Rose Bowl matchup should be smashing STANFORD FOOTBALL

Stanford's Ben Gardner (49) celebrates his solo quarterback sack against Notre Dame late into the second quarter at Stanford Stadium on November 26 2011 in Stanford, California. Stanford's Ben Gardner (49) celebrates his solo quarterback sack against Notre Dame late into the second quarter at Stanford Stadium on November 26 2011 in Stanford, California. Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Rose Bowl matchup should be smashing 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

In an era of spread offenses and passing attacks, the Rose Bowl will match teams that are throwbacks to an era when there were no facemasks.

Both Stanford and Wisconsin play smash-mouth football. The Jan. 1 game in Pasadena figures to be a rushing festival.

"It's going to be a bloodbath," Stanford defensive end Ben Gardner said Sunday night. "It's going to be a physical game up front. We're going to try to show that we can play physical in the Pac-12 as well."

Linebacker Shayne Skov said, "It's going to be much more of an old-school, old-fashioned football game than people are used to. It's going to be fun."

On a conference call with the national media, Stanford head coach David Shaw said he and Wisconsin's Bret Bielema talked at a banquet last year "about how we admire how each other plays."

"This is probably going to be the first team for the both of us that's almost like a mirror image. I think our guys are going to see things they go against in training camp."

As recently as three weeks ago, few people imagined that the Cardinal and the Badgers would hold a rematch of their January 2000 Rose Bowl, in which Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne led Wisconsin to a 17-9 win.

Stanford needed probably the greatest finishing drive in its football history - beating Oregon State, then-No. 1 Oregon and UCLA (twice), all ranked teams. Wisconsin is the first five-loss team to reach Pasadena.

"We're a different team now than we were at the beginning of the season," Stanford linebacker Trent Murphy said. "The same thing can be said for them."

The Badgers finished third in their division but took advantage of being able to play for the title because both Ohio State and Penn State were ineligible for postseason play.

Their 8-5 record is highly misleading. The five losses were by a combined 19 points, including three overtime defeats. The Badgers erased any doubts by clobbering Nebraska 70-31 on Saturday in the Big Ten title game. They are only the second Big Ten team to play in three straight Rose Bowls; Michigan did it in the late 1970s.

Still, the Badgers are unranked in the Associated Press poll. Stanford remained No. 8 in the latest survey and was No. 6 in the final BCS standings. The Rose Bowl marks Stanford's third straight year in a BCS bowl game and fourth straight in a bowl.

The Pasadena trip is "definitely a dream come true" for Gardner, a Wisconsin native. "I was raised a Badger fan," he said.

On signing day at his high school, he recalled, one of his teammates signed with the Badgers, and both players received questions about a possible matchup in the Rose Bowl. "But the people obviously didn't believe it was going to happen," Gardner said. "They almost laughed at it as a long shot."

Shaw said the late-season successes of the two Rose Bowl teams are "part of the reason why conferences have gone to a championship game. You always have a chance. If you can find a way to get into those championship games, you never know what is going to happen."

Getting there: Rose Bowl tickets go on sale at gostanford.com at 9 a.m. Monday.