The first runner up is... Bobby Bowden

◊ Until this week, the argument between Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden was just filler. Now, it's very much a relevant topic in college football. It's a perfect storm, really, for the conversation to jump to new heights.

Usually, we talk about the wins race during the season, when there's not much room for elaboration. Now, it's the offseason, when every little bit of news is magnified due to the lack of an active football season.

The wins race was also viewed as a close contest, one that would only be resolved by which one coach could make a late-career run, overtake the other, and hope for retirement.

Not anymore.

This week has been dominated by Florida State and the NCAA punishments, handed down for the cheating scandal. We all know that part of the story, and quite frankly, it's old now.

The conversation has taken a dramatic shift to the objective views towards each of the legends' coaching careers. This could be attributed to the fact that, if the 14 Bowden wins from 2006 and 2007 are scrubbed from the record books, this race is as good as over. Paterno would win.

So what do we discuss now? Well, besides the useless, burnt out tirades crying for Paterno and Bowden to retire, and that they're bad for college football (this argument isn't even worth a rebuttal), it's time to take a look at the two careers for their merits and flaws, to finally figure out which coach has the better on-paper career.

The first (usually the only sane) sportswriter to do so was Pete Fiutak, from CFN:

"Paterno finished up last season one win ahead of Bowden up 383 wins to 382. So while any lost wins off Bowden’s total might secure Paterno’s place in history, it could be argued that the Penn State head man deserves the title no matter what... While Paterno got all his wins at one school, Penn State, Bowden came up with 31 wins at Samford against several interesting opponents (to go along with a solid stint at West Virginia). Of course, no one would ever question Bowden’s all-timer status, but when taking a hard, objective look at the two careers, it’s not really that close."

Fiu then goes on to list the worst and best wins in each coach's career. I'll tell you, seeing them "on paper" right in front of you really drives the point home. Even if you take the two undefeated national championship seasons, 1986 for Penn State and 1999 for Florida State, the Lions' win over Miami was much more impressive, in terms of opponent relative quality, than the 'Noles' win over Virginia Tech.

It's unfortunate, really, that this is how it might end. No one expected it to be like this, especially those close to the schools and the teams.

But this is just another episode in college football, where nothing is determined "on the field." Rather, like the Mythical National Championship itself, the eternal argument Paterno v. Bowden will be forever tarnished with a sense of illegitimacy and doubt.

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It's the Bowden bashing hour, brought to you by Foot Locker

Mike over at BSD tore Bobby Bowden a new one, after EDSBS took the initial swing at the legendary FSU coach. All I have to say is Bowden had it coming sooner or later. Wrote Mike of BSD:

"This is a common practice in these southern schools. They are only supposed to sign no more than 25 kids in any one recruiting class. But every year there's Alabama taking 32, Auburn taking 30, LSU taking 26. This year Florida State granted scholarships to 30 kids. Inevitably someone has to get cut. So you start hearing stories about kids being declared academically ineligible. Or suffering mysterious injuries that cut their career short. Or in this case, fifth year seniors who are basically asked not to come back."

Read the original letter sent by former FSU lineman Geoff Berniard's girlfriend to Larry Williams, of the Post And Courier in Charleston, SC. The letter explained how the Bowden family is following a disturbing trend--win at any cost, even if you ruin some people's lives along the way.

But let's take a different angle on this. I'm not going to get on Bowden's case today. I've done plenty of that, and usually focus on his wins at Samford--they count towards his career wins record, even though Joe's were all at a major program like PSU.

Where I'm going with this is PSU's recruiting efforts in recent years. Every one's been bashing the coaching staff for the last two hauls in '06 and '07. The loud minority fan base, which has cried for a top-ten class every year, says that PSU won't win championships by awarding fewer than "the other" do. Mike mentioned earlier that SEC schools usually sign between 25 and 30 recruits... each season. Maybe that's the reason SEC schools usually rank so high on the recruiting class lists. These coaches--in this case, when I say "SEC" I really mean most southern schools--offer kids a scholarship, with nearly no guarantee that they'll remain on scholarship if the on-field performance isn't up to par. That's just plain bullshit. You offer a kid to play for your team, and if he doesn't pan out, tough luck for you, not him. The coaches should never encourage a kid to leave school, just to save a freaking scholarship for next year's recruiting class. Bowden--and by Bowden I mean his whole staff, since he's responsible for their actions--has now fell into the "SEC" category of coaches. Mike's take was hardly as sweet as mine:

"Like I said before, in a way I was glad Joe Paterno broke his leg in 2006. It delayed him from entering the College Football Hall of Fame by one year. If you remember, he was supposed to enter the Hall alongside Bobby Bowden and they were both going to share the stage. I'm glad Joe didn't have to share anything with that fat jerk. The only thing these two men have in common is a lot of wins on the football field. Outside of that, the two programs could not be any more different."

That's just it. Penn State is nothing like Florida State. To many sportswriters and "experts" lump the two schools together all to often. Why, because the two coaches have been around forever and racing to see who could finish with the most wins? Sure, but that's the one and only connection between the two schools. How many times has Florida State played Penn State? Three times. Wow, I'm impressed. Bowden was forced to play PSU in the '70s because West Virginia always played PSU. I don't see FSU scheduling PSU anytime soon. Actually, I don't see FSU scheduling any living, breathing opponents anytime soon.

Let FSU die its slow, painful death. It'll be good for college football. The age of cheating and under-the-table deals is gone in this sport. I'm not being naive. I know there's still wheeling and dealing every hour of every day. But a program like Florida State--rulers of the late '80s and the entire 1990s--needs to go to rehab after its 15-year high. Penn "Mr. Boring Straightedge" State might not be as exciting or fun. PSU is surely not the life of the party in college football, but if you consider what Joe Paterno and his coaches have done for the last 50 years, it's a feat no other school could fathom doing. How many times has PSU been on probation in the Paterno era, or any era for that matter? NONE. Penn State wins with honor.

Oh, and if you didn't get that Foot Locker reference, go look up "Florida State," "Foot Locker," and "1993."

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Paterno vs. Bowden

You know, a couple day/weeks ago-whatever-I got a comment on my Top 25. The comment asked how I could have FSU ranked so high, yet Joe would pass Bowden. Well, here's my simplified answer, which totally slipped my mind at the time. Shame on me.

Joe Paterno doesn't actually need four more wins than Bowden this year, due to the fact that in the real world, Bowden is 27 wins behind Joe. 31 of Bowden's wins were not in current D-IA schools, which shouldn't count. It's not like the 61 homeruns record or any other record that is affected by how long a season is. Bowden was playing Crap Community College, while Paterno was playing Maryland, North Carolina St., Pitt, Syracuse and other at-the-time powerhouses. The NCAA needs to step up and take an official stance with this, and settle the matter once and for all.

If Bobby Bowden leads Joe Paterno in career victories, and the Samford years are officially included (which they are by the NCAA's standard), then Eddie Robinson should, in fact, actually be the all-time leader in career victories with 408-167-15 at Gramblind State. Try proving me wrong on that one.

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