Pat McAfee Picks Utah as College Football Playoff Sleeper Despite Recent Drama
The ESPN analyst made his surprising pick for the Utes during Saturday's "College GameDay."
Pat McAfee, a regular panelist on ESPN's "College GameDay," made a surprising pick for a College Football Playoff sleeper team during Saturday's broadcast: the University of Utah Utes. This decision comes after a tumultuous week for McAfee, involving a public dispute with the university.
McAfee's choice of Utah followed a social media video posted by the school that poked fun at his personality on "GameDay," including his tendency to take off his shirt. The video made McAfee uncomfortable, leading him to express his feelings on his eponymous ESPN show earlier in the week. "The university puts that out," McAfee said. "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 people. This is how the university feels about it. It’s an uncomfortable feeling."
He initially vowed not to return to the University of Utah, referencing an incident at Utah Valley University in September 2025 and questioning the university's decision to amplify reasons for public criticism. "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," he stated.
Utah later apologized for the video and removed it from its social media feeds. Reports also emerged that McAfee had been advised by the FBI to wear a bulletproof vest, a suggestion he clarified on X came from "one of the security groups," while also sharing disturbing messages he had received.
Despite the recent controversy, McAfee announced his pick on air. "I will say, you know who hasn’t been represented up here? Big Ten, SEC, Independent, ACC… How about — boom — Big 12!" A Utah logo then appeared in the "championship sleeper" category on the broadcast's graphic.
McAfee elaborated on his reasoning, citing the Utes' recent victory over the Houston Cougars. "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 [head coach] 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," he explained.