Following their victory over Illinois, Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson removed his shirt in the locker room as part of the Cougars’ post-game celebration. On the CBS telecast, Charles Barkley said he would consider removing his shirt if his alma mater Auburn defeated the Miami basketball team later in the day.
Opening his postgame press conference, head coach Jim Larranaga said the Miami basketball team did the country a favor by making sure the Hurricanes won and Barkley did not have to remove his shirt. Part of the studio fun watching the NCAA Tournament is Barkley and Kenny Smith rooting for North Carolina and Auburn.
Miami finished Auburn with a 13-3 run en route to a 79-61 victory on Sunday to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2016. Miami will play Iowa State at the United Center in Chicago with a projected start time of 9:59 PM ET. Kansas and Providence tipoff at 7:29 PM ET. Iowa State and Miami seem likely to start later than 9:59 PM.
The comments by Barkley and Larranaga went viral. All four networks (CBS, TBS, TruTV and TNT) aired the comments by Barkey and Larranaga. Barkley will return to his spot on the studio show this weekend. Games resume on Thursday with the South and West Regionals on Thursday and East and Midwest on Friday.
"I listened to Charles Barkley tell the CBS crew that if Auburn won, he would take off his shirt. And I thought to myself, 'Man, no one wants to see that Charles.'"
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2022
Coach Larranaga keeps it real 💯😂 @CanesHoops #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CNuoXK78vu
"“I was tuned into the games before us and I listened to Charles Barkley tell the CBS crew that if Auburn won, he would take off his shirt…and I thought to myself, Man, no one wants to see that, Chuck, so we did everything possible to make it possible that he wouldn’t have to do that.”"
Miami has pulled consecutive upsets against seventh seed USC and second-seeded Auburn to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history. Miami lost in the regional semifinals in 2000, 2013 and 2016. The 10 seed Miami is the lowest Miami has been advancing to the regional semifinals.
As part of the Auburn Miami matchup, CBS compared Barkley to Miami football alum Dwayne “The Rock Johnson.” Barkley was listed at 6’6, 270 pounds, Johnson, 6’5, 275 pounds. Johnson became a pop culture icon as a wrestler and actor. Barkley has been on the TNT NBA studio show since the 2000-2001 season.