The Inside the NBA crew loves college football. It’s not a huge surprise, as three of the four hosts went to school in the SEC: Shaquille O’Neal went to LSU, Charles Barkley was a standout at Auburn, and Ernie Johnson calls Georgia his alma mater. Even Kenny Smith, who went to the basketball-focused North Carolina, enjoys joining in on the college football banter.
The last few weeks have been especially entertaining, as the Bulldogs have been the No. 1 team in the country with Barkley’s Tigers on the horizon. It’s led to Johnson and Barkley having a fun back-and-forth about what would happen when the game ended up happening.
Unfortunately for Johnson, Auburn obliterated Georgia, winning 40-17 and knocking the ‘Dawgs from the ranks of the undefeated. It also meant that the Inside crew was going to have a ton of fun at his expense on Thursday night. Even though it was obviously going to happen, they still managed to catch Johnson — who proudly proclaimed that he went to school in Athens — somewhat off guard.
My favorite part is all the references to Rocky IV that Barkley felt the need to include, because they are hilarious. Either that or the moment when they pulled up what is usually a player comparison and Johnson was totally blindsided when the box score from the game popped up.
Kudos to Smith, who does a very good job breaking down the team comparison while Johnson probably a little upset. But hey, like he mentioned, it’s not over yet for the Bulldogs, even if there was a major bump in their potential road to a championship on Saturday.
