Pat McAfee left Salt Lake City last weekend, telling the Utah crowd he hoped he would never see it again. Eight days later, in Bloomington, Indiana, he made the case for the Utes to win the national championship.
On the October 31 edition of ESPN’s College GameDay, the panel named its College Football Playoff contenders and sleepers, three days before the season’s first CFP rankings. The rest of the desk leaned SEC. McAfee went Big 12 and put Utah in his sleeper slot, after picking Indiana as his championship contender, according to KSL Sports.
Thanks for the submission!
•
The fans had all sorts of reactions to this. One fan said, “Probably his apology.”
Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!
Another wrote, “He should be banned from Utah and anything Utah related.”
One X user tweeted, “The olive branch. All is forgiven.”
“Passive-aggressive way to apologize?” tweeted one more.
One more fan said, “Olive branch for Pat McAfee and Utah Football. The world is healing!”
“Get that sensitive man-child McAfee off the show,” commented another.
McAfee never framed the pick as an apology, and he has not said whether it changes his mind about returning.
Utah hosts BYU on November 7, one of the games reported to be in the mix for Week 10. His answer on Monday was that he would have COVID if GameDay went back. The Utes, at least, have his vote.
Pat McAfee had much different College GameDay message in Indiana after turbulent week
The difference was hard to miss. A week earlier at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Pat McAfee picked Houston to beat Utah “ten times out of ten” and closed with “I’ll never see you again, hopefully,” then stood by it on his ESPN show that Monday.
In Bloomington he opened with nearly 10 minutes of almost uninterrupted talking, and never said Salt Lake City by name.
“It’s nice to be in the GREAT STATE OF …” he said, letting the crowd finish the sentence. “Now, Hoosier hospitality is a real thing, Rece. We’re great at it. That is something that this state really takes a lot of pride in.”
He listed the events Indiana can host, from a Super Bowl to an Olympic qualifier, and offered the state to any NFL team that needs a new home. He also led a Halloween “Happy Birthday” for Nick Saban, who turned 75.
The pick brought the week back anyway. “I don’t want to continue to perpetuate anything, especially after the week that I just had, but SEC/ESPN is running wild right now,” McAfee said, before landing on Utah.
“I don’t think anybody would’ve expected this. Dampier could go crazy at any time. Their huge win over the Houston Cougars last week, I think showed me a lot. They were down going into the fourth quarter. They responded by blanketing Houston in the fourth quarter. I like Morgan Scalley’s team out there, and I think they will be the best team in the Big 12 when it’s all said and done.”
The friction started before kickoff in Salt Lake City. Utah’s official Instagram account, working with the Utah Student Experience account, posted a video of students impersonating McAfee, joking about his shirtless routine and calling him corny.
Utah deleted the video and apologized on Monday, saying it “missed the mark,” and ESPN said it supported his concerns about safety.
Edited by Prasen
