Paterno was fired from his job at Penn State University following a sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant football coach who worked under him. Jerry Sandusky faces 40 counts of child abuse.
Paterno was dismissed from the football department after law enforcement agents decided he didn't do enough to stop the suspected abuse, which they say he knew about in 2002.
"We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno's name on the trophy at this time," said Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany. "The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial. We believe that it's important to keep the focus on the players and the teams that will be competing in the inaugural championship game."
The trophy will be called the Stagg Championship Trophy, retaining the name of University of Chicago football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stagg, 199-94-22, led the school to national Big Ten championships in 1905 and 1913 when U of Chicago had a football program and was in the Big Ten.
The Stagg Championship Trophy to be awarded at its inaugural Football Championship Game on December 3 in Indianapolis.
