March Madness By The Numbers

It's the one thing that keeps college basketball relevant. That would be the bracket. And no, it's not the amount of games or teams that has ruined college basketball. It's the one and done rule. The product isn't as good, and fans barely know any of the players.

But anyway, here are some random facts about March Madness.

• Hartford Business did a story about how much money March Madness costs companies in productivity. That total? $2.1 BILLION. Yeah, billion with a B.
• PR Newswire posted the following numbers:
  • The average entry fee for a bracket pool is $22.44
  • If your office has a bracket pool, you'll get about 41% of your coworkers to join
  • Men are more likely than women to join
  • If the prize is high enough, 75% of people say they'll be more inclined to join

I've been doing brackets for over a decade now and it's funny how hit or miss it can be. I remember one year I had my bracket end up in the 99th percentile on ESPN. I actually tried to save that page because I was so far up there. Then, I think, it was the very next year I laid an absolute egg. I'm pretty sure I didn't even get one team in the Elite 8.