FSU football: Time for NCAA to give Bobby Bowden his vacated wins back

We all heard the sad news about legendary FSU football head coach Bobby Bowden last week. The family reported he had been diagnosed with a terminal condition.

The condition was later reported to be pancreatic cancer. In typical Bobby Bowden fashion, he leaned on his Christian faith and communicated he was at peace with what comes with his condition.

Former players and coaches spent last week talking about the greatness of Bowden and how he impacted their lives.

The 91-year old coach last coached at FSU during the 2009 season, defeating West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

That should have been his 389th Division I win, however, in March 2009, the NCAA decided to vacate 12 wins because of a cheating scandal in 2006-07 that involved 61 student-athletes.

That was one music class also offered to non-athletes, and FSU was heavily penalized, but North Carolina had an entire bogus department, and North Carolina coaches didn’t have to vacate one single thing.

Ironically, the guy who Bobby Bowden trails in career wins received his wins back posthumously.

Penn State’s Joe Paterno had over 100 wins reinstated. I won’t throw dirt on a guy that’s already passed, but we all know what happened under his watch at State College, Pennsylvania.

Bowden would technically have more head coaching wins than Joe Paterno if his wins were reinstated and his 22 wins from South Georgia State College counted. However, those 22 wins are not recognized by the NCAA.

Bobby Bowden has always been a class act. His impact on college football is unmatched, and there are things he accomplished that will never be done again.

It’s only right for NCAA to do the right thing for once.

Bowden is still of sound mind at 91 years old, and I’m sure it would be a great honor for him to know the NCAA did the right thing and recognized those 12 wins again before his time expires.