ESPN "College GameDay" analyst Pat McAfee ruffled Utah fans' feathers when he not only picked visiting Houston against the Utes in Salt Lake City, but also said he'd do so "10 times out of 10."
If there was any confusion as to his feelings about the Week 8 "GameDay" host on Saturday Oct. 24, he removed all doubt when he signed off with one more dig:
"I'll never see you again, hopefully."
The analyst, speaking on the trip during the Oct. 26 episode of "The Pat McAfee Show," explained the umbrage he took with Utah. Specifically, he was made uncomfortable by a since-deleted Instagram post by the Utah Student Experience, made in conjunction with the university's
official account, in which students were "dogging" him by calling him "creepy" and "corny."
He said he would have been fine with the post, were it not for the fact it was shared by the university.
"The University puts that out as I'm about to go out and do an infomercial for the place? And I'm walking in front of thousands of these people. This is how the university feels about it? It's an uncomfortable feeling," McAfee said. "I'm getting a lot of shrapnel from a lot of places. The university is putting this out? That's something I just had never experienced, really in my entire life. So it kind of set me off a little bit. Made me feel a little bit weird."
The final straw, he said, was a University of Utah student asking why she "only" got $1 million, when the week prior ‒ on Utah rival BYU's campus in Provo, Utah – the student got a chance to kick for $3 million.
"Alright, I hate this place," McAfee said. "I hate this place."
In speaking on his experience, McAfee said he remembered the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting death of Charlie Kirk. The conservative activist was killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on its campus in Orem, Utah, roughly 43 miles south of Utah's campus.
"And I thought to myself, 'Has there been anything really scary happening at like a college gathering in the state of Utah recently? Do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts, as a university? I don't know. It was a lot of mixed feelings for me going out there."
Continued McAfee:
"But the university gaslighting ... right before I got out there to talk about your school? Especially with what happened 40 miles south in Salt Lake City a little over a year ago? I did not enjoy that. I was very, very uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable."
McAfee made it clear that he was impressed with Utah's football team — the Utes beat Houston 21-13, despite his pick— and lauded guest picker Dalton Kincaid for being the only person to predict a Central Florida upset of BYU.
Having said that, McAfee doubled down on his desire never to return to Utah's campus.
"I'll hopefully never go to that place," McAfee said. "I think I'll have COVID whenever 'GameDay' goes back, if I'm still a part of 'GameDay.' But I did not enjoy the morning there."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pat McAfee says 'I hate this place' after 'College GameDay' visit to Utah
