NY Times: "WHO needs standardized tests when we have college basketball? By one estimate, more than 10 percent of all American adults participated in a pool this year to choose the winner of the men's N.C.A.A. tournament, which ends Monday. That's about 25 million people - about eight times the number of students taking the SAT this year.
The N.C.A.A. tournament is a good test because it is fair. Everyone has an equal chance of winning. Success isn't related to experience, knowledge, number of basketball games watched or hours spent studying newspaper accounts or listening to sports programs. The official tournament bracket shows exactly how the leading experts rank each team.
These folks aren't perfect, but no one in your pool knows more than they do. In the last quarter-century, a No. 1 seed has won the championship more than half the time (13 champions were seeded No. 1). No. 2 teams have won it all five times, and No. 3 teams three times. No champion has been seeded lower than eighth.
Instead of just worrying about how well we will do, we can learn a lot by watching the way people fill in their brackets. Co-workers who wouldn't show you their profile on a personality test or their score on an aptitude test will gladly explain why they chose the teams they did. The office pools around the country can help us learn how we make decisions."