King Kaufman's Sports Daily

NCAA Tournament preview, Part 1: This column's bracket is the usual waste of productivity.

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March 14, 2007 | That annual bogus estimate of lost productivity caused by the NCAA Tournament is out again, and a healthy percentage of the media is once again parroting the made-up figures as fact.

You'll be interested to know that while you cost your corporate overlords more than $3 billion last year at Tournament time -- just you, personally -- the estimate this year is that you're going to waste nearly $1 million per minute Thursday and Friday of this week just by existing, regardless of whether you spend a moment watching streaming video of Nevada-Creighton when you should be picking up the boss's dry cleaning.

The consulting firm that gets its name in the blats every year with this mishegas estimates that your employer's most efficient use of you would be to grind your bones into chips to be eaten with a nice onion dip by the board of directors as they watch first-round games in Conference Room A.

That party starts Thursday morning, and I won't lie to you: I really haven't paid much attention to college basketball this year. I've caught my share of glimpses and followed along in the sort of peripheral way that just sort of happens by accident given my job description and that would look, if I cared even a little bit what happened during the regular season, like casual fandom to someone who didn't know what I do for a living -- if you can imagine such a person!

What I'm saying is that the following bracket preview is different from the same animal most years in this space in that I'm not even pretending I know what I'm talking about. I have a sneaking suspicion this will make my bracket more accurate than usual because you know what they say about a little bit of knowledge.

OK, I don't know what they say either. But I think I know a little bit about it.

What I'm really saying is that with March Madness approaching or even surpassing the Super Bowl as the premier sports betting event of the year in this country, you must remember to never, ever use this column as a basis for wagering decisions.

Even the seemingly can't-miss strategy of betting opposite this column's picks is foolish, because once in a while, when you least expect it, I get things right.

Here's the first half of my bracket for the 2007 men's Tournament. I'll post the other half Thursday morning, and then I'll offer running commentary throughout the day as the games are played.

Next page: The left side: Midwest and West