Could the UCLA Bruins already be the better Big Ten Conference football team that calls Los Angeles home? It might still feel early for those talks but that’s what was said on ESPN’s ‘First Take’ Monday morning after UCLA moved to 4-0.
The statement likely had more to do with the USC Trojans losing at home against the Oregon Ducks, than it did with UCLA’s 54-3 thrashing of Maryland. USC remains a team that’s plenty capable of making a College Football Playoff run but similar problems for the USC defense arose against the Ducks.
UCLA joined USC, Oregon and the rest of the Big Ten heavyweights in the Top-25 rankings, as Bob Chesney has rapidly turned around the fortunes for the Bruin football program. ESPN college football commentator Paul Finebaum
is a believer in Chesney and UCLA, or at the very least, remains very skeptical of a Lincoln Riley-led USC team.
Finebaum appeared on First Take on Monday to talk some Big Ten football with Stephen A. Smith, where he reiterated his doubts about Riley as a head coach.
“You chastised me a couple years ago when I called [Lincoln] Riley a fraud but I think I was right then and I’m right now. Yeah, he did a great job recruiting and SC is this and that, but you know what?” Finebaum said. “They don’t even have the best team in Los Angeles right now. That belongs to UCLA.”
"Everybody knows who the fraud is. It's Lincoln Riley… it will cost about $70 million to get rid of Lincoln Riley. But I promise you, USC people, it will be worth it because this guy is bringing your program down to the gutter" – Paul Finebaum pic.twitter.com/Ir21TYRTlF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 28, 2026
That claim isn't decided after Week 4 but it's been an ideal start to Chesney's tenure in Westwood.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: ESPN's Paul Finebaum calls UCLA 'the best team in Los Angeles'
