What time is the Super Bowl? After the lengthy pregame, of course

OK, for those of you who have Super Bowl parties scheduled, or for those who tune in to the NFL once a year and for some reason haven’t heard, Super Bowl XLVIII is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.. That’s 3:30 p.m. PST.

If you want to plan some kind of activity during halftime instead of watching Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, figure on getting a break in the game about 90 minutes after the start.

You’ll have plenty of time; some halftime extravaganzas seem to last forever, but the break will probably be about half an hour.

Of course, you might want to stick with the halftime show. There’s plenty of buzz around the performers, including these prop bets on what might happen, which could keep the conversation going when the action moves to the stage from the playing field.

And if about four hours of game time isn’t enough, you can always tune in to Fox for a little pregame information. Actually, more pregame information than you’ll probably ever need. In effect, the pregame show began once the AFC and NFC championship games were played, but you can get a solid fix beginning Sunday morning.

At 9 a.m. PST, “The Road to the Super Bowl” kicks off the same-day preview coverage on Fox, and football shows will essentially run up all the way to game time. The suggestion here, though, is work your way gently into the game. Opening the bar early in the pregame will only make Monday morning much less enjoyable.