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"It has nothing to do with McCain," Obama said. "I think Arizona is a great state. I love playing golf there. But they just squeaked in."

Washington was pegged as a second-round loser to Purdue, a team Obama was high on because of its finish.

The president went with Villanova over VCU in the second round but picked Duke over Nova in the Sweet 16. Obama's personal aide, former Duke basketball and football player Reggie Love, was standing a few feet from the easel. Obama and Love are regular hoops players, and the latter watched his alma mater against Maryland last month at the Comcast Center.

The President's Picks

Is your original bracket a little hard to read? A lot of scratch marks and indecision? Well, you're not alone. The leader of the free world found picking this year's wide-open field to be just as tough as you did.
• View President Obama's original bracket
• View his Tournament Challenge entry •

"Because of Reggie Love, I've got to pick Duke," Obama said.

The whole way?

"No, no, not the whole way. Come on," Obama said.

How much influence does Love have?

"He doesn't have that much influence," Obama said. He chided his aide by saying a year ago Love picked the Blue Devils to go all the way, and then added, "I think it sort of stopped here," pointing to the second round of the bracket.

Florida State lost in the ACC tournament title game to Duke. Obama clearly knew the Seminoles have been on a roll of late, led by ACC Player of the Year runner-up Toney Douglas.

But he picked Pitt to beat the Seminoles and advance to the Elite Eight against Duke.

"Pitt is looking strong," he said. "I think [DeJuan] Blair is a man."

In the 2008 election, Obama won Pittsburgh, a key city in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

"I've had good luck with Pittsburgh," Obama said. "It turned Pennsylvania. They came through in the Super Bowl. So I figure let's keep riding them a little bit longer."

My bracket has Pitt over Duke, too. Did he get my picks in advance?

"I didn't look at your picks," Obama said with a laugh. "I promise you, to win, Andy, I'm not looking at your picks."

Picking Pitt over Duke was his toughest selection. He looked over at Love and said that despite the "skilled perimeter players, they just don't have the muscle inside. I think Blair is going to eat them up."

Love smiled, but his loyalty at this point in his life has to be to Obama, not Mike Krzyzewski.

"Reggie says [Kyle] Singler is going to be able to guard Blair," Obama said. "I don't think so."

So Pitt advanced out of the East to Obama's Final Four.

AP Photo/Jae C. HongWhile campaigning in North Carolina last April, then-Senator Obama played a pickup game with Tyler Hansbrough and the Heels.

North Carolina is his pick in the South. A year ago, when he was still Senator Obama from Illinois, he played a pickup game with the Tar Heels after the Final Four during a campaign stop in Chapel Hill before the North Carolina Democratic primary.

"Here's what I like about Carolina: experience and balance," Obama said.

When asked about the issue of point guard Ty Lawson's toe, Obama responded, "I'm a little concerned about that. But I've got to assume that he's coming to play."

Further down in the bracket, Obama said he hated to do it to his home state of Illinois, but he went with Gonzaga over the Illini. He knew coach Bruce Weber's team missed the NCAAs last year, but "they're making progress," Obama said.

Syracuse got the nod to play Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 at the bottom half of the South bracket.

"The problem with Oklahoma, they have the player of the year [Blake Griffin], but they play, like, seven guys," Obama said. "I think you start getting worn down."

Obama said he watched the ESPN highlights of Syracuse's six-overtime win against Connecticut in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

Why he didn't last into the night?

"I can't be staying up until 2 in the morning," he said. "I've got work to do."

He picked North Carolina over Syracuse in the South Regional final, setting up a Pitt-UNC national semifinal.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was an assistant at Hawaii when Obama was living in Honolulu. Obama, who was known as "Barry O'Bomber" when he played for Punahou High, said he used to go to the old Neal Blaisdell Arena on the University of Hawaii campus.

"I saw him at Blaisdell and always thought he was a great coach," Obama said. "So I think he's going to do a good job here."

Louisville sailed through to Obama's Sweet 16.

Obama liked West Virginia, but couldn't go against Kansas for a number of reasons. His late mother, Ann Dunham, was from Kansas. He also just named Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Oh, and there's one other reason: "Kansas is a young team, maturing -- Bill Self has done an outstanding job there."

But he still went with Michigan State over the Jayhawks in the Sweet 16.

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