Celebrity March Madness Picks to win the NCAA Tournament (Obama Backing No. 1 Overall Again)

North Carolina v Duke
North Carolina v Duke / Lance King/GettyImages
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Here at Betsided, we ingest a ton of information, stats, and trends on the daily. Some of this information comes from websites that aggregate data, some from the news, and come from social media. But, no matter where our info comes from, it’s always coming from somebody that really knows what they are talking about. 

Today, we are going to change that. 

Instead of sharing some awesome trend that I found, or a stat that another prognosticator shared on Twitter, we’re going to review some picks from non-pros. That is because, for this article, we’re going to review some high-profile celebrity picks that have been made for March Madness. After weeks of serious work, why not have a bit of fun on a Thursday afternoon right? All odds listed are from WynnBET Sportsbook.

President Barack Obama - Gonzaga +300 to win

Final Four: Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky 

Obama is a well-known basketball fan and his basket has become something of an annual tradition in the United States. But, how much success has the former President had since he started doing this back in 2009? The answer is not that bad. 

However, his first year was his best and he’s never quite been able to do better than 2009. Obama picked his favorite team, the UNC Tar Heels, to win it all. They did and Obama had 41 correct picks and scored 28 out of 32 points in the second round. 

Cut to 2022, and one thing hasn’t changed. Obama likes chalk. His brackets are typically top heave and this year has three of the four No. 1 seeds making the Final Four. 

Nate Robinson - Arizona +575 to win

Final Four: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State, Virginia Tech

The winner of the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest doesn't totally agree with the former President. One would assume that Robinson has a higher basketball IQ than Obama so this matters quite a bit. Robinson still took a No. 1 seed, but Arizona paid almost twice as much as Gonzaga and presented a great value. 

Robinson’s Final Four is also far less chalky than Obama’s. The former All-Star has No. 7 MSU and No. 11 Virginia Tech to go farther than most. He has MSU upsetting Gonzaga in the Elite Eight, eventually losing to Arizona in the finals. It’s a bit of a stretch but kudos to him for taking a chance.

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