Joe Paterno Didn't Want Penn State To Be In The Big Ten Conference

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"Coach Paterno was really against joining the Big Ten because he felt like… parents from the East Coast wanted to see [their kids] play play Pittsburgh or West Virginia or Rutgers, not Iowa or Indiana," said Dan Dakich, who spoke with Blackledge.

"Originally, he wanted there to be an all Eastern sports conference," Blackledge said.

He explained that circumstances beyond Paterno's control prevented that from happening.

"At that time, there were a couple of schools that were in the Big East Conference with basketball. They didn't want to leave that to start an all-sports conference in the East. I think Joe was kind of upset by that," Blackledge said.

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