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The Division I NCAA March Madness national basketball tournaments are the most wagered-on sporting events in America, according to the American Gaming Association.

The AGA estimates that 68 million Americans will bet a total of $15.5 billion on March Madness games. A lot of those bets are placed in office pools. More people will bet on March Madness games than on the Super Bowl, but bettors place more money on wagers during the Super Bowl. The AGA says:

• 31 million American adults plan to place a traditional sports wager online, at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie.
• 21.5 million plan to bet casually with friends.
• 56.3 million plan to participate in a bracket contest.
• Since last year’s tournament, Kansas, Massachusetts and Ohio have launched retail and mobile sports betting markets, while Maryland has launched mobile wagering.
• This year’s March Madness—with 67 games over three weeks—will be the first to feature Las Vegas as a regional host location.
• 33 states and Washington, D.C. currently feature live, legal sports betting markets, with three additional legal markets awaiting launch.
• More than half of American adults (57%, 146M) live in a live, legal sports betting market.

(American Gaming Association)

One reason college basketball is so enticing to bettors is that the games involve so many teams from so many localities. And underdogs win. In fact, they win a lot. Fox Sports calculates:

Since 2015, underdogs have gone a whopping 122-97-2 ATS (55.7%). Fifty-nine of those underdogs actually won their respective games.

• A 12-seed has won 53 first-round games since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
• In eight of the past 12 NCAA tournaments, at least one 13-seed has defeated a 4-seed.
• In five of the past nine NCAA tournaments, a 14-seed has beaten a 3-seed.
• In six of the past 10 NCAA tournaments, a 15-seed has beaten a 2-seed.
• Double-digit seeds are 507-507-21 ATS (50%) and 232-803 SU (22.4%) in the Round of 64 since 1985.Excludes the Oregon Ducks–VCU Rams game in 2021 when Oregon advanced due to COVID-19 issues.

For all of the upsets that happen in the early brackets, No. 1-seeded teams do very well in the madness of March Madness. Again, from Fox Sports:

Since seeding began in 1979, 26 No. 1 seeds have won national championships, the most of any seed. The rest of the other seeds have combined for just 17 titles. That means 60% of national champions since 1979 were top seeds. In fact, the past five national title winners and 12 of the past 15 champions were No. 1 seeds.

This young woman may be the most exciting player in the NCAA tournaments

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark shoots a free throw during an NCAA college basketball game against Indiana, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Some people call her a ball hog. Sportswriters call her “appointment television.” Keep your eye on a remarkable young Iowa basketball player named Caitlin Clark who has drawn the attention of no less than LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Clark is known hit hitting “logo threes,” three-point shots from so far away they are thrown close to the half-court logo. She is the driver behind sellout crowds and record ratings for the Big Ten Network. She is brash and talks trash and colleges started recruiting her when she was in the seventh grade. The Washington Post profiled her a couple of times, saying:

Clark is best known for her deep shooting range: She feels comfortable pulling up from 32 feet — roughly 10 feet behind the women’s three-point line. When she can step into her shot off the dribble or while running up the court, she can launch from even deeper than that. Clark blushed at the Curry comparisons, noting that the Golden State Warriors star only counts his three-pointers as makes during practice if he swishes them. Clark dreams of getting to that level and holds herself to the swishing standard when she works on her free throws.

Clark is a basketball savant. She possesses an eclectic bundle of gifts: pure jump shot, logo-deep range, savvy around the basket, touch in the midrange, quick release, solid handle, deft passing, nose for the ball, good size at 6 feet tall, commanding presence, exquisite feel for the game, court vision and flair beyond compare. And she holds those enviable skills together with a classic, pathological competitiveness we often see in superstars.

The Hawkeyes play Southeast Louisiana at 4 p.m. today.

Almost 1 in 5 members of Congress are immigrants or children of immigrants

There are currently 81 voting members of Congress who were born in another country or who have at least one immigrant parent. It is not an all-time high, but it is a rising figure.

(Pew)

Pew says:

About 8% of lawmakers were immigrants in the 50th Congress of 1887-88, during a broader wave of immigration from Europe to the United States. The share of immigrants in the current Congress is also far below the foreign-born share of the U.S. population as a whole, which was 13.6% in 2021.

Children of immigrants, though, have increased their representation in Congress in recent years. Their share has increased from 10% (or 52 members) in the 115th Congress of 2017-18, when the Center began tracking this biographical information.

Looking at all 81 immigrants and children of immigrants in the current Congress, Democrats make up a much larger portion of the group than Republicans. Among the 17 senators who are foreign born or have an immigrant parent, 12 are Democrats, four are Republicans (Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Jim Risch of Idaho, John Thune of South Dakota and Ted Cruz of Texas) and one is an independent – Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose father emigrated from Poland.

Pew researchers found that most immigrant members of Congress come to Washington, D.C., from Western states. Most of the immigrant members of Congress come from Mexico and Central America.

(Pew)

France melts down over raising the retirement age to 64

American workers may wonder what the big deal is with French President Emmanuel Macron raising the national retirement age from 62 to 64, but it is a huge deal in France. The move is the subject of national strikes and demonstrations and members of Parliament are screaming that the president acted without legislative approval. Macron says workers need to stay on the job longer to keep the country’s pension system financially sound.

Across Europe, countries have been wrestling with similar problems as lower birthrates mean fewer workers paying into the system that must support retirees who live longer than they used to

NASA’s new space suits

NASA unveiled a new generation of space suits that Artemis III astronauts will wear to walk on the moon in 2025. That mission will include the first woman to walk on the moon. The new gear is lighter, more flexible and comes in a wider range of sizes compared to the space suits astronauts use now.