FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The news just about dropped Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. His leading tackler, senior linebacker A.J. Nicholson, was accused of sexual assault after an incident early Thursday. Nicholson was sent home and won't play against Penn State Tuesday night in the Orange Bowl.

You would think Bowden would be used to this sort of thing.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno went on and on the other day about what a wonderful person Bowden is. "He's so honest. There's no hypocrisy in him ... I have tremendous respect for Bobby Bowden."

That makes one of us.

Bowden has won 359 games, more than any Division I-A coach. Sadly, many of those wins came with players whom you wouldn't want your daughter to date. It's not for nothing that Florida State, under Bowden's watch, has been known as Free Shoes University and, worse, the Criminoles. Nicholson is just the latest problem on a long list. Go back to Bowden's 1999 team, the second of his two national championship teams. It included players who were arrested for drunken driving, marijuana possession, a drive-by shooting and accepting outrageous discounts at a department store.

Florida State should have had to give that national title back.

"Boys make mistakes," Bowden has often said in rebuttal.

His general policy has been to try to rehabilitate his wayward players, not turn his back on them. That's why it was so surprising he sent Nicholson home immediately. That might have something to do with Nicholson being arrested in February for drunken driving and in June for resisting a police officer, a charge that was dropped. Even Bowden has his limits.

None of this will help Florida State against Penn State, although Bowden says he doesn't really care about that. He says he's more concerned about his players' welfare. He has always insisted he sticks with his troubled players because he wants to turn them into productive citizens. If they help him win games, that's an added bonus. But that's secondary to making men out of 'em.

Right.

Does Bowden really believe we're that stupid?

Does Bowden really believe we'll ever consider him college football's greatest coach, no matter how many wins he has?

That whole Criminoles thing is just one reason to question Bowden's legitimacy on the top of the wins list, just ahead of Paterno (353). There is another. Actually, there are 31 more.

Bowden's first 31 wins came at Howard College, now Samford University. You might think it's bogus that wins against SW Lynx, Maryville and the University of Mexico count toward the record, but the NCAA doesn't. According to its guidelines, a coach gets to count all of his wins against four-year schools -- regardless of the level -- once he has 10 years in on the Division I-A level. As an example, if Ohio State coach Jim Tressel sticks around through the 2010 season, he'll get to count his 135 wins at Division I-AA Youngstown State. He easily could climb as high as sixth on the Division I-A victories list.

Bowden said he understands how Paterno loyalists might see an injustice there, but added, "Those [Howard] wins were maybe the hardest to get. I wasn't playing with Penn State talent." Bowden also mentioned getting "fits" from the Alabama people when he passed Bear Bryant on the wins list but added with some satisfaction, "I've won enough now that I don't need those 31 wins to be ahead of Bear."

The Penn State people probably don't want to hear that.

I know I don't.

Give me Paterno over Bowden any day for reasons that go way beyond the fact Paterno doesn't have any wins against Mexico on his resume.

Paterno isn't just a better coach, he's a better person even if he often comes across these days as a bitter, grumpy old man and Bowden still oozes his good ol' boy charm, phony as it might be.

Paterno has donated millions to Penn State and raised millions more.

Paterno has generally run a clean program, although he has had some character issues with his players in the past 5 or 10 years and hasn't always handled them consistently.

And Paterno remains one of the most admirable figures in sports even if he did lose some respect when he foolishly accused the Big Ten Conference of an anti-Penn State bias during the 2002 season.

At the end of the day, Paterno can look in the mirror and know he has been good for college football.

Paterno -- not Bowden -- should be remembered as college football's greatest coach.

It's just a shame Paterno won't have that wins record as the ultimate proof.

"Ah, I don't care about that," Paterno said. "If Bobby finishes with 50 more wins than me, I'd be happy for him."

Again, that makes one of us.