Joe Paterno doesn't have to say "I told you so."
JoePa, who turns 79 on Wednesday, got an early birthday present Tuesday when he was an overwhelming choice as The Associated Press college football coach of the year.
So much for critics who said the game had passed him by.
Not that he's gloating about Penn State's resurgence.
"The only thing I wanted to do is try to get us back to where we were a good football team and we could be very competitive and make some plays we hadn't made," he said. "We got that done and I feel good about that."
After four losing seasons in the last five years, Paterno and the Nittany Lions rebounded in 2005 to go 10-1, share the Big Ten title and earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
For that, Paterno received 45 of 65 votes from media members on AP's college football poll board. Texas' Mack Brown was second with eight votes after leading the Longhorns to a perfect regular season and a spot in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis and Southern California's Pete Carroll, whose Trojans will face Brown's Longhorns for the national title, got three votes each.
West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez received two votes. Les Miles of LSU, Steve Spurrier of South Carolina, George O'Leary of Central Florida and Tommy Tuberville of Auburn, last year's winner, each received one vote.
The Nittany Lions had signature wins over Ohio State and Wisconsin and rose to No. 3 in the nation. In Paterno's 40th season, Penn State was just a couple of seconds away from going unbeaten. Its only loss was 27-25 at Michigan, on a last-play touchdown.
Paterno now has 353 victories. Only Florida State's Bobby Bowden (359) has more among Division I-A coaches, and the two will meet in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3, Penn State's BCS debut.
TEXAS DISCIPLINE IN-HOUSE: Any discipline of Texas players whose names surfaced in a police investigation into an alleged downtown assault has been handled within the team, coach Mack Brown said Tuesday.
"Obviously we had a few young guys that were out later than we'd like for them to be a couple of weeks ago. We've dealt with them within our team, and we've talked to our team about it," Brown said without elaborating.
"We handle all our discipline in house, and we do not anticipate anything beyond where we are today," he said.
No charges have been filed and the university has not identified the players, but a lawyer for starting cornerback Cedric Griffin and starting tailback Ramonce Taylor said they were questioned about an alleged early-morning assault near the Sixth Street entertainment district on Dec. 10.
MISSOURI CAPTAIN SUSPENDED: Missouri safety and captain Jason Simpson will not travel with the team to the Independence Bowl after being arrested for marijuana possession over the weekend.
Simpson, a four-year starter and the team's second-leading tackler this season, was suspended for the Dec. 30 bowl game against South Carolina by coach Gary Pinkel following the Sunday night arrest.
Simpson was arrested by police after his name popped up in a criminal database for failing to appear in court on a littering charge from last year. After a search, he was cited for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. All the charges are misdemeanors.
WISCONSIN RECEIVER CLEARED: Wisconsin wide receiver Marcus Randle El has been cleared to return to the team and could play in the Capital One Bowl after he was arrested on a battery charge last weekend. A school committee decided Tuesday to let Randle El, the brother of Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El, start practicing with the team again on Dec. 26. The Badgers play Auburn in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 2.