It's Friday, that day of the week which thumbs it's nose at the other four nominal workdays. Accordingly, I have an idea which may or may not be fun to play out. It occurs to me that people often support political candidates with much the same energy and emotion as their favorite sports teams. Accordingly, I have decided to link the Presidents of the United States to NCAA basketball teams, and I am inviting the readers to join in that move. Here's how it works:
First, you assign each of the 43 Presidents of the United States to a college basketball team, or such Presidents as you want to mention. Then, the votes are tallied and the season and tournament plays out. Could be fun to see which Presidents make the Final Four!
I will get it started. I generally applied Presidents by region and style, and I tried to make sure each President applied to a team which is doing well enough in the present RPIs that they won't disappear off the radar anytime soon; your taste may vary. I would say the school chosen should be in the top 100 for present RPI, please:
George Washington = Villanova
John Adams = Georgetown
Thomas Jefferson = Virginia
James Madison = Vanderbilt
James Monroe = Pittsburgh
John Quincy Adams = Temple
Andrew Jackson = Tennessee
Martin Van Buren = Xavier
William Henry Harrison = St Johns
John Tyler = West Virginia
James K Polk = Duke
Zachary Taylor = Siena
Millard Fillmore = Wichita State
Franklin Pierce = William & Mary
James Buchanan = Cornell
Abraham Lincoln = Kentucky
Andrew Johnson = VCU
Ulysses Grant = Wisconsin
Rutherford B Hayes = Oklahoma State
James Garfield = Dayton
Chester A Arthur = Rhode Island
Grover Cleveland = Purdue
Benjamin Harrison = Ohio State
William McKinley = Baylor
Theodore Roosevelt = Kansas
William Taft = Northern Iowa
Woodrow Wilson = Wake Forest
Warren G Harding = Cincinnati
Calvin Coolidge = BYU
Herbert Hoover = UNLV
Franklin D Roosevelt = North Carolina
Harry S Truman = Gonzaga
Dwight D Eisenhower = Texas A&M
John F Kennedy = Connecticut
Lyndon Johnson = Texas Tech
Richard Nixon = New Mexico
Gerald Ford = Michigan State
Jimmy Carter = Georgia Tech
Ronald Reagan = Syracuse
George HW Bush = Clemson
Bill Clinton = Ole Miss
George W. Bush = Texas
Barack Obama = Illinois
Now it's your turn.
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Tags: basketball, presidents
Comments (11)
Gerald Ford will turn over ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by jelysh | January 22, 2010 12:35 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Gerald Ford will turn over in his grave when he sees Michigan State listed as his alma mater rather Univ. of Michigan.
1. Posted by jelysh | January 22, 2010 12:35 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 12:35
2. Posted by Imitation Bobby Knight | January 22, 2010 12:45 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I never said it was his alma mater, but frankly Michigan State looks like it's going to the Dance, while Michigan ... is not. Same reason Obama is not linked to Hawaii, nor are any Pac 10 teams included.
2. Posted by Imitation Bobby Knight | January 22, 2010 12:45 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 12:45
3. Posted by Ha ha ha ha | January 22, 2010 1:00 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
You forgot Walter Mundale = Minnesota.
3. Posted by Ha ha ha ha | January 22, 2010 1:00 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 13:00
4. Posted by GarandFan | January 22, 2010 1:06 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Hell, I'm still trying to get over seeing John Adams in shorts!
4. Posted by GarandFan | January 22, 2010 1:06 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 13:06
5. Posted by David Spence | January 22, 2010 2:40 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Wake Forest gets Woodrow Wilson? I hope we wreak as much havoc in the tourney as he did in office.
You got UNC right-they're playing like a wheelchair team right now.
5. Posted by David Spence | January 22, 2010 2:40 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 14:40
6. Posted by James H | January 22, 2010 2:43 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Bill Clinton == Florida State. Party White House, party school.
6. Posted by James H | January 22, 2010 2:43 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 14:43
7. Posted by Muk | January 22, 2010 3:05 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
At least Ford wasn't linked to Ohio State! He'd get up from his grave and pimp-slap DJ for that!
7. Posted by Muk | January 22, 2010 3:05 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 15:05
8. Posted by bryanD | January 22, 2010 3:59 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
DJD, Linking the Calvinist Van Buren to the stinky, stinky Jesuit Catholic "Xavier" school!
That's like placing Fred McMurray as Kate+8's next "husband".
Does. Not. Compute.
Even in War Solitaire Land.
8. Posted by bryanD | January 22, 2010 3:59 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 15:59
9. Posted by Illinois Alum | January 22, 2010 4:12 PM | Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
Go to hell.
9. Posted by Illinois Alum | January 22, 2010 4:12 PM |
Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 16:12
10. Posted by DoNotTakeMeTooSeriously | January 22, 2010 4:27 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Help me out, Bryan. How many Calvinist schools are there in the NCAA with a top-100 RPI in basketball?
Illinois alum, who's your choice then?
10. Posted by DoNotTakeMeTooSeriously | January 22, 2010 4:27 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 16:27
11. Posted by bryanD | January 22, 2010 4:47 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
"Help me out, Bryan. How many Calvinist schools are there in the NCAA with a top-100 RPI in basketball?"-donotect
Who knows! Plus it's Australian Open time!
:-D
SMU or TCU. Definitely, nothing high church or featuring queens feeding wafers to drunks between bingo sessions.
11. Posted by bryanD | January 22, 2010 4:47 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 22, 2010 16:47