John Calipari, Barack Obama talk March Madness. The former president likes Kentucky a lot.

Two days before Kentucky’s first game in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the first episode of a new podcast featuring John Calipari dropped.

He landed a pretty famous first guest.

Former president Barack Obama joined the “Ways to Win” podcast to talk about March Madness and give his bracket predictions for this year’s tournament. And he’s picking the Wildcats to make it all the way to the final night of the season.

The “Ways to Win” podcast features Calipari and Craig Robinson, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 2020 and a former college basketball coach who also happens to be Obama’s brother-in-law. A UK spokesperson told the Herald-Leader that this will be a recurring podcast, and the description of the show says that Calipari and Robinson will “use their on-court wisdom to solve your off-court problems.”

The second episode is scheduled to be posted Wednesday and will include Calipari talking about Kentucky’s preparation for the NCAA Tournament, which, for the Wildcats, begins Thursday night with a game against 14-seeded Oakland in Pittsburgh.

The first episode was posted Tuesday morning and featured banter between the two coaches and Obama, who served as president of the United States from 2009 through 2017.

During Obama’s time in the Oval Office, he regularly filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket and released it publicly. The former president recalled on the podcast that he correctly picked North Carolina to win it all in 2009 — his first March Madness in office — and didn’t think he’d come up with the right national champion since then.

“All listeners may want to do the opposite of what I do,” he said.

Obama also talked about picking Kentucky’s 2014-15 team — the one that began the tournament with a 34-0 record — to go all the way. Of course, those Cats lost in the Final Four to Wisconsin, ending the season with a 38-1 mark.

“Coach, I hate to bring back bad memories …” Obama told Calipari while talking about that team.

“If I knew what you just told us, I would have said, ‘Please don’t pick us. Don’t pick us!’” Calipari responded.

“You think it was me?” Obama asked.

“Oh, no question,” Calipari replied. “No question.”

Obama didn’t pick Kentucky to win the NCAA title this time around, but he does have the Cats going a long way in his bracket. The former president is predicting that UConn will beat UK in the national title game to repeat as NCAA champions. He also had Baylor and Purdue in his Final Four.

Calipari said he didn’t want to know Obama’s specific predictions — after hearing about his run of bad luck with NCAA Tournament picks — and left the podcast while the president talked about his bracket. The Wildcats have not been back to the Final Four since that loss in 2015.

Obama, who also filled out a complete bracket for the women’s NCAA Tournament — picking South Carolina to win it all there — is an avid basketball fan. He talked about his tradition of unveiling his NCAA Tournament bracket each year while in office.

“My attitude is that it gives people great pleasure,’ Obama said. “With all the intelligence I have available to me — the CIA, the NSA, all that input — when they beat me, they feel good. And I want to give people that satisfaction.”

He also complimented the SEC player of the year — Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht — calling him “a baller” and noting that he enjoyed watching his ability to score at all three levels. Obama said he could see the Volunteers coming out of the Midwest Regional to make their first Final Four, though he predicted Purdue to beat UT in a close one.

(The former president did not pick 14-seeded Morehead State or 15-seeded Western Kentucky to pull off an upset in the first round.)

Obama and Calipari have golfed together in the past and had multiple meetings when he was the sitting U.S. president. Obama called Kentucky’s team in 2010 to thank them for helping raise more than $1 million for their “Hoops for Haiti” initiative. That call ended up drawing the ire of some UK fans when the Cats suffered their first loss of the 2009-10 season at South Carolina later that day. Obama also hosted Calipari and his team at the White House in 2012, after they won the national title.

On the podcast, Calipari asked questions about Obama’s leadership style and dealing with high-pressure situations, particularly his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which elevated his national profile.

Obama asked Calipari and Robinson about the current state of college basketball, focusing on the changes that have come about as a result of name, image and likeness reforms that have allowed college players to make money while in school. Obama also indirectly asked Calipari if he would be retiring soon as a result of all the changes.

“You’re not ready to go Nick Saban on us, are you?” the former president asked.

“No. No,” Calipari said, taking his “players first” approach to the situation.

Saban retired as Alabama’s football coach this year and cited the recent changes in the college athletics landscape as part of the reason for the timing of his decision.

Obama and Calipari also talked about getting his Kentucky team prepared for this week’s NCAA Tournament and his coaching and leadership philosophies going into the annual event. Calipari said he has one of the few teams with a realistic chance to win it all this year.

Obama said he feels the same.

“I know you don’t want me to jinx you, but I agree with you that — as young as your team is — that backcourt is impressive, and you’ve got a bunch of folks that can put the ball in the hoop. And you being one of the 10 teams that can win it sounds right to me.”

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