Posted by Russell Korobkin: Obama's East Coast Bias http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_15-2009_03_21.shtml#1237446120
President Obama released his NCAA basketball tournament [1]predictions yesterday, and what is most noticeable is the complete disrespect the President shows for the Pac-10 conference. Other than games between #8 and #9 seeds -- usually considered tossups -- Obama plays it pretty safe and picks mostly higher seeds (lower numbers). He picks only three upsets in the first round, and his projected losers in all three of these games are Pac-10 teams (#11 VCU over #6 UCLA, #10 Maryland over #7 California, and #11 Temple over #6 Arizona State). In the second round the president predicts only 2 upsets, and Pac-10 regular season champion #4 Washington is on the losing end of one of these. Overall, Obama predicts Pac-10 schools will end the tournament with a combined record of 1-6. We Californians know that east coast bias is nothing new in college sports, but it is surprising to see it coming from Obama, whose brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the head basketball coach at Pac-10 school Oregon State! References 1. http://ncaabracket.nytimes.com/bracket/men/mIGjEQsQnFA _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
