Paterno, Bowden face off

The two septuagenarian coaches will meet on Jan. 3 in Miami.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) -- Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno chortled as they greeted each other at a casino, an appropriate setting for two septuagenarian survivors who have beaten the odds to last 40 years apiece in a profession not known for its job security.
They rank one-two in coaching victories: Bowden has 359 and Paterno 353.
And they'll go head to head for the first time since 1990 when Bowden and Florida State take on Paterno and Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.
The two coaches renewed their relationship Thursday, swapping back slaps and small talk before beginning a news conference at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
"Bobby has won more games than I have, so he can talk first," Paterno said with a laugh.
First met in 1962
They first met in 1962, when Paterno was an assistant at Penn State and Bowden was head coach at Samford.
"You can imagine our budget," Bowden said. "I think they gave me $55 to go to Pennsylvania so I could watch Penn State. I said, 'I'm going to go up there and see if I can learn something.' "
Bowden recalled hitchhiking the last leg of the trip, staying at a fraternity house and meeting the Penn State coaches, Paterno included.
Paterno doesn't recall that first meeting, and the friendship developed slowly. The two first faced each other when Bowden coached at West Virginia, with Paterno winning all six games.
The only other time their teams played was in the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl, also in Miami, with Florida State beating Penn State.
They become closer in recent years, sharing much in common even though one is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and the other is from Birmingham, Ala.
The pressure to win under the media microscope drove off many of their colleagues, but Paterno and Bowden keep working well into retirement age.
"As we've grown older, there ain't nobody else left," Bowden said. "Everybody has been fired or is gone or retired. So we naturally gravitate to each other."
Said Paterno: "We're the only two guys who go to bed at 8 o'clock."
Nearing 80
Bowden is 76, while Paterno turns 79 this month, and neither was expected to ring in 2006 in Miami. Paterno began this season with 17 losses in his past 24 games, prompting talk that he should step down, while Bowden gave his critics fresh fodder by losing his final three regular-season games.
The Seminoles (8-4) then upset Virginia Tech last week for the Atlantic Coast Conference title, making them the lowest-ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series at No. 22.
"We should have been in Boise, and we're going to Miami," Bowden said. "Who would have imagined it? I don't feel guilty, but it would probably be the next thing to it."
Big Ten co-champs
The No. 3-ranked Nittany Lions (10-1) earned a share of the Big Ten title, and only a last-second loss to Michigan kept them from going undefeated.
They'll play in the Orange Bowl for the first time in 20 years, capping a season that represents quite a comeback for the program -- and its coach.
"My father loved boxing," Paterno said. "He used to say to me, 'Nobody ever gets knocked out. Did you ever see anybody carry a guy out of the ring on a stretcher? No. They just don't want to get up again.'
"I think once you get across to the kids that they have to get up one more time, you have a shot."
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