March Madness: By the numbers

Let the Sweet 16 NCAA games begin: U.S. office pools around the country have wagered an estimated $3 billion on the March Madness tournament.

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last updated 8 January 2015

The Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division I basketball championships starts Thursday, and office workers and bookies nationwide are heavily invested in the outcome of the next round of games. But they aren't the only ones with a big stake in March Madness. Here's a look at college basketball's biggest event (and perhaps the most lucrative of any sport), by the numbers:

$10.8 billion