Paul Finebaum blasts James Franklin, claims Penn State doesn't belong in College Football Playoff

Paul Finebaum blasted Penn State coach James Franklin and doesn’t see how the Nittany Lions belong in the College Football Playoff.

As of now, Penn State is still in the hunt at 7-1 on the season after a loss to Ohio State. For most PSU fans, it was the same old story.

Finebaum took the pressure off Ohio State and put it squarely on Penn State and Franklin.

“Ryan Day now is going to breathe easily as he gets to the playoffs,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “But you know, I’m just fairly irritated when I hear, I’m not criticizing the factual comments, but James Franklin, they’re still in the playoffs. Why? I mean, what have they done to deserve a playoff spot? I realize we have a 12 team playoff, but I don’t know how, if you’re a Penn State fan, I don’t know how you wrap your arms around having this guy as your head coach. I mean, it doesn’t matter what the situation is, Matt, he always makes the wrong call …  I wouldn’t shed one tear if they kept Penn State out. I know they won’t (but) they don’t belong.”

Franklin had to take this latest loss on the chin, considering Penn State hasn’t defeated Ohio State since 2016.

“Yeah, you know, again, there’s nobody that’s looking in the mirror harder than I am,” Franklin said postgame. “I will say this, and I’ve said it before: 99 percent of the programs across college football would die to do what we’ve been able to do in our time here, and that’s we, that’s all of us.

“But I also understand, when you’re in a place like Penn State, there’s really, really high expectations. When you’re in a place like Ohio State, there’s really, really high expectations. I get it. I totally get it. So we’ve looked at all these things really hard. We’ll continue to look at these things really hard. There’s a lot of things that I had planned on saying when I came in here today, but they are not appropriate to say right now, so I will hold them till another time.”

With four games left, Penn State arguably controls its own destiny for the College Football Playoff. Franklin and company could win out against unranked Big Ten opponents, go 11-1 and get into the dance.

Even if Finebaum says they don’t belong.