Paul Finebaum trashes Big Ten during James Franklin, Penn State schedule rant: 'I remember the days of Joe Paterno'

Penn State will be nine seasons removed from its first Big Ten Championship victory under head coach James Franklin. The Nittany Lions made it back in 2024, and even made it as far as the national semifinal before falling to Notre Dame.

However, Paul Finebaum isn’t convinced the Nittany Lions are ready to make the jump as Big Ten and eventually, national champions based on the competition they’ll face this fall. He tore through Penn State’s upcoming schedule — trashing the majority of their opponents in the Big Ten along the way.

“The program is so desperate to prop up James Franklin that they don’t want to play anybody in the non-conference. Again, look at the Big Ten schedule at UCLA — garbage team. Northwestern, garbage. Indiana had one good year. At Michigan State, they’re terrible. At Rutgers, very average. Nebraska, middle of the pack. I mean, that is beyond comprehension.

“I remember the days of Joe Paterno. They weren’t in the Big Ten — he played Alabama every single year. He played Notre Dame. That school used to not be afraid of playing good schools and now they’re scared to death.”

Penn State’s non-conference schedule will see them open the season against Nevada before taking on both FIU and Villanova before facing their first real test against Oregon. In turn, the Nittany Lions won’t play outside of their home stadium until October.

Their schedule will feature a road trip against Ohio State as well. Those two matchups against the Ducks and Buckeyes will serve as the real test to see what Penn State is made of.

Finebaum failed to mention their game at Iowa, which comes the week before they travel to Columbus. Still, Finebaum ripped the program for featuring what he sees as a schedule that is a little underwhelming for a championship-caliber team.

“And you know why they’re scared to death? Because of what happened last year,” Finebaum said. “They played Notre Dame. Guess what happened? They lost. Blew a big-time lead. Had a lead against Ohio State — lost because James Franklin has yet to have a signature win in his career.

“And don’t give me what happened in the CFP last year. They had the easiest route to the semifinals of any school.”

Penn State beat both SMU and Boise State to find themselves in the national semifinal last season. They even led Notre Dame 24-17 in the fourth quarter before the Irish scored 10-straight to win the game in the final seconds of regulation.

Still, Penn State is a part of a conference that has produced the last two national champions. The Nittany Lions appear poised for another deep run in the CFP in 2025, so they’ll be looking to prove Finebaum wrong as their schedule dictates a fast start for Penn State this fall.