BRACKET MANIA NCAA fanatics get ready for tourney

An estimated $2.5 billion is bet through bracket pools around the country.
By NANCY ARMOUR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Every year about this time, Eddie Gontram's architecture firm becomes one of the most popular in the country.
Hundreds of people he doesn't know -- and probably will never meet -- check out his Web site, eagerly awaiting the latest news. And we're not talking about blueprints for that new day spa.
"It's March Madness," Gontram said Monday.
Sure is, baby!
For the next three weeks, you'll find sports nuts, devoted alums and people who don't know a layup from a loose-ball foul breaking down their picks, obsessing over little-known schools like Monmouth and Pacific, and talking trash about that 8-9 matchup.
The World Series and NBA finals have their devotees, and clever ads and queso dip make the Super Bowl an all-inclusive party. When it comes to the NCAA tournament, though, there's something in those brackets that converts even the least sportsminded folk into rabid fans.
"Part of it is it's so easy to become involved," said Scott Sepich, who has run a pool for about 70 friends for the last 10 years.
Brackets are everywhere
Indeed, brackets are everywhere these days. Printed in virtually every newspaper. Online. Passed out in neighborhoods, hospitals and church groups.
Even the most buttoned-down of offices get the fever. Instead of talk about mergers and acquisitions or tax season, watercooler chatter centers on the latest games, who's winning the pool and what the prospects are for the next round.
And the true beauty? No expertise is needed. You could render Dick Vitale speechless with your knowledge of college hoops, sweat for days over RPIs and power conferences, and still lose to people who make their picks based on nicknames and uniform colors.
"My 4-year-old daughter beat me last year," Gontram admitted. "She was within a whisker of winning the whole thing."
$80 million bet legally
An estimated $2.5 billion is reportedly bet on the NCAA tournament, with only $80 million bet legally in Nevada sports books. Bets placed with bookies account for some of the rest, and there are plenty of big-ticket pools.
But much comes from small pools, the $5, $10 and $20 wagered by average Joes who don't otherwise gamble.