cal's guard play and size. Bilas also likes NC State over San Diego State in the Round of 64, citing NC State's rebounding. He also likes Purdue over St. Mary's.

So who wins?

I like Bilas' bracket better overall, and I don't think Missouri advances to the Final Four. Michigan State is a legit No. 1 seed this year. Also, I'm a big fan of Vanderbilt as well, and I don't see NC State upsetting Georgetown, as Obama claims.

On the other hand, that's not to say I completely agree with Bilas. Picking Saint Louis over Memphis is a stretch in my mind, and I'm surprised both Bilas and Obama picked Purdue over potential Cinderella St. Mary's.

What are your thoughts?

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