Obama unveils his Final Four picks

(CBS News) President Obama's Final Four picks this year include two schools from the heartland states - Kentucky and Missouri - and two that come from states that can help swing the election this year - North Carolina and Ohio State.

Mr. Obama picked North Carolina to beat Kentucky in the title game on April 2 in New Orleans, but history shows that the president's picks aren't usually on target. In 2009, he picked UNC  to capture the title, and that was the only year the president picked the eventual winner. Mr. Obama hasn't picked any of the eventual Final Four teams either of the last two years.

The fact that Mr. Obama chose North Carolina to win it all this year should come as no surprise. Since he began releasing his picks to the public in 2008, the president has picked the Tar Heels as the eventual champion in three of the five brackets. In his two other two brackets, the president selected Kansas to win.

When he announced his picks on ESPN this week Mr. Obama said, "I'm just a sucker for the Tar Heels; what can I tell you?"

Traditionally, Mr. Obama has ignored the mid-major teams advancing far in the tournament. The last two tournaments were highlighted by back-to-back Cinderella runs by Butler University -- neither of the president's last two brackets had the Bulldogs advancing past the Sweet-16.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama's re-election campaign launched an "Obama bracket challenge" this week that gives visitors to its website an opportunity to fill out brackets. Anyone whose bracket turns out better than Mr. Obama will have their name listed on the site for "bragging rights."

On Tuesday, Mr. Obama hosted British Prime Minister David Cameron to the opening NCAA tournament game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. But it may be one of the only tournament games he'll have time to watch, as he admitted in an interview with CBS Sports analyst Clark Kellogg that, "I probably will not see more than the Final Four, and even that I may end up seeing in snippets."

Watch more of Kellogg's interview with Mr. Obama below:

Kentucky, Syracuse, N. Carolina, MSU get No. 1 seeds
NCAA tournament: Which team was biggest snub?
See the full bracket over at CBSSports.com