Ole Miss narrowly avoided one of the worst meltdowns in NCAA Tournament history Friday night, and no one summed that up quite like Charles Barkley.
After building a 22-point lead early in the second half, Ole Miss blew almost all of that margin as the Tar Heels cut the deficit to two points in the final minute. Ole Miss hung on to win, 71-64.
Afterward, on the CBS studio show, Barkley dropped a colorful analogy to explain Ole Miss’ collapse.
“Ole Miss, they started trying to drive the speed limit,” Barkley said. “They got the big lead, they were driving like an old lady, like ‘Let’s not go over the speed limit,’ trying to hold up traffic. They really started milking the clock. They were holding on that thing so tight. They literally let North Carolina back in the game.”
“Now we’re going to have all kind of old ladies calling in and getting mad at the Chuckster,” host Ernie Johnson said.
“There was no malice intended,” Clark Kellogg said. (Valid observation by Kellogg, but you just know Shaquille O’Neal would have jumped in at that moment to rip Barkley’s driving.)
“Get in the right lane! Stay out of the left lane, old people!” Barkley concluded.
Ernie Johnson: “Now we’re gonna have all kind of old ladies calling in and getting mad at the Chuckster.”
Charles Barkley: “Get in the right lane! Stay out of the left lane, old people!” #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/XZbWjIs5ZG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 21, 2025
It’s hard to imagine too many “old people” were offended by Barkley’s comments there. He’s been on a roll in the NCAA Tournament, calling out McNeese State coach Will Wade for accepting a new job during the tournament, casually trolling Fox News, and even jokingly asking CBS to save him from Kellogg and Kenny Smith.
Barkley, by the way, is 62. Most of the players in this year’s tournament would probably agree, that’s old.
