“Saturday Night Live” highlighted the excitement of women’s March Madness during its cold open last night – and made light of Charles Barkley along the way.
The sketch mimicked the TBS postgame show, with Ernie Johnson, played by James Austin Johnson, asking analysts Kenny Smith (Devon Walker) and Barkley (Keenan Thompson) to break down UConn’s victory over Alabama in the men’s Final Four.
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“Ernie, can I be real with you?” Barkley asks. “I didn’t watch it.”
The joke helped set up a line noting that the women’s Final Four game between LSU and Iowa drew 14 million viewers – the largest audience ever for an ESPN basketball broadcast. And though it was likely written well ahead of Saturday’s show, it proved prescient.
That’s because hours earlier, the real Barkley had grown confused during halftime coverage of the men’s Final Four game between Purdue and North Carolina State. Barkley mistakenly stated that Purdue’s Braden Smith had sunk a 3-pointer near the end of the first half. When Ernie Johnson told him Smith had yet to score, Barkley responded, “Wow, my bad, I apologize.”
“Braden Smith has never played a half like this. I think he’s gonna get it going…” – Jay Wright
“I think that 3 he hit at the end…” – Charles Barkley
“He didn’t hit that…” – Ernie Johnson
“A couple plays before that…” – Charles
“Braden Smith is scoreless.” – Ernie pic.twitter.com/Yu0nAUrACP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 6, 2024
Later in the “SNL” cold open, Barkley says he’s been tuning in to the Women’s NCAA Tournament because of its star players, like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who has scored the most points in college basketball history.
“Caitlin Clark is doing ads for State Farm, Subway, Xfinity and Nike,” Barkley says. “I’m only doing ads for three of those companies.”
He then launches into a story about Clark – in classic Barkley style.
“She dunked on me once,” Barkley says. “Yup, on the set of a Subway ad, man. We were just shooting around and in between takes, suddenly, boom, she jumped 10 feet in the air. And then she just posterized me and hung onto the rim, wrapped her legs around my head and said, ‘Welcome to the cream team you bald-headed b****.”
After Johnson brings on LSU coach Kim Mulkey, played by “SNL” guest host Kristen Wiig, for a brief Q&A, he asks his analysts to offer their predictions on the women’s title game between Iowa and undefeated South Carolina, which is coached by Philadelphia-native Dawn Staley.
When Smith picks the Gamecocks, Barkley – who is notorious for gambling large amounts of money – interjects.
“Come on, Kenny. You know Iowa is a team of destiny, man,” Barkley says. “They hot right now and they’ve got the greatest player of her generation. That’s why I bet $500,000 they’re going to lose by 10.”
Watch the “SNL” cold open below.