COLLEGE FOOTBALL / The No. 1 Debate : THE REACTION : Paterno: What’s the Difference Who’s 1 and 2?

Joe Paterno has said all season long that he ignores college football polls. So why change his tune now?

“Who said we didn’t win a championship?” Paterno said Tuesday after Penn State finished with a No. 2 ranking. “The media said we didn’t win a championship. We think we won a championship. We did everything we could and we assume we’re champions.”

Penn State (12-0) finished behind Nebraska, which completed an unbeaten season by beating Miami 24-17 in the Orange Bowl, but Paterno’s mood wasn’t affected.

“Everything was exciting about the Orange Bowl. Everything was exciting about the Rose Bowl. What’s the difference who’s 1 and who’s 2?” he said.

“Why should I, because of 60 newspaper writers, half of whom I don’t really have much regard for their writing ..., why should we all get uptight?” Paterno said. “I feel great. We’re 12-0, 17 games in a row we’ve won, two great big bowl games back to back.”

Nittany Lions players said their fate was sealed before they beat No. 11 Oregon 38-20 in the Rose Bowl on Monday.

“I haven’t even looked at the polls,” cornerback Brian Miller said. “I knew we were going to be No. 2.”

Some players said pollsters probably voted for Nebraska because coach Tom Osborne had not won a title in his 22-year tenure.

“It’s a shame for seniors like myself and Kerry Collins and people who put in hard work in 103-degree weather during the summer,” defensive lineman Chris Mazyck said. “We worked just as hard as the kids at Nebraska.

“It’s true that Tom Osborne didn’t have a ring, but I don’t have one either and I put in work,” he said.

Mazyck probably put in more work than any other Penn State player. He missed nearly three whole seasons after being shot in the leg in March 1991. Mazyck played this season with six bullets still lodged in his leg.

This was the fourth Paterno-coached Penn State team to finish a season with a perfect record and not win the title. Those four teams are the only squads ever to have an unblemished record, win a New Year’s Day bowl game and not win at least a share of the national title.

This season again shows that a playoff system is needed in college football, players said.

“I think it’s a crime that it’s decided by a bunch of sportswriters and not on the field,” fullback Brian Milne said. “I think in the near future there should be some way, if two undefeated teams end up the way we did, that there is some way to resolve it.”

Paterno has not second-guessed Penn State’s choice to join the Big Ten, even though it locked the Nittany Lions into the Rose Bowl and prevented them from playing Nebraska.

“I felt that getting in the Big Ten was a great thing for the future of Penn State University, academically and athletically,” he said. “I have not changed my mind about that. I’m not a knee-jerker. I’m not going to react to one year or one situation.”

Regardless of the polls, this Penn State team made history.

“We have had Penn State teams that have been undefeated. Some have been recognized as champs by the media, some have been recognized as national champions by their coach,” he said. “No Penn State team has won the Big Ten and won the Rose Bowl.”