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LISTEN: Charles Barkley picks Alabama to win the national title, exclaims 'Roll Tide!'

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•03/14/23
Charles Barkley, NBA analyst
NBA analyst Charles Barkley takes in an Auburn game on March 4, 2023. (Michael Chang / Getty Images)

The 2023 NCAA Tournament field is set and the games are about to begin, and with them the breaking of brackets around the country. At least one man already appears broken, at least if his pick of Alabama to win the national title is any indication.

Former Auburn superstar and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley has revealed his pick for this year’s eventual winner.

“I’m picking, and this is painful for me to say, Rooooolllll Tide,” said Charles Barkley. “National champions.”

Alabama will certainly be favored by plenty of people after earning a No. 1 seed in the South Region. The Crimson Tide have a path to the Final Four that could include second-seeded Arizona, third-seeded Baylor and fourth-seeded Virginia.

The Crimson Tide won both the SEC regular season title and the SEC Tournament title, dusting Mississippi State, Missouri and Texas A&M in the conference tournament to take home some more hardware.

Barkley isn’t the only person picking Alabama to win the national title.

Stephen A. Smith rolling with the Tide

Stephen A. Smith is known to have a particular fondness for the Tide out of Tuscaloosa. However, that respect usually extends only to the Alabama team that competes on the gridiron. Now, it has reached the basketball court ahead of this season’s NCAA Tournament.

On First Take, Smith declared the Crimson Tide, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, as his pick to win March Madness this season. He thinks the Tide’s basketball program can join the title-winning ways of their football team this month, specifically because of the kind of superstar he believes Brandon Miller can and will be in the big dance.

“I’m rolling with them!,” exclaimed Smith. “Listen, Alabama? And, usually, I’m saying this about Nick Saban. But wouldn’t it be beautiful if the basketball program won a national championship?”

“This brother can ball! Brandon Miller is special,” Smith said. “(Mark) Sears is not bad, (Noah) Clowney is not bad. But Brandon Miller is special…When you’ve got that kind of stud? That’s the kind of dude that can deliver the goods.”