ROSE BOWL / DAILY REPORT : WISCONSIN

Alvarez has heard more than he cares to hear about the Badgers’ 0-3 record in the Rose Bowl, but he considers it meaningless.

Alvarez and Donahue parried reporters’ questions Friday in the final interview session before today’s showdown in Pasadena.

“We’ve had to deal with that kind of talk all year,” Alvarez said. “Stuff like we’ve never won on grass, we’ve never won on the road in so-many years, we haven’t won at Purdue in 90 years.

“It goes on and on. We’ve talked about it all along, and we’ve wiped out all those records except the last one. Now comes the big one, and we’re ready.”

Alvarez was asked how he thought his players would feel when they waited in the tunnel in the huge Pasadena stadium, with more than 100,000 fans in the stands.

“I’ve told my kids about it,” he said. “I’m sure there will be a lot of butterflies.”

The Badgers had a light workout at the Rose Bowl earlier Friday, and Alvarez said: “They were scared, because everybody was yelling at them to stay off the paint (on the field).”

Before taking the Wisconsin job, Alvarez was assistant head coach under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame. He was asked if he had sought any advice from Holtz.

“Sure, he sent me a new option offense,” Alvarez said. “No, I’m kidding. But yes, he has been a sounding board for me, and I visited with him before we started our Rose Bowl practice.”

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Wide receiver J.C. Dawkins doubtless spoke for all of his Wisconsin teammates when the subject of the Pac-10’s Rose Bowl domination came up.

“Our guys haven’t had anything to do with that,” Dawkins said. “We’ve had distractions all season, about having to go to Tokyo to play a home game against Michigan State. That’s the reason this team is like it is. We can cope with anything.”

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Fullback Mark Montgomery was not among the Wisconsin players who made all-Big Ten teams, yet he could be their hottest prospect for a career in the NFL.

Montgomery, 6-feet-1 and 220 pounds, is a devastating blocker for the Badgers’ alternating tailbacks, Brent Moss and Terrell Fletcher. He also has 4.4-second speed.

“When they see him in the combine workouts, he’ll blow their socks off,” Alvarez said. “Guys with his combination of speed and blocking ability don’t come along very often.”

Montgomery is from St. Paul, but chose Wisconsin over Minnesota because the Gophers wanted to make him a linebacker.