Senators from Connecticut and Indiana are betting local treats on the NCAA’s women's basketball championship game Tuesday night when teams from the two states face off.
Connecticut Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are wagering “an array of sweets” from Munson’s Chocolates in Bolton that the University of Connecticut wins the game.
Meanwhile, Indiana Sens. Dan Coats (R) and Joe Donnelly (D) have bet “a basket of goods” from the South Bend Chocolate Co. on Notre Dame.
The same teams faced off last year for the championship, with the Huskies winning 79-58. If U-Conn wins Tuesday, it will be the team's third consecutive national championship.
Murphy said that if that happens, he’ll use the sweets to replace his depleting stock of chocolate bunnies.
“It doesn’t really seem fair to keep fleecing the Indiana delegation like this,” he said in a statement. “But I will run out of Easter candy in a few weeks, so this new supply of chocolate will be very welcome.”
Coats, however, said that he is “confident” the Fighting Irish will win out.
“These two teams are the gold standard in women’s college basketball,” the Indiana senator said. “I look forward to tonight’s game, and I am confident that the Irish will prevail.”
The senators’ bet is the last in a string of March Madness wagers. Lawmakers representing Duke University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison promised each other local food specialties if their team lost.
Duke won Monday night’s game 68-63.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also placed a “friendly wager” during the Sweet 16 when the West Virginia Mountaineers played the Kentucky Wildcats.
McConnell bet Derby-Pie baked by Kern's Kitchen in Louisville, while Manchin offered Chico’s Bakery pepperoni rolls.