With work productivity dropping like a stone, it can only mean that NCAA tournament time, or March Madness, has begun again. Got your bracket filled out in time? Hopeful of a big win?

I filled out a bracket for many years, with nothing to show for it but some writer's cramp. There were even years that I did all sorts of homework and research ahead of time, but still, not much luck in picking the winners.

According to ESPN, who looked at the numbers from the American Gaming Association, 40 million Americans will fill out more than 70 million brackets and wager approximately $9 billion on the NCAA tournament this year.

The $9 billion is more than double what the AGA estimated was bet on the Super Bowl ($3.9 billion) in the United States. The total number of brackets expected to be filled out will be greater than the number of ballots cast (nearly 66 million) for President Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

The AGA projects that 40 million Americans will fill out at least one bracket, with the majority filling out two. The average bet per bracket is $29, with $2 billion projected to be wagered in pools across the nation.

For those who think you have to know college basketball inside and out, and that you have to read every scrap of info on every team you can think of before contemplating your bracket selections, meet Sam Holtz, who won ESPN's March Madness Bracket Challenge last year...at the age of 12:

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