Drum roll please……….The President is picking Kansas as the 2011 national champion.
Of course all of us in the NYC area are hoping for greatness for St. Johns or at least for Syracuse University, but the President doesn’t have much expectations from St. John’s. 
In fact the President believes the sixth-seeded Red Storm will go quietly tonight with a first-round loss to No. 11 seed Gonzaga. Say it isn’t so, Mr. President!!
The President isn't picking the local underdogs, either: He has St. Peter's, LIU and Princeton out in their first games.
In fact, he's picking very few underdogs: Obama's Final Four features Kansas, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, and Duke. No. 1 seeds, one and all.
Why Kansas, a second-round loser after the President picked them last year?
"I just think they're deeper," Obama said when revealing his picks on ESPN. "I think that Kansas has more firepower."
We’ll see Mr. President. Go St. John’s. The game is expected to start about 9:45 tonight on CBS.