March Madness starts today: Who is running your office pool?

The Associated Press

The Jayhawks' colors? Red and blue.

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March Madness starts today: Who is running your office pool?

Today is the day: The nation will find out which 65 teams have been invited to the NCAA Tournament to decide the national champion of men's college basketball. And on Monday, offices across the land will be abuzz with employees figuring out the brackets for their office pools -- many of them illegal.

An estimated 3 million people participated in online brackets last year, placing $2.5 billion on illegal bets and costing their companies $1.7 billion in lost productivity.

Why do we go so crazy for March Madness? And is there an upside to your office pool?

Ben likes: The not-so Elite Eight

Kane Webb/National Review

Responsibly operating a first-class office pool wasn't a completely selfless act. Running the office pool allowed me to study the sociological curiosity that is homo predictus up close and personal. It was a regular anthropological expedition every March.

And over the years I've developed a few theories as to why everyone and his brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, mom, dad, cat, and neighbor's in-law's second-niece twice-removed can't resist filling out a bracket.

Theories? Well, I've developed one theory: Americans like to gamble, especially if it's vaguely verboten. Indeed, the wink-wink illicitness of bracketology adds to the bonding experience. The NCAA pool is the modern-day version of bath-tub gin.

Joel likes: Winning your office pool

Geoff Williams/Wallet Pop

It happens every year, and next week, it'll happen again, and if you're the manager or owner of a company, you may be wondering if you should let it happen: The March Madness office pool.

Actually, don't worry. As it turns out, there are good business reasons to keep your college basketball office pool going. According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, of the 44% of American workers who have participated in an office pool, 45% of them named office camaraderie as the main reason for doing it. Thirty-six percent of the people participating do it for the love of money; 15%, for the love of the game; 2%, pressure from their other co-workers.

In other words, the study suggests that you're actually fostering teamwork if you let your staff participate in a March Madness office pool.