If we look at the bracket through the lens of the Red/Blue divide that permeates our political discussions (I know, I know, this isn’t the post partisan change Obama promised, but just let me have my fun here, OK?) how does the tournament stack up? And, did the president calculate the political ramifications in making his selections?
First, a few observations about the President’s Baracket. Despite the punditocracy’s growing chorus about the president’s aggressive agenda, the president’s bracket is extremely conservative. Pragmatically embracing the status quo, the Commander-in-Chief has four top seeds (UNC, Pitt & Louisville) and one # 2 (Memphis) reaching the Final Four in Detroit. In fact, he’s only got the lower seed winning NINE games (out of 63!) in the entire tournament. In the first round, he’s got two # 11s (Temple and VCU) and a #10 (Maryland) knocking off higher seeds along two #9s (Butler & Tennessee) emerging with victories over #8s. He's got an entire Region (the Midwest) playing to form with every game won by the top seed. There is no Cinderella in his bracket.
Forty-four of the sixty-five teams are represented by Democrats in the House. Regionally, the partisan breakdown looks like this:
| Midwest | WEST | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | CD | Party | '08 | School | CD | Party | '08 | |||
| 1 | Louisville | KY-03 | D | Obama | 1 | Connecticut | CT-02 | D | Obama | |
| 16 | Alabama St | AL-02 | D | McCain | 16 | Chattanooga | TN-03 | R | McCain | |
| Morehead St | KY-05 | R | McCain | |||||||
| 8 | Ohio St | OH-15 | D | Obama | 8 | BYU | UT-03 | R | McCain | |
| 9 | Siena | NY-21 | D | Obama | 9 | Texas A&M | TX-17 | D | McCain | |
| 5 | Utah | UT-02 | D | McCain | 5 | Purdue | IN-04 | R | McCain | |
| 12 | Arizona | AZ-07 | D | Obama | 12 | N. Iowa | IA-01 | D | Obama | |
| 4 | Wake Forest | NC-12 | D | Obama | 4 | Washington | WA-07 | D | Obama | |
| 13 | Cleveland St | OH-11 | D | Obama | 13 | Mississippi St | MS-03 | R | McCain | |
| 6 | West Virginia | WV-01 | D | McCain | 6 | Marquette | WI-04 | D | Obama | |
| 11 | Dayton | OH-03 | R | McCain | 11 | Utah St | UT-01 | R | McCain | |
| 3 | Kansas | KS-03 | D | Obama | 3 | Missouri | MO-09 | R | McCain | |
| 14 | N. Dakota St | ND-AL | D | McCain | 14 | Cornell | NY-22 | D | Obama | |
| 7 | Boston College | MA-04 | D | Obama | 7 | California | CA-09 | D | Obama | |
| 10 | USC | CA-33 | D | Obama | 10 | Maryland | MD-05 | D | Obama | |
| 2 | Michigan St | MI-08 | R | Obama | 2 | Memphis | TN-09 | D | Obama | |
| 15 | Robert Morris | PA-18 | R | McCain | 15 | Cal St- Northridge | CA-27 | D | Obama | |
| EAST | SOUTH | |||||||||
| Seed | School | CD | Party | '08 | Seed | School | CD | Party | '08 | |
| 1 | Pittsburgh | PA-14 | D | Obama | 1 | North Carolina | NC-04 | D | Obama | |
| 16 | E. Tennessee St | TN-01 | R | McCain | 16 | Radford | VA-09 | D | McCain | |
| 8 | Oklahoma St | OK-03 | R | McCain | 8 | LSU | LA-06 | R | McCain | |
| 9 | Tennessee | TN-02 | R | McCain | 9 | Butler | IN-07 | D | Obama | |
| 5 | Florida St | FL-02 | D | McCain | 5 | Illinois | IL-15 | R | McCain | |
| 12 | Wisconsin | WI-02 | D | Obama | 12 | W. Kentucky | KY-02 | R | McCain | |
| 4 | Xavier | OH-01 | D | Obama | 4 | Gonzaga | WA-05 | R | McCain | |
| 13 | Portland St | OR-03 | D | Obama | 13 | Akron | OH-13 | D | Obama | |
| 6 | UCLA | CA-30 | D | Obama | 6 | Arizona St | AZ-05 | D | McCain | |
| 11 | VCU | VA-03 | D | Obama | 11 | Temple | PA-02 | D | Obama | |
| 3 | Villanova | PA-07 | D | Obama | 3 | Syracuse | NY-25 | D | Obama | |
| 14 | American | DC-AL | D | Obama | 14 | Stephen F. Austin | TX-01 | R | McCain | |
| 7 | Texas | TX-21 | R | McCain | 7 | Clemson | SC-03 | R | McCain | |
| 10 | Minnesota | MN-05 | D | Obama | 10 | Michigan | MI-15 | D | Obama | |
| 2 | Duke | NC-04 | D | Obama | 2 | Oklahoma | OK-04 | R | McCain | |
| 15 | Binghamton | NY-22 | D | Obama | 15 | Morgan St | MD-07 | D | Obama |
| Midwest | West | East | South | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| House | 4 R | 6 R | 4 R | 7 R |
| 13 D | 10D | 12 D | 9 D | |
| 08 Result | 7 McCain | 7 McCain | 5 McCain | 9 McCain |
10 Obama | 9 Obama | 11 Obama | 7 Obama | |
Tournament Total
House Delegation: 21 R 44 D
2008 Results: 28 McCain 37 Obama
The East (Boston) and Midwest (Indianapolis) are the bluest regions with the South (Memphis) the reddest. The Midwest Region has the most “purple” districts, purple being defined as a district that gave its vote to a house candidate that was from the opposite party of the district’s winning presidential candidate. Of the nine swing districts only one (Michigan State’s 8th) was won by Obama yet held by a Republican.
Obama’s 44 schools represents 67% of the field, far outpacing the 53% of the popular vote he won in November and exceeding the 59% of House districts the Democrats currently control. This might reflect the presence if many urban schools in this year’s tournament. Or, it could it be validation that America’s colleges and universities are brainwashing our nation’s youth with liberal ideology? I prefer to think it merely represents Beck’s Epic Failure to surround us.
Its clear Obama isn’t picking based on a state’s battleground status, as he’s most often taking the ‘safer’ choice by selecting the higher seed. Wonder if he’ll venture to make his bracket public during the 2012 tournament when he’s gearing up for reelection? As Obama’s picks move into later rounds, his Blue to Red ratio remains constant until the Elite Eight, when only Michigan State remains from a Republican-held district. But, keep in mind, Obama did win this district last fall.
Among the Democrats, the Blue Dogs find themselves outflanked by the Progressive Caucus. Three Blue Dogs are represented in the tournament (Utah’s Jim Matheson, Kansas’ Dennis Moore and FSU’s Allen Boyd). The Progressive Caucus, on the other hand, has lots of teams in the Big Dance: Arizona, California, UCLA, USC, Butler, BC, Morgan St, Minnesota, Wake Forest, Cornell, Binghamton, Cleveland State, Temple, Memphis, Washington and Wisconsin all play in districts represented by members of the Progressive Caucus.
Other fun Partisan Big Dance factoids:
Only two districts are represented by two teams in this year’s tournament:
- Tobacco Road’s David Price (NC-08 - Duke and Carolina)
Upstate New York’s Maurice Hinchey (NY-22 – Cornell and Binghamton)
Thirty-two states (and the District of Columbia) are represented in the field of 65. Seventeen states (AZ, CA, IN, KY, MD, MI, NC, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA and WI) are represented by more than one team. California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee lead the way with four teams each in the tourney. Of these 32 states, Obama won 18 (representing 302 electoral votes- including DC) to McCain’s 13 (127 EVs)
The most populous state without a home team to root for is Georgia. Conversely, the smallest state sending a team this year is North Dakota.
The only state (aside from DC and North Dakota) to have all of its districts represented is Utah.
If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for indulging me two of my passions – March Madness and political minutiae. Totally pointless, I know, but a wonderful diversion from economic meltdowns, Wall Street Ponzi schemes and Octo-Mom.
Enjoy the madness!
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