BRISTOL, Conn. Barack Obama picked North Carolina to defeat Louisville for the NCAA championship, a relatively safe selection for a trailblazing president.

Obama spent part of Tuesday making his tournament picks for ESPN, which posted his completed bracket online yesterday and showed the First Fan filling it out with Andy Katz on the noon edition of “SportsCenter.”

“Here’s what I like about Carolina: experience and balance,” Obama told Katz, an ESPN college basketball analyst.