"I'd fire him": Stephen A. Smith has a blunt take on Virginia HC Tony Bennett after a devastating loss against Colorado State

Virginia crashed out of the March Madness on Tuesday night after falling to Colorado State in the First Four. The Cavaliers suffered a 67-42 defeat at the hands of the Rams, which has led to widespread criticism of coach Tony Bennett among fans and analysts.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith did not hold back his critical views on the coach on Wednesday's “First Take” following the game. The analyst noted that he would have Bennett fired if it were up to him for being "boring." The Cavaliers have been largely unexciting offensively on the basketball court this season.

“It's not funny. I take no joy in saying this, but if it were me, I'd fire him," Smith said. "Strictly because of being boring. Literally. I'm not questioning his ability as a coach at all. He's a national champion, for crying out loud ... but you cannot be that boring, that unappealing for so long, and get away with it.”

The Cavaliers' poor outing against Colorado State

Virginia hasn't been impressive this season. The team was underwhelming in its First Four game against Colorado State. For several minutes of both halves of the game, the Cavaliers went scoreless, which Stephen A. Smith deemed unacceptable:

“I had this looked up. Virginia scored 14 points in the first half. They went to the final 9:20 of the first half scoreless and the final 10 minutes and 30 seconds of the game without a field goal.

“So think about that for a second, you go nine minutes and 20 seconds without scoring anything, a field goal or free throw, over one half. And in the second half the 10 minutes and 30 seconds without a field goal. There isn't a level that I've seen that level of atrocity on offense.”

In the past three years, the Cavaliers have faced early exits from the NCAA Tournament, being eliminated in two first rounds and one First Four matchup. Nonetheless, the performance under Tony Bennett seems to be taking the program toward an unexpected trajectory.

Virginia's poor offensive performance this season

Through the 2023-24 college basketball season, Virginia was a low-scoring team with nothing much to write about on the offense. Smith believes this is enough reason to fire Bennett:

“The Virginia Cavaliers came into this tournament as the 194th-ranked offense in the country … border matters, if you’re not appealing at all, that’s a way to go like ‘we need more excitement.”

The future pretty much looks blurry for the Cavaliers after another March Madness disappointment.