I am not a fan, but the double standard is appalling.
I have heard the clip. Having watched the game he was referring to it was clear to me that the underlying impulse of the remark was that the Rutgers team was less attractive than the Tennessee team. I don't think it was about race since the Tennessee team, the team he wanted to win, is predominantly black.
My take: The attempt at humor (dying is easy, comedy is hard) was clearly an attempt at irony. You see, the hip-hop community (which has NO opposition for it’s repugnant lyrics) routinely refers to women in general as bitches and ho’s. In discussing the NCAA womens b-ball tournament, Imus and one of his sidekicks affect street talk and call the Rutgers girls “nappy-headed ho’s”. Shock jocks shock, but the message, since it is delivered in street lingo (and badly done accents) is clearly how stupid the use of this type of language is despite it being widely accepted. Usually when someone on his program says something this offensive, they have someone else on the show explicitly point out how stupid and despicable that point of view is, not unlike the vile racist rantings of Archie Bunker being immediately put down by Mike and Gloria. Without this counterpoint, the less intelligent didn’t get the joke, which wasn’t really that good of a joke, and had as its butt a bunch of college kids. Had he called Condi Rice the same thing, I don’t think anything would have happened.