Before Charles Barkley was an NBA legend for entertained the masses as a broadcaster, he was making fans go crazy playing at Auburn.
Charles Barkley wouldn’t be caught dead supporting the Alabama football team and he has made that clear many times over the years. He has made that clear at least one more time before the year is out and the calendar changes to 2024.
As No. 4 Alabama prepares for its matchup against top-ranked Michigan in the College Football Playoff, Barkley has questioned whether the Crimson Tide should be there at all.
While appearing on ESPN’s broadcast of Auburn’s 91-75 victory Sunday against USC, Charles Barkley criticized the playoff selection committee for excluding Florida State from the CFP while allowing Alabama to sneak in. Playoff committee chair Boo Corrigan cited the Seminoles’ diminished play without star quarterback Jordan Travis, who was lost to a season-ending leg injury.
“Here’s my problem with the whole thing as a player: They penalize because they lost their starters,” Barkley said while at Neville Arena in Auburn. “I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. You showed total disrespect to the backups.’ That was my whole problem. Hey, you know how much I love Coach (Nick) Saban and Alabama. I mean, I don’t like Alabama. I like Coach Saban.
“Winning with backups should have gave you brownie points, not penalize you. If we’re gonna play sports now where it only matters if you’re using your starters, I don’t want to be in that world. They won three games with a backup and another backup.”
While Barley respects Nick Saban, he also made it clear that he would never root for them.
“I can’t root for Alabama under any circumstances,” Barkley said on the ESPN broadcast. “I love Coach Saban. He’s been great to me. But I can never root for Alabama, under any circumstances. I told you if they played Afghanistan, I’d be pulling for Afghanistan.”
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As you can see from his comments, Barkley would’ve certainly put Florida State in the playoffs despite them losing their QB because they continued to win. Also, he will never waste an opportunity to take a shot at the Crimson Tide.
