Obama declassifies Final Four favorites

Between meetings with world leaders, new economic plans and, well, all the other things the… Between meetings with world leaders, new economic plans and, well, all the other things the president does, President Barack Obama found time to fill out his very own NCAA Tournament bracket. And what do you know, Pitt is among the presidential Final Four. Obama, a big-time basketball fan who practiced with North Carolina last April on his campaign trail, picked the Tar Heels to beat Pitt in the Final Four and take down Louisville in the title game. Memphis rounded out the President’s Final Four selection. Obama praised Pitt during an interview with ESPN college basketball analysis Andy Katz. ‘Pitt is looking strong,’ he told Katz. ‘I think [DeJuan] Blair is a man.’ The President picked Pitt to defeat East Tennessee State and Tennessee this weekend, then picked the Panthers to take down Florida State in the Sweet 16. He also had Pitt matched up against Duke in the Elite Eight, which he said was his toughest selection. ‘I’ve had good luck with Pittsburgh. It turned Pennsylvania,’ Obama told Katz. ‘They came through in the Super Bowl. So I figure let’s keep riding them a bit longer.’ Still, the president couldn’t pick the Panthers in the Final Four to take down North Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the South region. He disagreed with Katz, who, along with ESPN analyst Digger Phelps, picked the Panthers to win it all. ‘If Pitt wins, you’ll get some commemorative White House M’amp;Ms,’ he said to Katz.