East Regional: President Obama's choice is Indiana

Hoosier Nation?

President Obama has selected Indiana to win it all in his NCAA tournament bracket on ESPN. He predicted that Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State, and Florida will reach the Final Four.

For the Hoosiers' opponent in the title game, "I'm going with Louisville," the president said in a taped segment shown on SportsCenter on Wednesday. "I know it's not a surprise pick. . . . These are the two best teams right now, and for the championship I'm going back to the Big Ten. I think this is Indiana's year."

This is the fifth time Obama, a former high school basketball star in Hawaii, has filled out his bracket for ESPN. Beware: He correctly selected Ohio State and Kentucky as two of the Final Four teams last season, but his predicted national champion last year, North Carolina, lost in the Elite Eight.

All that extra NCAA tournament experience that Rakeem Christmas, James Southerland, and Baye Moussa Keita got a year ago when Fab Melo was suspended for Syracuse could pay dividends this year for the Orange.

With that tested trio joining NCAA veterans such as Brandon Triche and C.J. Fair, the fourth-seeded Orange (26-9) head into Thursday's second-round game in San Jose against No. 13 seed Montana (25-6) with plenty of postseason knowledge.

"I feel like everyone that played in the tournament last year is going to have a great experience," Southerland said. "Like Rakeem, he did a great job last year in the tournament. And I feel like we can take last year's experience . . . and bring it to this game."

Butler has a date with its past.

The sixth-seeded Bulldogs (26-8) are long removed from being the upset specialists in the tournament. That role now belongs to the likes of Bucknell, their foe on Thursday.

"Butler really kind of set the gold standard, in my mind, for preparation and attention to detail and being the team that doesn't beat itself," Bisons coach Dave Paulsen said. "That's kind of how we've tried to model our program."