Nate Oats heard all the critics.

The Alabama head coach has just taken his team to where they have only been once before and has the Tide on the brink of its first Final Four in program history.

After the victory over UNC, Oats took the opportunity in his postgame interview to call out perhaps the most famous Auburn alum ever, the always-opinionated Charles Barkley.

"Charles Barkley called us frail. I don't think [Grant Nelson] was frail tonight." – Alabama HC Nate Oats #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/YEKmvdcrNp

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 29, 2024

“Grant [Nelson] stepped up. We were able to guard [Armando] Bacot a little better 1-on-1. You know, Charles Barkley called us frail. I don’t think he was frail tonight, he showed up tonight,” Oats said with a point to Grant Nelson and a huge smile on his face.

To Barkley’s credit, Alabama has turned it up several notches on defense in the NCAA Tournament after the word ‘frail’ would have been accurate for large portions of the season.

Barkley was even one of few pundits who predicted Alabama to defeat North Carolina and overcome its frailty.

He yelled a hearty ‘ROLL TIDE!‘ at the end of the pregame show as the television crew was signing off and ready to kick it to the Alabama game:

In what I can only assume is some kind of attempted jinx… Charles Barkley: "ROLL TIDE" pic.twitter.com/H6cvFvoHS7

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 29, 2024

Grant Nelson had his best game in an Alabama uniform to help Alabama overcome its Sweet Sixteen woes. He had 24 points along with 12 rebounds and five blocks to propel the Tide into an Elite Eight matchup with Clemson on Saturday night.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP