The great race between Hall of Fame coaches Joe Paterno of Penn State and Bobby Bowden of Florida State has slowed to a crawl.

Paterno, 82, is the winningest coach in Division I with 383 victories; Bowden, who turns 80 in November, has 382.

But Bowden could lose considerable ground in his long-running duel with Paterno unless the NCAA overturns its original decision.

Three months ago, the NCAA Committee on Infractions ruled that Bowden must forfeit as many as 14 wins resulting from the use of ineligible players in 2006 and '07 who participated in an academic cheating scandal that involved 61 athletes in 10 sports, including two dozen football players.

Other penalties for the football program included four years' probation and loss of scholarships. Among the sanctions Florida State appealed was the one requiring Bowden to vacate any victories in which those athletes participated.

The Committee on Infractions filed its response to that appeal yesterday, but the findings will not be made public until after Florida State has a chance to prepare its rebuttal, which is due June 17.

If Bowden does end up having to forfeit 14 victories, Paterno would assume a hefty lead in all-time wins (383-368) and it would be almost impossible for Bowden to ever catch Paterno again.

Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, the designated coach-in-waiting at Florida State, has a clause in his contract that stipulates that if he doesn't take over the program by Jan. 11, 2011, the Seminoles will owe him $5 million.

Paterno, who received a three-year contract extension in December but does not have a succession plan, has staunchly defended his good friend Bowden in the past several weeks.

"My feeling is, Bobby coached the team he had and he won, OK? He ought to get credit for the wins," Paterno told reporters in late April. "I think that's ridiculous. Can anybody in this game, with all the rules of the NCAA, stand up and say, 'Every single kid I got, every single kid, is absolutely pure?' That's a tough statement to make."

A week ago, Paterno once again addressed his ongoing battle with Bowden at an alumni function. Paterno is entering his 44th season at Penn State; Bowden his 34th at Florida State.

"I'd be dishonest if I told you I ever give it two minutes' thought," Paterno said. "I can't tell you how many games I've won. I can't tell you how many games Bobby's won.

"But I would not want somebody to put me down in the grave and say, 'Here's the guy who won more games than any other college coach because you took 12 games away or 14 games away [from Bowden].' That's not right.

"Bobby played with what he had, played good football and he won. He won the games. That thing is not something I'm happy to discuss. I really don't care about it."

The cheating scandal at Florida State occurred mainly through online testing for a music history course in the fall of 2006 and the spring and summer semesters of 2007. It included staff members helping students on the test and, in one case, asking one athlete to take a test for another.

But Bowden told a group of boosters last month that he would be "shocked" if the decision isn't overturned, pointing out that Florida State discovered the academic fraud, suspended players and had scholarships taken away.

He also said he and Paterno have never discussed their race to be No. 1, but Bowden said he would not "lose a minute of sleep" if he finishes second to Paterno.

Many Penn State fans have long had an issue with the 31 victories Bowden accrued at Samford from 1959-62. Samford, then known as Howard College, did not play major college football at the time and is currently in Division I-AA.