MARCH MADNESS: Our NCAA Tournament Champion Based on Lobbying Expenditures

It's that time of the year again we witness an unusual amount of "sick days" to cover for our incessant basketball obsession, which wouldn't be complete without a corresponding rise in blood pressure while we yell at the television screen. All in the name of the temporary psychosis we've come to call March Madness. It's doubtful many people have 12-seeds Cal and Oklahoma in the Final Four of this year's NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament, let alone as their national champion. But in Benzinga's hypothetical universe, where K Street influence equals points, the two longshots are among the top finishers in the field of 68. Courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org

, Benzinga decided to weigh the power of NCAA tournament entrants by 2012 federal lobbying expenditures and the results flipped what's sure to be a topsy-turvy tournament as it is, on its head. Based on Open Secrets data, here were our top 10 heavy hitters: 1. University of California -- Berkeley ($800,000) 2. University of Pittsburgh ($540,000) 3. University of Colorado ($527,033) 4. University of Illinois -- Urbana-Champaign ($510,000) 5. Harvard University ($510,000) 6. University of Oklahoma ($500,000) 7. Indiana University ($470,000) 8. University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill ($387,278) 9. University of Miami (FL) ($380,000) 10. University of Kansas ($341,000) Cal runs away the title here, with the rest of the pack far behind. Surprisingly, Pitt outmuscles Harvard in the West Region's Elite Eight matchup, while the only 1-seed to advance past the round of 16 is Indiana University. Our one tie (between Oregon and New Mexico State) could not be decided by past expenditures, so Oregon advances by the virtue of its higher seed. According to OpenSecrets.org, UCLA reported no lobbying expenditures for 2012. It's unknown whether these lobbying expenditures were grouped with the University of California total. Here's our bracket. Don't forget to click to enlarge! Follow Alex Biles on Twitter at