Paul Finebaum names ‘complete fraud’ in college football after Week 6

Amid a strange storm of controversy this week, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum continued to appear on the network's various shows, including a Tuesday afternoon hit on SportsCenter where he and Jordan Rodgers answered some pressing college football questions.

SportsCenter anchor Matt Barrie asked the lads whether a series of teams were contenders or pretenders in the College Football Playoff race after some recent pitfalls. One of those teams was Penn State, who suffered their second straight loss of 2025 on the road against UCLA just seven days after they narrowly fell to Oregon in double overtime at home. The Nittany Lions simply let one huge emotional loss beat 'em twice.

When asked if Penn State is still a contender or pretender by Barrie, Paul Finebaum answered...

"Matt, actually, neither one," he said on the contender vs. pretender question. "They're not a contender or a pretender. What they are is a complete fraud."

Woah! Paul Finebaum just lobbed a bomb at the Nittany Lions. Frankly, that's not a huge surprise given just how bad the UCLA loss is. PSU started this season as a national championship favorite and are now way in the hole with seven more regular season games to go.

"This team is... they are one of the most disappointing teams in the country," Finebaum piled on. "I'll give them the Oregon game. But then to go across the country and lose to a UCLA team in front of about 15 people at the Rose Bowl is just one of the most embarrassing losses."

This stat made it across the internet over the weekend: UCLA didn't lead for a single second in its four straight losses to open the season, and then they didn't trail for a single second in Saturday's commanding win over Penn State.

"And for James Franklin to blame it on the trip across the country when Oregon just beat him at his place is unexplainable," Finebaum added as one more shake of salt onto a wide-open wound in State College.

The longtime anchor of an SEC Network afternoon show, it's not surprising to see Paul Finebaum come down with crushing critique of Penn State. After all, Nittany Lion fans themselves would tell you they've been building to a year like this under James Franklin, and he's letting air out of the balloon like a whoopee cushion so far.

Read more on College Football HQ