Pat McAfee Criticizes Utah After College GameDay Appearance

ESPN personality Pat McAfee criticized the University of Utah after appearing on College GameDay in Salt Lake City on Saturday, saying an Instagram post from the university made him uncomfortable before the broadcast. On his self-titled daily show Monday, McAfee explained that the post and other interactions affected his experience at the college football event.

The controversy centered on a video published by the university's official Instagram account before the show, which asked students to imitate McAfee. According to McAfee, students described him as corny and creepy, prompting him to question why the institution had shared the criticism while preparing to host the ESPN program.

McAfee said the university's involvement made the comments feel different from ordinary criticism on social media. He also described concerns about the potential consequences of publicly encouraging negative reactions toward him.

"One kid goes, 'Ah, he's corny.' Another kid calls me creepy. OK, if these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good.

I mean, everybody's taking shots at me anyways for everything; I get it. The university puts that out. Like, as I'm about to go out and do an infomercial for the place, and then I'm walking in front of thousands of these people.

This is how the university feels about it. It's an uncomfortable feeling. I'm like, I'm getting a lot of shrapnel from a lot of places.

The university is putting this out? That something I just had never experienced really in my entire life," McAfee said.

McAfee acknowledged that the post affected his demeanor during the broadcast. The analyst, known for his energetic presentation and enthusiasm for the campuses he visits, appeared more restrained throughout the morning, according to the source report.

During the show's final segment, McAfee selected Houston to win against Utah. He briefly explained his decision and criticized Utah's schedule while acknowledging the strength of its student section.

"It's hard to pick against this mighty Utah student section, but I'm gonna do it 10 times out of 10. Give me Houston coming out of here with a big-time dub and proving that Utah hasn't had to play anybody yet. Congrats to Houston getting a huge win here in Salt Lake City.

Thank you, guys. I'll never see you again, hopefully," McAfee said.

He also connected his unease to the shooting of Charlie Kirk more than a year earlier, raising concerns about the risks associated with amplifying hostility toward public figures at college gatherings. McAfee said another interaction involving a student asking for more money during his "kicking is easy" segment contributed to his discomfort.

"I thought to myself, has anything like really scary happened at a college gathering in the state of Utah recently? Like, do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts as a university? I don't know. So it was just, it was a lot of mixed feelings for me going out there," McAfee said.

The University of Utah hosted College GameDay for the seventh time and its third appearance in the past four seasons. McAfee had previously spoken positively about his experiences in Utah and had formed friendships in the state.

Despite his criticism, McAfee praised the football program and its student section while reiterating that he did not want to return to the university for another broadcast.

"I'll hopefully never go to that place. I think I have COVID or something whenever GameDay goes back, if I'm still a part of GameDay. But I did not enjoy the morning there.

They do have an incredible student section, from my understanding, and they have a good football team, so I'm pretty impressed. Just didn't like the university taking a shot at me," McAfee said.

McAfee also praised the overall production and his interaction with former Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid, whom he credited as the only person to predict UCF would upset BYU.

"I was just very, very uncomfortable. So I think it made me not have the greatest morning. But it was a phenomenal GameDay. Thank you to everybody that showed up," McAfee said.