Paterno wants a 12th Big Ten member

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno spent part of Thursday night stumping for the Big Ten to add a 12th member. Why?

"Everybody else is playing playoffs on television," Paterno said. "You never see a Big Ten team mentioned. So I think that's a handicap.

"I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff.'"

What do the Big Ten presidents think about that? Adding another member school for the purpose of being able to have a football playoff game, that is.

"You know, it's a conference that's dominated by a couple of people," Paterno said. "If I start talking, they're polite, but they snicker.

"They don't know I know they're snickering, but they're polite. ...I wish I were younger and going to be around [another] 20 years."

Who says he won't?

Hlog friend Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette is counting down the 100 days until the University of Illinois' football team begins camp in August.

In doing so, Bob is giving an Illini factoid for each of the 100 days. On Day 98, he noted Illinois Coach Ron Zook's 55th birthday (which was Tuesday), and listed the ages of all the Big Ten football head coaches.

They are:

1. Paterno, 82; 2. Jim Tressel, 56; 3.Ron Zook, 55; 4. Bill Lynch, 54; 5. Kirk Ferentz, 53; 6. Mark Dantonio, 53; 7. Danny Hope, 50; 8. Tim Brewster, 48; 9. Rich Rodriguez, 45; 10. Bret Bielema, 39; 11. Pat Fitzgerald, 34.

Let me guess your first question. Who is Danny Hope?

He's the new Purdue head coach. Joe Tiller is retired, probably off in Wyoming or somewhere out West as you read this, fishing for trout and not worrying a bit about the whims of 20-year-olds.

What struck me about the list is Iowa coach Ferentz now ranks among the older half of the league's coaches. He used to be one of the kids.

But he's still 29 years younger than Paterno, and has been for, oh, 53 years or so.