Charles Barkley’s alma mater, Auburn, wasn’t among the 68 teams that received NCAA Tournament bids on Sunday. That’s probably not much of a surprise, despite Bruce Pearl repeatedly making the case for the program he led to a pair of Final Fours.
On Tuesday, Barkley is set to call the First Four game in Dayton between Texas and NC State for TNT Sports. He’ll be teamed with the legendary Dick Vitale, months after the duo was paired on ESPN’s coverage of Kentucky vs. Indiana on Dec. 13.
TNT Sports’ studio team for the night featured Pearl, who, famously, argued that Miami (OH) should be left out of the NCAA Tournament if it failed to win the MAC Tournament after a 31-0 regular season mark. In fact, the RedHawks indeed suffered an upset loss to UMass in the quarterfinals but were still given an at-large bid as a First Four team.
With Pearl garnering criticism after saying that Auburn — led by his son, Steven — should receive an at-large bid despite a disappointing season, Barkley took a shot at the ex-Tigers head coach.
“One of my prerequisites for working this tournament game was I didn’t want to be in the studio with you, because, man, there’s some people looking for you, Bruce,” Barkley joked. “And I didn’t want to get beat up ’cause I was sitting beside you.”
“I’m right here, Charles. I’m right here. Come get some of this,” Pearl laughed.
Here’s video of the humorous exchange:
Incredible performance here from Charles Barkley. He ignores a question from Bruce Pearl, says he's glad he's not in the studio because people are looking for him, and that TNT security is so cheap that everyone has the same code in the office. pic.twitter.com/V3gxQCLdEh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 18, 2026While there’s no bad blood between Barkley and Pearl, they won’t cross paths in person during TNT Sports and CBS’s March Madness coverage. Pearl will be based at TNT Sports’ studios in Atlanta during the tournament. Barkley will be at CBS in Manhattan with Inside the NBA colleague Kenny Smith, among others.
Charles Barkley ribs Bruce Pearl over Auburn NCAA miss: ‘I didn’t want to be in the studio with you’ Saturday Down South.
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