On Sunday, Feb. 5, millions of Americans are expected to tune in — a good number of them at home parties — for Super Bowl XL.

The Big Game is one of the most watched TV broadcasts of the year, but anyone who has been to a Super Bowl party knows, this event is about much more than watching two football teams battle on the gridiron.

Super Bowl parties are about having a good time — renewing social skills after the long post-holiday layoff — and eating. Super Bowl Sunday is traditionally the biggest single day for pizza deliveries and frozen pizza sales. (Evidently, no one keeps tabs on wing and sub sandwich consumption.)

Often, what's on the buffet matters more than the final score.

It has evolved into a national holiday of sorts, an occasion to break out of the winter blues and an excuse to cheat on the New Year's diet.

If you're planning to host a celebration, we help you score with guests by offering a super 40 (XL) ways to improve your party.

1. Get organized. Decide now, if you haven't already, who to invite and what to serve. Make to-do lists.

2. Call or e-mail invitations ASAP. A Web site, www.evite.com, helps e-mail and customize invitations and manage responses. And it's free.

3. Put a party start and end time on invitations. Television coverage begins in the morning, and the game begins about 1:30 p.m. Hawai'i time. A party that starts at noon and ends after the game (about 5 p.m.) is reasonable.

4. Don't wait until the last minute to shop for food and party supplies. No one wants to be haggling over the last pound of ground beef at the store on pre-game Saturday night.

5. Buy paper plates and cups.

6. Think about asking for Monday, Feb. 6 as a day off from work. After this party, you might need the rest.

7. Count chairs. You won't need a seat for everyone who RSVPs, but you should have plenty of chairs for guests near the TV. Rent or borrow them.

8. Designate two party areas — a television room for those who want to watch the game and another space for those who prefer to chat. Put out snacks in both areas.

9. Set up a bar in the kitchen or on any stable, flat surface with a plastic tablecloth for easy cleanup. Stock up on ice, cups, drinks, water, mixers, and lemon and lime wedges.

10. Clean bathrooms and put out extra toilet paper, tissues and hand towels.

11. Buy or borrow a big-screen TV. A one-day rental is ridiculous — about $150 to $250 — if you can find one. If you're considering more television-oriented parties, maybe you should invest in a new set or borrow a big screen from a friend. (Invite the friend.)

12. Buy a digital video recorder or TiVo box. The network will provide plenty of instant replays of the game. But some guests may be more interested in watching the clever commercials over and over again. Idea: Hook up the DVR on another television set — away from the "game" TV.

13. Put out several trash and recycling cans and line them with plastic bags for easier cleanup.

14. Order pizza, subs, wings and other food early. Some chains will take orders up to a week ahead.

15. Instead of the same old subs, bring in a deli-stuffed pretzel sandwich or maybe a meatball sub and a fresh vegetarian sub.

16. Nothing wrong with making your party a potluck buffet, but be smart about it. Ask people what they'd like to bring, then mix it up. Make sure you don't get a dozen versions of chili-cheese dip.

17. Don't kill yourself trying to cook everything. Instead, prepare a specialty or two and brag.

18. Prep as much as you can the day before. Soup and chili really do taste better the next day.

19. Make the following recipe, a winning tailgating dish in Cincinnati in 2005.

LAGROTTA'S ITALIAN BEEF SANDWICHES

Cut a boneless, 4-pound sirloin tip or other beef roast into six or nine chunks. Put beef into a slow cooker with 1 3/4 teaspoons dried basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper. Add half a cup of water, 1 large, thinly sliced onion and a 16-ounce jar of pickled pepper rings, including liquid. Stir well. Cover and cook on low eight to nine hours, until beef shreds easily. Refrigerate until needed. For party, reheat beef mixture and serve strained beef on hoagie rolls topped with melted mozzarella. Makes 10 to 12 sandwiches.

20. If you cook chili, offer bowls of toppers, including sour cream, diced peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions and avocado, and slices of garlic bread for dipping up the juices. Allow guests to garnish chili themselves.

21. Also for the vegetarians, offer cut vegetables with dip, bean dip, guacamole and other meatless snacks.

22. Make the best guacamole by buying avocados several days ahead and allowing them to ripen at room temperature.

23. For an easy Southwest three-bean salad, rinse and drain canned red, black and green beans and toss with garlic vinaigrette and a dash of chili powder. Chill until serving. (Source: Canned Food Alliance.)

24. Heat chunks of cream cheese in microwave or oven until it begins to melt. Pour a sweet and spicy sauce or hot pepper jelly over the cheese and serve with crackers.

25. Easiest dessert: Pre-cut fruit from the supermarket.

26. Serve beer from the hometowns of the teams.

27. Offer soft drinks, bottled water and other nonalcoholic beverages.

28. Super Bowl parties are usually indulgent. But for nutrition's sake, serve low-fat or light cheese, dips and dressings, baked chips and crackers, and diet drinks.

29. Create goofy gambling games. Place bets on the final total score or the total number of beer or animal ads aired — anything to keep things lively.

30. Here's a game that requires only footballs and fun-loving folks.

Divide contestants into teams, each team standing in a line. Object is to place the football between your knees and pass it to next person on your team — standing face-to-face or front-to-back, without touching the ball with your hands. And so on. First team to pass ball from beginning to end of line wins. Assign a spectator to take pictures for laughs.

31. Football is much about trivia, whether the game is worth watching or not. Like the Olym-pic Games, Roman numerals are used to identify each Super Bowl. A little Roman numeral trivia: Seven letters are used in combinations to write Roman numerals: "I," "V," "X," "L," "C," "D" and "M." This year, a new letter is being introduced to the Super Bowl line-up. It's "L," for Super Bowl XL (40).

32. More trivia: Which cities have hosted the Super Bowl most often? The city that has hosted the most is New Orleans (nine) followed by Miami (eight) and Los Angeles (seven).

33. Ask your guests to vote for their all-time favorite Super Bowl commercials. For a refresher, in 2004, ESPN writers voted the Macintosh Apple "1984" spot (it aired that year) the best Super Bowl television commercial of all time. The Budweiser "Frogs" (1995) commercial came in second, followed by Pepsi's "Apartment 10G" (1987, starring Michael J. Fox). Pepsi and Budweiser had two commercials each in the elite list.

34. Buy a trivia book, such as "Super Bowl Trivia: 75 Quizzes from A to Z" (Tuff Turtle; $14.95) and pass it around.

35. Something else to talk about: How does halftime entertainment (Rolling Stones and last year's Paul McCartney show) stack up to the era of extravaganzas ended by the infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction in 2004?

36. If the game isn't worth watching or uninterested children are invited, have board games, alternative movie DVDs for a separate TV or other diversions handy.

37. Playing music before the game is a good idea. You could select from favorite Rolling Stones records, go entirely Motown in honor of the host city or go Cajun as an homage to Katrina-torn New Orleans.

38. When the game's over, do not say "no" when someone offers to help clean up.

39. End the party with plastic trophies for winners of various trivia and score-guessing contests.

40. As guests leave, offer them a round of antacids, aspirin and a bottle of water for the road. Make sure they're able to drive home safely, then say good night.