I will be using my free time today to watch hours and hours of college basketball and curse my predictive powers. So here's a quick look at the NCAA Tournament by the numbers, according to ESPN Page 2:
$1.5 billion: Amount of lost workplace productivity due to the tournament, according to the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas
$2.5 billion: FBI's estimated amount of illegal wagering in office pools and other bets
$37.39: Cost for a half-case of HammerMill color copy paper at Staples
$109.99: Cost at Staples for a two-pack of toner cartridges for a Canon ImageRunner 9070
9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1: Odds on picking a perfect bracket according to Pregame.com
$15,452.75: Average annual cost to attend the No. 1 seeds if you live in state
$28,101: Average annual cost to attend the No. 1 seeds if you live out of state
$14,469.75: Average annual cost to attend the No. 16 seeds if you live in state
$19,734.75: Average annual cost to attend the No. 16 seeds if you live out of state
$70,322,772: Average athletic budget at the No. 1 seeds according to Blue Ribbon
$9,056,728.75: Average athletic budget at the No. 16 seeds according to Blue Ribbon
$1.36: Salary you wasted your employer by reading this list
If you're wondering (I know you're not wondering), I've got Florida, Kansas, Texas and Texas A&M in the Final Four, with Kansas beating A&M for the title. In a separate pool, I have Florida, Kansas, Georgetown and Ohio State, with G-Town toppling the Gators to cut down the nets. So far today I'm 2-1 and 3-0.