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Joe Biden NCAA bracket shows he's big believer in Tennessee basketball for March Madness

Adam Sparks, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read
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President Joe Biden believes the Tennessee Vols will reach the Final Four.

On Wednesday, he released his bracket, continuing a tradition from former President Barack Obama. And Biden went chalk for his Final Four picks except for Tennessee.

Biden picked No. 1 seeds UConn, North Carolina and Houston to make it, along with No. 2 seed Tennessee.

In the Midwest Region, he has No. 1 seed Purdue suffering an upset to No. 4 seed Kansas, and then Tennessee knocking off Kansas to reach to the Final Four.

But that's where Biden believes the Vols' run ends. He picked UConn to beat Houston in the national title game.

Why did Joe Biden pick the Vols?

Tennessee (24-8) plays No. 15 seed Saint Peter's (19-13) on Thursday (9:20 p.m. ET, TNT) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Biden picked the Vols to beat Saint Peter's, Texas, Creighton and Kansas. If he filled out his bracket with political motives, they're not entirely clear.

After all, Tennessee isn't a swing state. Former President Donald Trump is projected to take it in the 2024 presidential election.

Then again, Biden picked schools in other swing states to make it far. He put No. 2 seeds Marquette and Arizona in the Elite Eight. They are located in Wisconsin and Arizona, states that are projected to be up for grabs in November.

And he picked No. 9 seed Michigan State to capture a mild upset over No. 8 seed Mississippi State.

Perhaps, Biden is just an admirer of Dalton Knecht's jump shot and Rick Barnes' late-game adjustments. Either way, he thinks the Vols will play deep into March.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Joe Biden has Tennessee basketball going far in March Madness bracket