Joe Paterno was against Penn State joining Big Ten, ex-PSU star reveals

Penn State joined the Big Ten in football and other sports, but legendary head coach Joe Paterno would have preferred a different path for the school.

Penn State football legend Joe Paterno didn't think joining the Big Ten was the best idea for the school. / Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

Penn State would not have joined the Big Ten if legendary former head football coach Joe Paterno had his way in the decision.

That’s according to former Nittany Lions quarterback and current NBC college football analyst Todd Blackledge, who said that Joe Pa preferred the creation of an “all-Eastern conference.”

“At that time, there were a couple of schools that were in the Big East Conference with basketball. They didn’t want to leave that to start an all-sports conference in the East,” Blackledge told Dan Dakich on his podcast.

“I think Joe was kind of upset by that. When they ended up going to the Big Ten, I think he knew it fit. But I think if he had had his way before that, it would have been to do something with all the Eastern schools and make it a power conference in the East.”

Penn State abandoned its previous independence in 1990 and after a 7-3 vote from Big Ten presidents was admitted into the conference.

Paterno won three Big Ten championships in football at Penn State after joining the league, and his teams claimed two national championships as an independent in 1982 and 1986.

That first title came in the 1983 Sugar Bowl with Blackledge at quarterback as Penn State defeated Herschel Walker and the Georgia Bulldogs.

Paterno finished Penn State’s all-time winningest football coach with 409 victories and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

In 2012, the year of Paterno’s death, the NCAA stripped the coach of 111 of those wins as part of its sanctions against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Those wins were eventually reinstated.

-

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks