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Charles Barkley picks Auburn to lose at Final Four in 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket

by:Alex Byington•about 19 hours•

_AlexByington

Charles Barkley
© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Charles Barkley has never forgotten where he comes from. As such, “Sir Charles” remains one of the most beloved and diehard fans of his alma mater, the Auburn Tigers.

That said, while the man affectionately known as “the Round Mound of Rebound” from his NBA days has high hopes for his top-seeded Tigers in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, they might not be as high as expected. Not even Barkley is picking against the scorching-hot Florida Gators.

Barkley, who is part of CBS’s in-studio analyst team throughout March Madness, revealed his personal bracket on Thursday. In it, he had No. 1 overall seed Auburn (28-5) making its second-ever Final Four this season, but not going any further, falling to his projected eventual champion Gators (30-4). Barkley also expects some interesting upsets on the other side of his bracket, projecting eighth-seeded Gonzaga (25-8) will make it out of the Midwest Region before beating No. 4-seeded Arizona (22-12) in the Final Four.

Of course, Barkley couldn’t bring himself to go all-in on homestate rival Alabama (25-8). The No. 2 seed in the East Region, the Crimson Tide will make the Sweet Sixteen, per Barkley, before being upset by sixth-seeded BYU, with the Cougars losing to Arizona in the Elite Eight.

Charles Barkley ‘cautiously optimistic’ No. 1 Auburn can make deep NCAA Tournament run

Despite entering the NCAA Tournament losing three of its last four, Auburn earned the No. 1 overall seed thanks in large part to its flat-out dominance during the regular season, including a NCAA-leading 16-5 record in Quad 1 games. The Tigers tipped off against 16th-seeded Alabama State in their first-round matchup at 3 pm ET from Kentucky‘s Rupp Arena.

Prior to tip, Barkley praised the work longtime Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has done during his 11 seasons on The Plains. Included in that is winning the SEC regular-season championship three times over the past eight years — this year included.

“I want to thank Coach Pearl for what he’s done at Auburn. You know, No. 1, I never thought Auburn would make the Final Four, because obviously football is king,” Barkley said on CBS. “When he took us to the Final Four a few years ago, I thought, ‘Man, this is the greatest season in Auburn history.’ But what has happened, Auburn has been ranked high the last couple of years and we lost early in the tournament and the fans were like, ‘We want more.’ And this year the pressure has racheted up even more because they’re the No. 1 overall seed and pretty much been No. 1 the entire season. So I just want them to go deep, I really do. I’m excited. I’m cautiously optimistic.”