Obama picks Kansas, UConn for bracket

WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's NCAA bracket predicts victory for the University of Kansas men's basketball team and the University of Connecticut's women's team.

Obama told ESPN's Doris Burke he expects Kansas to come out ahead of the men's March Madness tournament with Ohio State University, Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh rounding out the Final Four.

The president predicted the women's tournament will be won by the University of Connecticut out of a Final Four including Stanford University, the University of Tennessee and Baylor University.

Obama urged basketball fans to keep Japan in their minds while enjoying the tournament.

"One of the things I wanted to do on the show was, as people are filling out their brackets -- this is obviously a national pastime; we all have a great time, it's a great diversion," the president said on ESPN.

"But I know a lot of people are thinking how can they help the Japanese people during this time of need. If you go to usaid.gov -- usaid.gov -- that will list all the non-profits, the charities that are helping out there. It would be wonderful for people to maybe offer a little help to the Japanese people at this time -- as they're filling out their brackets. It's not going to take a lot of time. That's usaid.gov. It could be really helpful."