by Patrick Thorman

Created on: February 18, 2011   Last Updated: February 22, 2011

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship grabs the attention of hard core college hoops enthusiasts, as well as more casual fans, as February draws to a close every year.  Commonly known as March Madness, this captivating 65 team tournament is perfectly suited for prognosticators of all levels to test their predictive mettle.

The March Madness office pool is as common as it is controversial.  Estimates range from between 15% to 20% of office workers having participated in office March Madness pools.  A CareerBuilder.com survey in 2009 found that almost a quarter of all male office workers have participated in such a pool.  While comfort can be found in the fact that many employers allow such low-level gambling to take place at, or closely associated with, a place of legitimate business, not all employers allow it.  Before starting an office pool, the organizer must find out how much latitude his or her employer is willing to give them before moving forward.  Many estimates claim that March Madness pools cost businesses over $1.5 billion yearly in lost productivity, and companies often take a hard line when it comes to these pools.  While extremely enjoyable, participating in such a pool is certainly not worth one’s job, so great care need be taken prior to launching an office pool.

Once the green light is given, the March Madness pool organizer needs to find a platform on which to host their game.  There are websites that run pools for free, such as ESPN.com and Sportsline.com.  These user-friendly sites have been doing this for many years and have it down to a science.  The pool organizer will not be required to collect hard copies of, or score the participants’ tournament brackets as the games are played.  He or she will not have to tally up point totals to create the standings, or email such details to the participants.  The websites take care of this to such a degree that the person in charge of the pool never needs to lay eyes on the entries of the other participants at all.  Utilizing one of these websites is highly encouraged for anyone interested in running a March Madness pool.

Some important details about the pool are decided by which website is used to host it.  This mostly has to do with how correct picks will be scored.  They are usually scored in ascending order as the rounds go by in the tournament.  For example, a correct pick in the

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