Paterno vs. Bowden
You know, a couple day/weeks ago-whatever-I got a comment on my ZN's Top 25 Preseason Rankings. 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. 
3 Comment on this story:
Why can't Bowden's REAL record ever hit the mainstream media... Paterno is not only 7 classes ahead of Bowden as a person, his record is significantly better!!
Referencing your quote below:
"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."
Bowden's class is off limits, he is a true gentleman, a great leader of men, and one of the all time "good guys". If you doubt this just spend some time with the man. His players have let him down over the years with bad choices (Randy Moss, et al) but for every one of those there are 10 who went on to character filled lives off the field: Doctors, judges, business owners not to mention the many who coach football at all levels. My son is 12 and I pray he would some day be able to play for Coach Bowden.
There is a flaw, I believe, in the original bloggers tabulations. The operative word in his assessment is CURRENT D-IA Schools - but it must be noted that the DI - DII distinction was made long after Bowden had coached at Samford (Howard). In fact, I would guess that when at West Virgina, which was still before the DI-DII division, Bowden's win record at Samford (as with all coaches at that time) was counted. What the blogger should ask is that the distinction between DI and DII be applied ex post facto, and thus remove DII wins from Bowden's column. But I believe the implicit danger should quickly be recognized . No, I think wisely, you cannot apply a standard retrojectively.
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