Obama released his March Madness brackets, and he's playing it safe with his Final Four picks

• Barack Obama has released his brackets for March Madness 2021.
• In the men's bracket, Obama picked all four No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four.
• In the women's bracket, Obama was slightly bolder, picking two No. 2 seeds to make the semifinals.

Former President Barack Obama has released his brackets for March Madness 2021, and he's going all chalk.

You have to squint in the men's tournament to find a true upset in Obama's bracket. In the first round, the biggest upsets he has are the No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos over No. 5 Creighton and the No. 13 Ohio Bobcats over No. 4 Virginia in the West region. Obama has No. 13 Ohio going through to the Sweet 16.

But the lack of upsets becomes extremely egregious in Obama's Final Four, where he selected all four No. 1 seeds - Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, and Michigan - to make the national semifinal. An all No. 1 Final Four has happened just once in tournament history on the men's side.

Obama has Zaga taking down the Illini in the championship game. No word on his prediction for the final score.

In the women's bracket, Obama embraces a bit more of the madness of March.

While his Sweet 16 still leans heavily towards favorites, Obama breaks from picking solely No. 1 seeds for his Final Four, backing No. 2 Maryland and No. 2 Baylor to beat No. 1s South Carolina and UConn respectively in the Elite Eight. Joining Maryland and Baylor in his Final Four is No. 1 Stanford and No. 1 NC State, with Baylor prevailing over Stanford in the championship game.

In 2019, Obama predicted Duke as his eventual champion in the men's bracket, only to watch Virginia - a team he had eliminated in the Elite Eight - go on to lift the trophy.

On the women's side, Obama predicted three of the four Final Four teams correctly but chose UConn as his champion. The Huskies lost in the Final Four, and Baylor went on to win.