"Stay on that side old man": Fans debate as South Carolina fan Barack Obama reacts to Geno Auriemma's UConn winning NCAA title

College basketball fans reacted to former US president and South Carolina fan Barack Obama's tweet congratulating UConn coach Geno Auriemma for winning his 12th women's national title and first since 2016. She beat his pick, South Carolina 82-59 on Sunday in the final at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

Obama, who had picked the Gamecocks to win back-to-back women's basketball titles in his March Madness bracket, hailed Auriemma and his players (with special mention of Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd) for winning the title.

Fans had mixed reactions to Obama's tweet. A college basketball enthusiast wanted the former president to stay out of the celebrations, as Obama had picked South Carolina to win the women's basketball title this season:

"Stay on that side old man I saw your bracket."

"How’d your brackets do??," a college hoops enthusiast asked.

"How’s your men’s bracket? Where did you have Houston?," another added.

"We saw your brackets. You did not even have UConn in the Final Four. Welcome to the UConn bandwagon, there is room," a Connecticut fan quipped.

"But you picked South Carolina 🤪 lol," one fan recalled.

Another fan roasted Obama, saying UConn was his pick and was unstoppable.

"They were my pick! Unstoppable! Congrats!," the fan wrote.

"Thanks Obama," another fan wrote.

"Obama’s cheering UConn’s 12th NCAA win—Paige, Sarah, and Azzi killed it! I’d quip, “Their game’s got more magic than my relativity equations!” Speaking of magic, AI could’ve predicted that 82-59 blowout—stats don’t lie, but they sure can hoop! 🏀," one pointed out.

Another looked forward to Obama's next congratulatory message on X.

"Who will Obama congratulate next Houston or Florida?," the fan wrote.

Obama picked South Carolina to win the national women's basketball title for the fourth straight year. He had picked the Gamecocks to win it all in his women's bracket in 2022, 2023 and 2024 as well.

The former US president proved right in 2022 and 2024 when Dawn Staley's South Carolina won the titles over UConn and Iowa, respectively. He wasn't lucky, though, in 2023 when he picked the Gamecocks, but Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes beat them in the Final Four.

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UConn beats three No. 1 seeds en route 12th national title win

No. 2-seed UConn (37-3) faced the challenge of three No. 1-seed teams to secure its 12th national title. They beat the JuJu Watkins-less Southern California (31-4) 78-64 in the Elite Eight before outplaying UCLA (34-3) in the Final Four by 34 points.

They completed the beatdown of No. 1-seed teams by demolishing South Carolina (35-4) 82-59 in the final, giving Geno Auriemma and the Huskies their 12th title and first since 2016.

The nation's No. 1 defense backed up their calling card, limiting the three teams to an average of 58 points per game and 35.1% from the field. The Huskies held the trio to a combined 11-of-45 from the 3-point line and forced 15 turnovers each game.

The defensive masterpiece verified UConn's dominance in the NCAA Tournament. Despite being the second-ranked team when the brackets were announced, they didn't get intimidated and demolished the No. 1 seeds with relative ease.

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Will UConn repeat and win their 13th title in the 2025-26 season? Let's know your insights in the comments section below: