Utah did not exactly welcome Pat McAfee with open arms last week. During ESPN’s College GameDay visit for the Utes-Cougars clash, students mocked the analyst in a video the university itself posted. McAfee was visibly bothered, and he signed off from Salt Lake City saying, “I’ll never see you again, hopefully.” A week later, he appeared to have softened.
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On Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, McAfee could not resist bringing last week up again when he revealed his College Football Playoff championship sleeper midway through the College GameDay broadcast. The other panelists’ picks leaned heavily toward the SEC.
“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, pointing to Georgia, Ole Miss, and LSU on the screen. “You know who hasn’t been represented up here? Big Ten, SEC, independent, ACC. How about… boom?!”
On the screen, the Utes logo appeared.
“I don’t think anybody would have expected this,” McAfee remarked.
McAfee’s pick came one week after the university apologized for the student mockery video, signaling a potential thaw in tensions.
He did not stop at the pick. McAfee praised quarterback Devon Dampier and Utah’s response to last week’s game.
“Devon Dampier could go crazy at any time,” McAfee added. “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 blanket. 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.”
Though he also warned of a “spooky” game at the end of the schedule.
Led by quarterback Devon Dampier, the Utes overturned a 10-point second-half deficit to secure a 21-13 victory over the Cougars. Dampier was instrumental in the comeback, rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns in front of a sold-out crowd of 51,864 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
McAfee’s goodbye last week appeared to come from raw emotion after the University of Utah uploaded a video featuring a group of students impersonating the analyst. However, he wasn’t hurt as much by students’ comments as he was by the University posting the video on their official social media handle.
He also said he left the experience feeling uncomfortable, adding that he hoped not to return.
The university took the video down and apologized on Monday.
“Our goal during the visit was to create lighthearted engagement regarding Pat being back on campus, but we missed the mark,” the University of Utah said in the official statement. “We sincerely apologize for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus.”
A week after saying he hoped never to come back, McAfee used his sleeper pick to put Utah in the spotlight. Whether that leads to a return to Salt Lake City remains to be seen.