Early bracket advice

Here's a look at some early thoughts posted at www.scoreonair.com/afterparty. More to come on our show homepage throughout the week. And be sure to check out our extended shows Thursday and Friday (from 5-7 p.m.)...

Upset Special: Lots of people are showing the love for 30-4 Murray State on the No. 13 line... and count me among them. It's not so much a vote of confidence in Murray State, though I do think they are good, but rather a question of why Vandy is on the No. 4 line. It wouldn't suprise me if multiple #4 and #5 seeds go down, so tread carefully in advancing those seeds far in your bracket.

Sleeper Team: If Louisville beats Cal, then they could give Duke trouble, but that's a tough one to bank on. I like 5-seed Michigan State a lot, but can a 5-seed really be a sleeper? If not, I think Notre Dame could make an unexpected run to the elite eight. They are peaking at the right time and find themselves in what is by far the weakest side of the weakest region in the tournament.

In the end: I want to pick Kansas, but wow, what a difficult draw they have. Ohio State, Kansas, Duke and Kentucky all won their regular season and conference tournament championships, and I have three of the four in my final four, with Kentucky winning it all against OSU. I do, however, reserve the right to change my mind before the Thursday tip-off.

Best Olympic Moments

On Monday's show (5-6 pm on scoreonair.com), we'll reveal the Top 5 moments from the 2010 games in Vancouver. Without giving anything away before then, here are some thoughts on the most overrated/underrated stories from the games.

Overrated
-Counting medals: The After Party has been as guilty as anyone when it comes to providing daily medal counts, but in the end the totals don't matter nearly as much as the final order. Many sports (snowboarding, short track) weren't even around 16 years ago, so there are obviously more medals available now than ever before. Thirty-seven U.S. medals are great, but I'd take more pride in finishing ahead of Germany & Canada.
-Ohno's haul: Sure, it's amazing that Apolo Anton Ohno has been able to win mutliple medals in three different Olympics, but his record of eight medals is aided by the fact that there's not much difference in the short track speedskating events. Not many long-trackers can handle both the 500 meters and the 1500 meters... Which makes Eric Heiden's record five golds in 1980 all the more impressive (and more impressive than Ohno's eight medals overall).
Partying hard: When you win a gold, or any Olympic medal, you should be allowed to celebrate. Simple as that... No one was hurt, so let it go already.

Underrated
-Strange U.S. golds: With guys like Ohno and Bode Miller likely on the way out, America's ability to repeat as medals champ in 2014 depends on their ability to win medals in a variety of sports (they won't be able to rely on one guy to win three or four next time around). That makes their first ever medals (including a gold) in a nordic event and their reemergence in bobsled so important going forward.
-The newer events: We knew that hockey and figure skating would get the bulk of attention at these games. But kudos to the aerial events and speed skating events (many of which were added in recent Olympiads) for shining during their turns in the spotlight.

Much more coming in our complete Olympic wrap-up Monday.
-CB

Playing by the rules?

On today's show, we talked about a lack of 3-second calls in a recent college basketball game, which triggered a debate about why some rules go unenforced -- especially for certain players.
Which rules in sports would you like to see enforced to the fullest extent? And which ones should be banned from the rulebooks completely?
Are we teaching young players bad habits by allowing the stars to get away with certain violations?
Let us know what you think! Respond below or call in (614-333-5300) Monday-Friday from 5-6 p.m.
Rules we'd like to see enforced more: 3-seconds, the force play at second base, palming the basketball.
Rules we'd like to see enforced less: Roughing the passer, pass interference.

Ratings don't lie, but NBC did

We spent way to much time talking about the late-night talk show stuff this week... I'll put a bow on the conversation here and hope we can be done with it all (for now). Yes, Conan O'Brien's ratings were low as host of "The Tonight Show" for seven months and "The Jay Leno Show" was making local NBC markets mad (bad lead-in to local news) -- but is seven months enough time for an experiment of this magnitude?
I didn't like the idea from the start, because there simply aren't enough guests to go around for both shows based in the same city. But NBC execs made a mistake when they promised Conan his spot as "Tonight Show" host five years ago and now they're stuck with a mess they needlessly created themselves.
Eventually, they'll be bringing back a few dramas to replace Leno's 10 pm time slot, but let's face it: nothing will beat the drama the network continues to create in late night.

On the record

Coming Monday, we'll unveil some new features on B-ball in Season. And starting this weekend, The Baumer and Big Game will offer a "pick six" -- preditions on the biggest games. Track our progress on the show page at www.scoreonair.com and call us on Mondays to tell us how smart we are (or something like that). Hey, we both got Alamaba right!

Suspension coming for Arenas?

This is likely to be the biggest story in the NBA this season, so if you haven't been following, get caught up here, thanks to Yahoo! Sports.
We might never find out exactly what took place in the Washington lockerroom, but if the early reports are anything close to the truth, I highly doubt Gilbert Arenas will play again this season.
In 2004, Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season after fighting in the stands in Detroit. He fought with his hands, not guns, and still lost a season as a result.
NBA Commissioner David Stern will surely see the Arenas/Javaris Crittenton as a similar black eye for the league -- and much like the suspensions he enforced then to prevent a repeat, he'll lay down a tough ruling here to get out ahead of the now public gun-toting problem the league clearly has.
The Nets' Devin Harris suggested that up to 75% of players in the league carry guns. Ironically, that's about how much of the season Arenas is about to lose.
More coming Monday at 5 p.m. on www.scoreonair.com.

New Year, New Host

Happy 2010 everyone!
"The Baumer" will be taking over for Keyon starting Monday, Jan. 4. But don't worry, the K-man will still be checking in often in the new year. Next week, we'll take a look back at 2009 and make some predictions for 2010 -- including college bowls and the NFL playoffs.
Help us get things started by visiting http://scoreonair.com/fr_bballinseason.cfm and voting for the top athlete of the past decade. Is it Tiger, Kobe or someone else? You decide!
We'll talk to you again on Monday at 5 p.m. at scoreonair.com.
Happy New Year!