Well, they’re still here and two of them have already punched their ticket to the Elite Eight.

We are already deep into the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament and the big four are still standing. That’s not overly surprising as the number ones usually land in the Sweet 16, but it’s this weekend that trouble starts for the big guns.

Seeded No.1 in the Midwest, the Louisville Cardinals defeated Morehead St. (+21.5) 74-54, Siena 79-72 and are listed as the odds-on to make it to the 2009 NCAA Final Four from its region at –170.

The Louisville Cardinals are going up against the Arizona Wildcats next and Louisville finds itself listed as a 9.5-point fave. The two teams have met only once in the last few years, December of 2006 to be exact, and Louisville dropped a 72-65 decision to the Wildcats failing to cover as 3.5-point home underdogs as well.

Digging around online for numbers, it looks like Louisville head coach Rick Pitino is undefeated in Sweet 16 play, amassing a record of 8-0 (dating back to his days at Providence). Louisville is 12-8 ATS in their last 20 games in March. The last nine times Louisville has taken the floor as a favorite in March Madness, they have rewarded their backers…

Ty Lawson is starting to feel better, just in time for UNC.

But will he be enough to carry UNC past Gonzaga and advance to the Elite Eight of the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament?

The speedy point guard said his troublesome toe is still achy after returning to the lineup over the weekend, but he plans to play against Gonzaga this Friday when his North Carolina Tar Heels resume their campaign in these bracket battles.

Will he be at 100 percent? For what it’s worth, Ty Lawson is optimistic about it and UNC coach Roy Williams is too, that the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) Player of the Year will be ready for the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

Lawson had missed three straight games with a jammed right big toe before helping the top-seeded Tar Heels (30-4) rally past LSU in Saturday’s second-round game in the South Regional. He experienced some minor swelling afterwards, but thankfully, it was nothing like what followed the regular-season finale against Duke.

He participated in the team’s shootaround Monday and went through some drills during practice this week. But the team has been cautious, keeping him out of practice for almost two weeks, in addition to missing both of the…

Ah, yes, the countdown for the March Madness wars continue.

While we inch closer to the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament, teams on the bubble continue to jockey for position, all hoping that they’ll get the invite once Selection Sunday gets here.

You don’t need to tell the no.14 Gonzaga Bulldogs that. They have the St. Mary’s Gaels at the Orleans Arena on Monday night and will need all the momentum they can get heading for the bracket wars.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are headed into this weekend’s West Coast Conference tournament as the favorites, nearly certain to make their 11th straight NCAA tournament. The Zags have won 16 of their 17 games in 2009, many by ridiculous margins.

The latest example was last week’s 90-40 demolition of South Carolina-Upstate. While no one expected the Spartans to win, the domination they’ll suffer from Gonzaga was unexpected. The Zags held them to 29 percent shooting and forced 26 turnovers, while committing only four themselves. They outscored the Spartans 37-2 off turnovers, 36-18 in the paint and 16-2 in transition.

With a returning core of all-WCC players like Jeremy Pargo, Josh Heytvelt and Matt Bouldin, plus emerging stars Austin Daye and Steven Gray, and sharpshooter Micah Downs, expectations…

This is another failure for Michael Jordan. After Kwame Brown, he now has Adam Morrison.

Years after being widely criticized for drafting Kwame Brown as his overall No.1 pick back when he was running things with the Washington Wizards, the Charlotte Bobcats finally realized that MJ had another failure on their roster this 2009 NBA basketball season, leading to their decision of finally letting the guy go.

This time, MJ has former Gonzaga Bulldogs star Adam Morrison. After an inspiring college basketball career back in Gonzaga, Morrison failed to live up to the hype he generated after Jordan drafted him in 2006 in one of his first moves as part-owner of the Bobcats over the likes of Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay, just to name a few.

Known for his shaggy hair and mustache back in Gonzaga, Morrison failed to impress the Charlotte Bobcats organization and had fallen out of favor with first year head coach Larry Brown.

After the Bobcats traded Morrison, with reserve guard Shannon Brown, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Vladimir Radmanovic, it was clear that MJ’s hometown was finally sick of his latest failure. (Of course, they’d still regard him as the best player ever to come out of North Carolina.)

”We definitely wish him well,” Bobcats general manager Rod…

Because they still want to milk something from you after football.

With another Super Bowl in the books, the volume on college basketball betting will start to increase, as it does every year in early February. Not only is there no more football action, but now is when things begin to get real interesting in the 2009 NCAA college basketball season. On that note, here are a few games from Saturday’s schedule that bettors are paying close attention to.

First we have the Michigan Wolverines visiting the No.1 ranked Connecticut Huskies. The nation’s top team will play host to a Michigan Wolverine program that used to be a powerhouse (where have you gone Fab Five?), but are now just trying to stay relevant in their conference.

The Connecticut Huskies, sporting an impressive 21-1 straight up record, have not been overly reliable laying the points at home, as they are only 5-5 against the spread in their 10 home starts. Michigan, on the other hand, has been a dreadful team to back on the road. The Wolverines have stumbled their way to a miserable 1-6-1 record against the spread when they’ve had to travel.

Does Michigan have what it takes to pull off the upset? Doubtful. But covering the big number is in the cards.

Next we have the No.15 Memphis Tigers visiting the No.18 Gonzaga Bulldogs. This is one of the higher profile match-ups on tap for a big Saturday of college basketball betting. Both of these teams are looking to go…

Yes, they’re still winning even without the reigning national player of the year.

One week into the 2008-09 NCAA college basketball season and the North Carolina Tar Heels are still reigning supreme. The Heels passed their first big test without Tyler Hansbrough as their front line stepped up big with Tyler Zeller scoring a team-high 18 points while fellow freshman Ed Davis came up with a double-double Saturday to help North Carolina beat Pennsylvania 86-71.

This is definitely an impressive season-opening performance that indicates that the North Carolina Tar Heels can weather the uncertainty of playing without the national player of the year.

Deon Thompson added 17 points for the Tar Heels, who led by double figures much of the day yet had some trouble putting together a game-sealing run. North Carolina was also without fellow senior Marcus Ginyard, injuries that forced North Carolina to thrust Zeller and Davis into the lineup.

Taking the second spot after week 1 are the Connecticut Huskies, led by Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 junior from Tanzania, who scored 23 points and had a career-high 17 rebounds to lead No.2 Connecticut to a season-opening 81-55 win Friday over…

Okay, so who’s in and who’s out?

With the final Field of 65 getting ready to be finalized Sunday, this 2007 season’s March Madness bracket picture is finally clear… ALMOST. With only FOUR at-large bids left, here are the NCAA College Basketball teams you’ll more likely STILL see when the entire field is finalized.

Tuesday night was BIG for this 2007 NCAA College Basketball season’s March Madness bracket. Butler lost at Wright State in the Horizon League championship game, giving the Bulldogs a spot in the at-large pool.

You just know that these guys will take away a March Madness bracket spot and join the likes of the Sun Belt conference champions, North Texas and Oral Roberts, your 2007 Mid-Con champions.

NCAA College Basketball teams in the ACC Conference like the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils seem destined to continue their ongoing rivalry in the 2007 March Madness bracket battles.

Oh yeah, North Carolina Tar Heels sophomore sensation Tyler Hansbrough will definitely be out for blood after Duke left him with a bloody nose in their last encounter. I will definitely watch out for…

”Brokeback Mountain!”.

This is the chant college students and fans of the No.5 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs team use to heckle opposing teams.

This reference to the recent movie, ”Brokeback Mountain,” about homosexual cowboys was chanted by some fans during Gonzaga’s game against Saint Mary’s and is apparently suggesting that the opposing team’s players are gay.

Faculty advisers of the Kennel Club booster group has already told the students to refrain from using the derogatory chant or any ”inappropriate chant” for that matter.

”We implore the students of the Kennel Club to show the nation what makes Gonzaga different,” Kennel Club advisers David Lindsay and Aaron Hill wrote in…

Read more Gay jokes for homophobes