Barack Obama bracket 2025: March Madness picks, predictions from former president

President Barack Obama's projected NCAA Tournament bracket became an annual March Madness rite of passage during his eight years in the White House, and the tradition lives on almost a decade since he left office.

Obama released his picks for the men's and women's NCAA Tournament Thursday morning on social media before the first full day of March Madness action began, and the noted basketball fan went for chalk with his predictions. Obama's bracket has three No. 1 seeds making it to the Final Four in both the men's and women's tournament brackets this year.

Obama accurately picked UConn to win the national championship in his men's NCAA Tournament bracket in 2024. He also correctly picked South Carolina to win women's March Madness last year. This season, Obama is predicting the Duke men and South Carolina women to emerge with a national championship.

Here's a look at Obama's complete brackets for the 2025 men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, as well as his Final Four projections and notable upset picks:

Obama bracket 2025: March Madness Final Four predictions

Men

• Final Four: Auburn, Florida, Duke, Tennessee
• National Championship: Duke over Florida

Women

• Final Four: UCLA, USC, South Carolina, Notre Dame
• National Championship: South Carolina over UCLA

NCAA Tournament bracket 2025: President Barack Obama upset picks

Men

• No. 11 seed VCU over No. 6 seed BYU in Midwest Region first round
• No. 11 seed North Carolina over No. 6 seed Ole Miss in South Region first round
• No. 10 seed Utah State over No. 7 seed UCLA in Midwest Region first round
• No. 5 seed Clemson over No. 1 seed Houston in Midwest Region Sweet 16

Women

• No. 13 seed Montana State over No. 4 seed Ohio State in Birmingham 3 first round
• No. 10 seed Harvard over No. 7 seed Michigan State in Spokane 1 first round
• No. 10 seed Oregon over No. 7 seed Vanderbilt in Birmingham 2 first round
• No. 3 seed Notre Dame over No. 1 seed Texas in Birmingham 3 Elite Eight

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