Charles Barkley was one of the most talented youngsters in the country during his college years. With an impressive track record, his University career made the 6’6 power forward a familiar face in basketball circles. Naturally, Barkley is usually very excited about the NCAA March Madness action and this year has been no exception. However, his recent pick for this year’s National Championship on live TV has left everyone dumbfounded.

TNT has been covering March Madness with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson as the recurring crew from their NBA show. During a recent segment of the show, Chuck left the entire TNT crew bewildered with his surprising take on this year’s National Championship. Soon after, fans poured in with their reactions on social media to express their confusion.

Charles Barkley surprises everyone with his March Madness pick

Charles Barkley was a hyped player at every step of his basketball career. During his final year in High school, Chuck was the All-State, All-County, All-region, and county MVP. Subsequently, Charles Barkley spent three years at Auburn University in the early 1980s.

 During that time, the Philadelphia 76ers legend became a popular name in collegiate basketball and was a certain first-round pick in the NBA draft. After joining Auburn, he continuously improved throughout the three years of his stint, finishing with a 20-11 record in his final year. At the time, Chuck mentioned that he opted for Auburn over other Universities because of the higher probability of playing regularly.

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Fast forward to almost four decades later, Barkley has now done the unthinkable. As the excitement of March Madness engulfs the basketball scene, Barkley made a shocking decision while picking his National Champions, deciding to betray his college basketball team. The Hall of Famer chose his bitter college rivals, the Alabama Crimson Tide as the tournament’s champions. A decision that left the TNT crew scratching their heads on live television.

“You’re gonna go with Alabama, an Auburn guy! You’re gonna go with Alabama!” exclaimed Kenny Smith, as Barkley wrote his pick on the drawing board. However, that wasn’t the end of the whole story.

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Fans react to Charles Barkley choosing bitter rivals Alabama as NCAA champions

The entire TNT crew and fans were left surprised after Barkley’s tournament bracket declared the Crimson Tide as the tournament’s champions. No one thought that he’d name his biggest college rivals as the winner. To add the icing on the top of the cake, when taunted by co-host Kenny Smith about his decision, the Chuckster did the unthinkable by chanting Crimson Tide’s motto out loud.

“Roll Tide,” joked Barkley. Meanwhile, fans poured in with their hilarious reactions on social media. Here are a few of them.

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