Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, ahead of Joe Paterno in all-time wins by only two games, may have to vacate some of those victories as a result of the academic cheating scandal that has rocked the program and may leave the Seminoles without as many as 25 players for their bowl game.

A six-month investigation by an independent firm found that Florida State athletic department personnel assisted athletes in taking tests and wrote papers for them. The university has not released the names of players involved, citing federal privacy laws. But the report in today's New York Times makes it clear that the case could have a bigger impact than a few Seminoles not being eligible to play against Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

"If the infractions we are talking about result in the NCAA making a determination there was a major violation, then vacating wins is one potential outcome," Mark Jones, a co-chairman of the collegiate sports practice for the Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, told The Times.

What does that mean for Penn State? Well, Bowden has 373 career victories; Paterno has 371. Should the NCAA deem the infractions serious enough, The Times reported, some of Florida State's wins could be vacated and Paterno could leap ahead.

-- Mark