Charles Barkley sends heartfelt props to Alabama schools, spotlights Bruce Pearl and Nate Oats for March Madness success

The end of the road in the 2025 NCAA Tournament came for the No. 2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday night, as they ran into the stacked roster that are the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils. The Crimson Tide saw their season come to a painful end in the Elite Eight, thanks to some dominant defense from Duke. They’re loaded with high level NBA prospects and quite frankly, the Blue Devils played like it on Saturday. Following the game, former Auburn star Charles Barkley gave some heartfelt props to the Crimson Tide for their special season. He also took some time to give Bruce Pearl and Nate Oats plenty of credit for their success in March Madness.

“I want to congratulate Alabama, Coach Oats, Mark Sears, and that team. What they’ve been able to accomplish the last couple of years. Kenny said something he can’t believe that Alabama/Auburn is on top of the food chain in basketball. I’m so proud of what we have accomplished in Alabama. Auburn get to the Final Four a couple years ago. And last year, Coach Oats, getting that team to the Final Four,” Barkley explained.

“It’s been a great ride for them the last couple of years and I want to take the time to acknowledge the great job Coach Oats and Mark Sears has done for the University of Alabama,” Barkley explained. Then the rest of the crew discussed some other topics for a bit before the former Auburn legend jumped back in.

“Ernie, I’ll be honest with you, I’m so proud of Alabama and Auburn because obviously I have great pride in my school in being from Alabama,” Barkley continued. “I never in my wildest dream thought that Alabama and Auburn would make it to the Final Four. And that’s not a knock. Everybody know that football is King Kong. But what Bruce Pearl and Coach Oats has done. The coach at UAB has done a fabulous job. Andy Kennedy at UAB. Troy made the tournament.”

While Alabama’s season is officially over, Auburn has their Elite Eight matchup against Michigan State on Sunday evening. It’ll be interesting to see if the Tigers can advance, as they’ve been one of the most dominant teams in college basketball when locked in. They’ve had their fair share of lapses and bad halves in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, but they’ve turned it on like a well-oiled machine in others. We’ll see which Auburn team shows up on Sunday night.