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President Obama’s 2024 March Madness bracket revealed
One of the world’s most famous basketball fans revealed his 2024 NCAA basketball tournament brackets. Former President Barack Obama shared his March Madness bracket exclusively on “CBS Mornings” Tuesday, and he explained why he makes his picks public each year.
For the final four of the men’s tournament, Obama chose UConn, Kentucky, Baylor and Purdue, with UConn and Kentucky in the final and UConn winning for the second straight year.
For the women’s final four, he has South Carolina, Stanford, USC and and Iowa, with South Carolina and Iowa in the finals and South Carolina winning.
Obama has publicly released his bracket every year since taking office in 2009. “He completely gets it wrong every time,” CBS News’ Vlad Duthiers remarked while sharing the brackets on “CBS Mornings.” “He only got it right once, but he says it’s all par of his master plan.”
On the “Ways to Win” podcast, hosted by his brother-in-law Craig Robinson, Obama explained why he releases his brackets.
“My attitude is, you know, it gives people great pleasure with all the intelligence I have available to me – you know, the CIA, the NSA, all of that input – when they beat me, they feel good. I want to give people that satisfaction,” he joked.
Obama predicted the winner of the 2009 NCAA tournament – North Carolina – and people were impressed of the new president’s basketball knowledge.
“They thought, ‘Look at the president of theUnited States. He’s in the top 4% of all the people who enter in their brackets publicly.’ And I was kind of feeling it, and I thought, ‘You know what, I think this is what’s going to happen every year,'” he said on the podcast. “And I’m pretty sure each year I’ve lost since then. So, I have not necessarily picked a winner [lately].”
The odds of a perfect bracket are 1 in 120 billion. But two Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates attempted to build a computer model that would beat the odds. “Picking the teams that are going to win that are like the favorites, that will get you an OK bracket. But if you want to win, you gotta pick the upsets. That’s the secret sauce,” Tauhid Zaman told Duthiers last year.
If you don’t have access to such technology, Shawn Chao recommends keeping an eye on the first round, saying there are “typically” about “10 upsets or so.”
“Some of the most common upsets are the sixth-ranked team and the 11th-ranked team, where the 11th-ranked team actually beats the sixth-ranked team about 3/7 of the time,” Chao said.
CBS and TBS will televise 21 games each during the NCAA Tournament, while truTV and TNT will carry 13 and 12, respectively.
NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.
Four people were fatally shot and three people were injured in a mass shooting in Kentucky on Saturday, the Florence Police Department said in a statement.
Officers arrived at a private residence at 2:51 a.m. to see seven people shot – and found out the suspect had fled the scene in his car. Police said they located the fleeing suspect and tried to nab him during a traffic stop, but he continued to drive.
A chase ensued, police said, and only ended when the suspect’s car drove into a ditch off the roadway. The suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Three of the victims were taken to UC Health Hospital. They are currently listed in critical but stable condition, officials said.
Everyone was attending a birthday pool party, Florence Church of God, a local church, posted on its social media. One of their congregation’s sisters asked for prayers for her friend whose daughter was killed in the shooting.
“A man came in uninvited on a birthday pool party and killed four people,” the church’s Pastor Campbell wrote.
One of them was a friend’s daughter, the pastor wrote, and “her granddaughter is in the hospital with gunshot wounds.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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