Julian Nazario

Can Fairfield Pull the Upset in Ohio? These Celebrities Weigh In

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Bracket season is in full swing as college basketball fans across the nation turn their attention toward the NCAA Tournament, popularly known as March Madness, and fill out brackets predicting the winner of each game throughout the tournament.

This year, the NCAA estimates that over 36 million brackets were made across major online sites, including NCAA.com, ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Six games into the 2026 men’s tournament, only 855,000, or 2.3%, of brackets remain perfect, according to the tournament’s bracket tracker.

On the women’s side, brackets are still open until the first game of the tournament tips off Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET, when No. 3 Duke faces No. 14 Charleston.

However, fans are not the only ones filling brackets. Celebrities are also using their platforms to join the national conversation and engage with their followers.

Here’s a look at how celebrities are picking for the Notre Dame-Fairfield matchup:

Jimmy Fallon 

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” host has No. 6 Notre Dame taking down No. 11 Fairfield in the first round of the tournament, with the Fighting Irish also defeating No. 3 Ohio State in a second-round matchup. 

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Fallon, who received an honorary degree from The College of Saint Rose in communication, also bracketed the Notre Dame team to make an appearance in the Sweet 16 against Vanderbilt, with the second-seeded Commodores advancing to the Elite 8.

The comedian has also favored Fairfield’s opponent over the Stags in previous appearances against Kansas State in 2025 and Indiana in 2024.

President Barack Obama

The 44th president of the United States is also a fan of Notre Dame over the Stags in his annual March Madness bracket. In a second-round matchup, the former president favors the host team over the Gold and Blue.

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Breanna Stewart

The three-time WNBA Champion and two-time WNBA MVP with the New York Liberty released a bracket Thursday afternoon, choosing the Stags to upset Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

However, the former UConn star has the reigning MAAC Champions losing to No. 3 Ohio St. 

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Brittany Bowe

The gold-winning American speed skater and former Florida Atlantic Owls point guard shared her bracket Tuesday night, favoring Notre Dame over the Stags. 

Bowe’s bracket features the UConn Huskies as national champions.

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Gordo

The DJ and record producer was one of the first celebrities to publicize their bracket for the women’s tournament, also picking Fairfield to deliver an upset win over its opponent in the first round of March Madness.

In a second game, the now-retired artist chose Ohio St to defend its home court for a ticket to the Sweet 16.

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This year, the 11-seeded Fairfield University women’s basketball team will make its eighth appearance in the tournament Saturday as it faces No. 6 Notre Dame in Columbus, Ohio.

According to ESPN’s Women’s Tournament Challenge, 1.6 million users have chosen the Fighting Irish to win the game, while just over 190,000 users chose the Connecticut team to make the upset.