There has been much ado about the star power of the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball tournament compared to the relative lack on the men’s side. “Saturday Night Live” became the latest to draw attention to the disparity.
NBC’s sketch comedy show highlighted the Caitlin Clark phenomenon and poked fun at the lack of buzz for the men’s tournament in its cold open, which also included its latest impression: Kim Mulkey.
SNL has featured plenty of sports bits in the past, including impersonations of ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith and spoofs on the antics of the “Inside the NBA” crew, including Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.
The show brought out the latest iterations of the Johnson, Smith and Barkley impressions Saturday night, as the group has been part of the analysis team for the March Madness games on TBS, TNT and CBS.
WOMEN’S MARCH MADNESS HQ
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SNL March Madness cold open
March Madness Post-Game Coverage pic.twitter.com/NpB4kbsBhL
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The sketch began with the introductions of the March Madness panelists, Johnson (James Austin Johnson), Smith (Devon Walker) and Barkley (Kenan Thompson). They started off by discussing the results of the men’s tournament, with UConn beating Alabama not long before the start of the live show.
There’s just one problem: No one has been watching the men’s games.
“Ernie, can I be real with you? I didn’t watch it,” Barkley says.
Smith replies: “Me either. It’s hard to get excited when there’s better games on.”
Johnson assumes Smith means the NBA, but Smith corrects him: He is talking about the women’s tournament. Smith draws attention to the 14 million people who watched Iowa-UConn, calling the record-breaking ratings “‘Young Sheldon’ numbers.”
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