The problem with that argument is that Vanderbilt beat Bama last season, GT beat Clemson this season, and Northern Illinois beat ND last season, amd my guess is that those teams that lost were paying their players much more than the teams that beat them. Upsets happen all the time, even when there is a much larger disparity with NIL money than there has been between PSU and OSU and Oregon. In fact, PSU was favored by 3 to 3 1/2 points in the Oregon game, so the wise guys didn't even consider PSU beating Oregon to be an upset.
When you consider how many upsets occur every season, it's mind boggling that PSU under Franklin basically has no chance to win when they're an underdog.