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Penn State vs. Eastern Michigan: Joe Paterno Talks Conference Realignment

Penn State coach Joe Paterno lauds moves by ACC, Pitt and Syracuse.

Penn State is set to host Eastern Michigan this Saturday at Beaver Stadium, but before getting into any heavy football talk on Tuesday at his weekly press conference, coach Joe Paterno took some time to address the current conference realignment issues in college sports.

On the topic of Pittsburgh and Syracuse moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Paterno lauded both the league and two universities.

"I think it's a good move for the Atlantic Coast Conference, and a good move for the two schools " Paterno said. "I would imagine Syracuse and Pitt moving into the ACC would not only be a big asset to them football wise, it can't hurt their basketball. Those people have good basketball programs."

Paterno also pointed out that he's long stumped for schools like Pitt and Syracuse to join the Big Ten Conference.

He did, however, acknowledge the uncertainty many across the college sports landscaping, suggesting the tides of change could perhaps even reach Happy Valley.

"The problem you have right now, as I look at it anyway, is things are changing and you're not really sure what's going to happen," Paterno said. "I don't know where we're going to end up. There might be some speculation that Penn State maybe ought to get into something different or we ought to go out and try to get some people from the East Coast to come into the Big Ten."

Paterno specifically named Rutgers as a potential target for the Big Ten, as he's done in the past.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.