Paul Finebaum puts Penn State on blast for 'cupcakes' on schedule: 'That is a disgrace'

Paul Finebaum blasted Penn State’s football schedule in 2025 for their non-conference slate, unlike other schools will challenging games. He’s high on the Nittany Lions, saying they should be the best team in the Big Ten, or at least in contention.

However, Fibebaum called the non-conference slate embarrassing. Penn State has three of those games to open the season before getting a bye week and then Big Ten play.

To open the season, Penn State has Nevada, FIU and Villanova all at home. Safe to say, Finebaum was not impressed.

“If you want to pick one school that I’m fascinated by, and that’s Penn State, they should be the best team in the Big Ten,” Finebaum said on First Take. “And I’m not going to just, you know, go typical anti-James Franklin here, because I happen to respect him a lot as a coach, but he still has the most to prove of the major schools that are in contention. I don’t buy them being number one, although Mr. Kevin Clark, you have to look long and hard to find three more embarrassing non-conference opponents than what Penn State has. 

“I thought I retired the trophy, but nobody has ever retired a trophy more embarrassing than Penn State. That is a disgrace for a Big Ten school to play three cupcakes like that. I mean, well, you have LSU and Clemson. You have Miami and Notre Dame. I mean, you have Ohio State hosting Texas. And I can’t even remember what directional school Penn State’s opening with, because it’s that bad.”

Yes, Finebaum thinks the Nittany Lions are good and didn’t want to roast James Franklin too much. But he did just that on Get Up Monday morning, casting doubt on his ability to lead Penn State to a title.

“Why are you doing this to me,” Finebaum asked. “First of all, I’m not going to sit here and belittle Penn State. I think they are the best team in the Big Ten, but James Franklin is still coaching and the last time I saw him in a big game, he did what he always does in a big game. He choked. I fully expect somewhere late in the season when maybe the Big Ten and the SEC meet, he’ll choke again.”

Perhaps the non-conference schedule has something to with it. To be fair, Penn State does have road games at Oregon and Ohio State in-conference. But the cupcakes early on likely pad the record, fair or not.