Pat McAfee visited Salt Lake City on Saturday for ESPN’s College GameDay at the University of Utah and left angry enough to spend his Monday show explaining why he “hates this place.” By Monday afternoon, the university had issued a public apology. The reason involves a campus Instagram post, a reference to a political commentator’s assassination, and a scheduling consequence that now affects one of college football’s biggest upcoming games.
During the October 24 College GameDay broadcast at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium, the University of Utah’s official Instagram account posted a pre-show video asking students to do their best impression of McAfee. Students called him “corny” and “creepy,” with one comment directed at his habit of removing his shirt during broadcasts. On Monday, October 26, McAfee addressed the post on The Pat McAfee Show: “Do we think we should be amplifying reasons for why people hate my guts, as a university?… It’s like, all right, I hate this place.” He also referenced “what happened 40 miles south of Salt Lake City a little over a year ago” — the September 2025 assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, 31, at Utah Valley University in Orem. The University of Utah issued a public apology Monday, saying the school “missed the mark” and that it was “sorry for creating any perception that Pat was unsafe or unwelcome on our campus.”
For Utah fans and ESPN viewers, this feud carries an immediate scheduling consequence: College GameDay is weighing whether to return to Salt Lake City for the BYU-Utah rivalry game in early November. If McAfee does not travel back to a campus he said he “hates,” ESPN must either select a different site or broadcast without its lead personality for one of the most-watched rivalry matchups on the 2026 schedule.
McAfee drew a specific line between personal social media and institutional amplification. He told his audience he would not have objected if the two students who made the video had posted it on their own personal accounts — that’s standard fan behavior. What made him feel unsafe, he said, was the university’s official channel amplifying content that framed him negatively right before he walked out in front of thousands of live spectators, at a campus 40 miles from where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. That distinction — official university account versus a student’s personal page — is what forced the communications office into a same-day apology rather than a quiet deletion.
Sports media commentator Brandon Walker said on air that McAfee “might have missed on the reaction,” arguing that college students mocking a broadcaster on social media is routine banter with no security implication. That counterargument has circulated widely since Monday.
Why did the University of Utah apologize to Pat McAfee? The University of Utah apologized after its official Instagram account posted a pre-show video featuring students doing impressions of McAfee, calling him “corny” and “creepy.” McAfee said the official post made him feel unsafe and unwelcome during Saturday’s College GameDay broadcast, citing the September 2025 killing of Charlie Kirk at a campus 40 miles away to explain why university-amplified hostility felt different from typical fan teasing.
ESPN’s College GameDay site selection for the upcoming BYU-Utah rivalry game is expected to be announced Sunday or Monday. Check back for the broadcast location confirmation.
