Just how big of a deal is March Madness?  Estimates on the percentage of Americans who fill out an office-pool bracket range from 20% in a 2010 Career Builder survey to as much as 45%, according to a 2009 MSN/Miscrosoft poll.  The Career Builder poll found that men were more than twice as likely as women to participate in office pools (28% to 11%), and that participation was highest in the Midwest (27%) followed the Northeast (20%), the South (17%) and the West (16%).

While most Americans watch the games on television, the continued advancement of internet video streaming has led to a surge in the number of people watching online. Internet viewership increased by 36% last year, as 8.3 million people logged on to cbssports.com to watch the games and stayed for an average of 1.4 hours. This year, online viewership is expected to continue to rise, especially now that CBS and Turner sports have announced that every game will now be streamed for free on iPhones, iPads and iPod touch.

In addition to the millions watching the games on cbssports.com, an even larger share of the country will be following the results through social media. A recent online poll by Harris interactive found that 23% of Americans plan to use some form of social media to follow March Madness. Of those, nearly two-thirds (62%) will use social media to check scores, while 44% will use it to watch the games themselves.

According to Nielsen data, 92% of online March Madness viewership occurs at work, so with the games becoming easier to watch and follow online, CBS' boss button will be getting even more use this year. As a result, U.S. employers are estimated to lose 8.4 million hours of productivity due to the tournament, at a cost of $192 million. While that may seem like a significant number, there is no need to worry about the Clemson fan down the hall helping to cause a double-dip recession. The estimated lost hours of productivity represent less than 0.07% of the time worked by U.S. employees over the three weeks of the tournament, so the tourney shouldn't even register a blip on the economic radar.

Though tournament viewership at work is only likely to increase, America's bosses don't seem to be terribly concerned about its impact on their company's bottom line. According to an OfficeTeam poll of 1,000 senior managers, just 22% say that the games hurt productivity, with an equal percentage saying that they will actually make more workers more productive and a majority believing that they won't have an impact either way. When it comes to whether March Madness related activities should be allowed in the office, 32% say they should not be, but the remaining two-thirds believe they are either fine in moderation (57%) or actually welcome such events (11%).

Other than perhaps the Duke Blue Devils, there are few aspects of college basketball that raise the ire of fans as much as the NCAA's proposal to expand the tournament to 96 teams.  An April 2010 survey by Public Opinion Strategies found that self-identified college basketball fans (who according to the survey make up 40% of the electorate) oppose expanding the tourney to 96 teams by a resounding 30-point margin (59% to 29%). Intensity also favors the opposition, as strong opponents outnumber strong supporters by a 2:1 ratio (38% to 16%). Though the proposal to expand the tourney to 96 teams has been tabled following the compromise to increase this year's field to 68 teams, NCAA officials indicate that it is still an option in the future. If such an expansion it occurs, it is a reminder that in sports, unlike in politics, public opinion has little sway over those in power.