ESPN's Paul Finebaum has made a surprising admission about the Ohio State Buckeyes ahead of the 2026 season
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Paul Finebaum has ruffled the feathers of Ohio State fans many times over the years. His latest comment on the Buckeyes may come as a surprise for that very reason.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have been at or near the top of college football for decades now, and Ryan Day has only built on what Urban Meyer accomplished in Columbus.
Ohio State has adjusted well to the NIL world of college football and all of the changes that have come with it. Recently, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork revealed that the university will soon have a $500 million athletic budget, making it the first college to do so.
"It's going to happen," Bjork said via The Dispatch. "It could happen in three years from now. It could happen two years from now or five years from now. But we will have a $500 million athletic budget at some point in time very soon. We have that capability."
That's a whole lot of money and it's sort of unimaginable 10 years ago. Where Ohio State stands has even ESPN's Paul Finebaum making strong statements about what's going on in Columbus.
Paul Finebaum tells it like it is with the Ohio State Buckeyes
“Nobody is in Ohio State’s league right now,” Finebaum said recently. “I saw that story the other day, and the idea of a half-billion-dollar athletic budget is truly amazing. Now, remember, Ohio State has more sports than the average SEC program. I would think Texas and Georgia are considerably behind that. It’s just a number, but it’s also where college athletics is.”
Finebaum is typically viewed as somewhat of an SEC homer in Big Ten land. He was honest about no other program being on Ohio State's level right now athletics-wise. Of course, much of it has to do with the support of Buckeye Nation, as well as the success the football team can ride on every season.
As we enter the revenue share era combined with NIL, there are expected to be more guidelines around college football down the road, including how much money can be put into rosters. As we know, the teams that spend the most currently have a great shot at competing for a national championship. Ohio State has done well on that front and has hardware in 2024 to show for it.
We'll end the week with an admission from Finebaum that we don't often hear, and Buckeyes won't be able to push back on what he said this time. Expectations are as high as ever for the football team in 2026, and if they reach their biggest goals, it'll only speed up the path to a $500 million budget for the team in Columbus.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: ESPN's Paul Finebaum has made a surprising admission about the Ohio State Buckeyes ahead of the 2026 season
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