Elite 8: March Madness Office Ideas

VJ's Insights

March Madness is almost here! Say you’ve been tasked with planning your company’s fun game-watching activities. This is no enviable task, for if you fail to identify several different fun activities, your fellow coworkers will surely revolt and usurp the role. In order to avoid peer-disappointment syndrome, social demotion or forced removal from the party-planning committee, consider our Top 8 March Madness office ideas.

Office Bracket Challenge

The first March Madness office idea and perhaps the most obvious is organizing a paid or unpaid March Madness bracket challenge. Brackets can be printed off and filled in manually, or set up through an online site like CBS Sports or Yahoo. Regardless of the logistics, some type of scoring or points system will be necessary for identifying the winning bracket. 

For extra fun, print the brackets and put them on the office wall so participants can see how other individuals (or teams?!) are doing. Make sure to keep the winning bracket up on the wall for an extended period of time to celebrate the winner!

Set Up a Watch Room

What would March Madness be if you couldn’t even watch the games? Consider designating a meeting room in the office as the March Madness watch room. Whenever someone doesn’t have any pressing meetings or approaching deadlines, they can pop in the watch room for a bit and enjoy some of the basketball madness while they also get some work done. However, let this act as a warning to all workers everywhere that multitasking is a myth, and you may end up doing more watching in the watch room than working.

March Madness Potluck

Food brings everyone together and March Madness is no exception. Another fun March Madness office idea involves coworkers bringing in game-day snacks for an office potluck, including the classics like chips and dips, chicken wings, or pizza. To spice things up a bit, you could tailor the game-day snacks to make them March Madness-themed, like Duke Blue Cheese Devil Dip, Crimson Tider Sliders, or Boilermaker Potato Skin Bakers. Discover a variety of March Madness snack ideas on Pinterest, Taste of Home, or Food Network.

Decorate Workspaces

Have coworkers decorate their desks for March Madness to show their school spirit for their favorite team in the tournament. Decorations can stay up for the duration of the basketball tournament, and everyone can vote for their favorite decorated desk. The owner of the winning desk can get a perk like a trophy, the best seat in the watch room, or a mini basketball hoop to keep at their desk.

March Madness Bingo

If Bingo was his name-o, then March Madness is his game-o. For another fun March Madness office idea, download pre-made or make customized Bingo sheets that contain basketball-themed spaces like “Home Team Dunk” or “10+ Scoring Lead.” Customized Bingo sheets for your office party can be created using a Bingo Card Generator. These sheets typically only apply to a single game, so you can have multiple Bingo March Madness games with your coworkers throughout the tournament. The person who has won the most Bingo games by the tournament’s end wins the title of “March Madness Bingo Master” and wins everlasting glory in the office. Just don’t forget the ‘Free’ space in the middle! 

March Madness Trivia

Your coworkers may be able to fill out a March Madness bracket, but how well do they really know college basketball? Test your coworkers’ college basketball knowledge with March Madness trivia. Include a combination of fun and challenging questions like aligning mascots to schools, ranking schools by the number of national championships they’ve won, or identifying the most famous or successful basketball player to play for a particular school. Coworkers can be split into teams or play individually, and multiple rounds of trivia can be held throughout the tournament.

If you’re struggling to create college basketball trivia questions, just ask an AI tool like ChatGPT and it will come up with a list of them for you. 

Who Would Win? Ultimate Mascot Showdown 

Have everyone in the office create their own mascot, equipped with their own mental and physical capabilities. Some mascots may be very strong, while others may be more cunning. Some mascots may be based on real-life creatures, while some may be rooted in fantasy. After everyone has created mascots, including drawings, they can be randomized into a bracket format and coworkers can vote for who they think would win the various matchups. For example, in the battle between Ice Dragons and Eagle Hawks, the Ice Dragons may have a larger overall size and strength, but the Eagle Hawks are quicker and more agile, making for a tough, all-star matchup.

Office Scavenger Hunt/Basketball Trivia

Amp up the excitement with a March Madness basketball-themed office scavenger hunt. Hide prizes around the office that can only be found after solving a riddle or answering a college basketball trivia question. The winner is the coworker or team of coworkers that answers the most questions and finds the most prizes. Just don’t forget where you hid the prizes, or they may still be there until next year’s tournament. 

You have an important role to play, CMMPP, or Chief March Madness Party Planner if you prefer the long version. And we support you. We hope that these March Madness office ideas were helpful and gave you some fun inspiration for activities with your coworkers. And remember, if all else fails, a happy hour is never a bad route to go. Enjoy the basketball festivities, and have a great time!