Charles Barkley is an SEC loyalist — with one big exception.
The Hall of Famer spent three seasons at Auburn, where his No. 34 jersey is retired, and his allegiance to the Tigers runs deep. Still, Barkley says he pulls for all SEC teams in most sports.
The exception is Alabama football, which Barkley gladly roots against.
“I root for everyone in the SEC except Alabama in football,” Barkley said. “Georgia, Florida, Tennessee; I root for the SEC, but I hate Alabama in football. That’s the only thing.”
The SEC made history by sending a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament, but the results didn’t quite live up to the hype. The conference finished just 4-3 through the First Four and first round combined.
Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Arkansas each picked up wins on the opening day of the first round. However, Texas fell to Xavier in the First Four, No. 6 seed Missouri was upset by No. 11 seed Drake, and No. 9 Georgia was outmatched by No. 8 Gonzaga. Despite the historic representation, the SEC’s early tournament performance was underwhelming.
“I thought the SEC had a rough day yesterday, and it can get ugly quickly,” Barkley said. “Everyone was talking about how great they were all regular season — and they were great. But now it’s win or go home.
“I had higher expectations. I expect us to get at least two teams to the Final Four, at least four to five to next weekend.”