President Obama believes in Tubby Smith and the Gophers... for tonight, at least

Image by Tatiana Craine

Obama expects the Gophers to get their first NCAA tourney win in 15 years.

After a disappointing collapse from eighth in the country in January to ninth in the Big Ten Tournament in March, Tubby Smith doesn't have many supporters left.

THE BEST OF TIMES: Rodney Williams Jr.'s insane block seals Gophers' upset win over #1 Indiana [VIDEO]

There's Sid Hartman. And believe it or not, there's also the POTUS himself, Barack Obama.

Obama's 2013 NCAA Tournament bracket has the 11th-seeded Gophs knocking off the 6th-seeded UCLA Bruins. That pick isn't exactly bold -- the majority of national pundits and even the oddsmakers in Vegas expect Tubby and the boys to win tonight, in no small part because one of UCLA's best players, freshman guard Jordan Adams, broke his foot on the last play of the Bruins' victory over Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament championship.

But Barack's faith in Tubby only goes so far. Though he has the Gophers advancing to the round of 32, he has 3rd-seeded Florida beating them on Sunday. (In fact, he has Florida advancing all the way to the Final Four.)

If you're curious, here's Barack's entire bracket (click to enlarge):


It should probably be noted that Obama's picks didn't pan out very well during the first night of action last night. According to USA Today, Obama had 10 picks right and six wrong, which puts him below the 30th percentile among all brackets nationally.