WATCH: Kenny Smith has hilarious reaction to Charles Barkley's guarantee on national championship
Kenny Smith was overjoyed when he heard Charles Barkley’s guarantee on the national championship game Monday. The two Inside the NBA hosts were part of a four-man pregame crew ahead of the contest between the Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels.
With Smith being a UNC alum, he naturally favored the Tar Heels. However, ever the instigator, Barkley decided to go against his colleague with his prediction for the game.
“As much as I love Kenny, it’s the time for the Jayhawks,” Barkley said. “Kansas will win the national championship, guaranteed!”
“Oh yes! Thank you!” Smith shouted back as he leaped out of his seat.
The Inside the NBA crew likes to give Barkley heat for his guarantees, which they claim are usually wrong. His predictions even began to take on a life of their own outside of the crew, with someone creating a website to track his record. So with Barkley picking the Jayhawks, Smith felt more confident in his Tar Heels to earn the victory.
North Carolina entered the game as a four-point underdog against the No. 1 seed Jayhawks. The Tar Heels began the NCAA Tournament as an eight seed, and went on pulled off upsets of No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 2 seed Duke in their run to the title game. The Tar Heels are also dealing with injury concerns for star center Armando Bacot, who suffered a right ankle sprain Saturday against the Blue Devils.
Despite this, UNC has showed resiliency all tournament long, fighting through for tough victories in games no one gave them a chance in. That gave Kenny Smith and other fans hope they could continue to do so in the national championship.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t end up being the case, as Barkley’s pregame prediction proved correct. Kansas outlasted North Carolina 72-69 after Caleb Love missed a game-tying 3-pointer that helped the Jayhawks complete the largest comeback in national championship history.