This Sunday, March 12, is known as “Selection Sunday.” That’s when the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee reveals which 68 teams have made the tournament, and which region (East, Midwest, South, West) they’ll play in. Then, starting next week, the games begin!

My husband is a big college basketball fan. People in his office pass around a bracket sheet listing the 68 schools; he then fills in the sheet and guesses who will progress through the tournament all the way to the championship game. I recently found out this is known as “bracketology.”

Are you filling out a bracket this year? Do you, or anyone in your household, watch any of the games? Which school do you want to win the tournament? Let me know!


I never realized that March Madness was such a big thing, economically speaking. Here are some interesting (and crazy) facts from wallethub.com:

  • $4 billion: Corporate losses due to unproductive workers during March Madness
  • $9.2 billion: Estimated amount wagered on the 2016 NCAA tournament
  • $8.9 billion: Estimated amount wagered illegally
  • 70 million tournament brackets completed in 2016 vs. 129 million ballots cast in the presidential election
  • 1 in 9,200,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s 9.2 quintillion!): Odds of filling out a perfect bracket
  • Two times: Easier to win back-to-back Mega Millions lotteries, buying one ticket both times, than it is to fill out a perfect bracket
  • 17.8 million: Number of people who watched the 2016 title game between North Carolina and Villanova (down 37% from 2015)
  • 17.5 million: Barrels of American beer produced each March (14 million barrels are produced in all other months)
  • 19%: Increase in pizza orders by fans after losses vs. wins
  • 9%: Increase in dessert orders after losses vs. wins

I hope your favorite team wins! Thanks, and have a great day!