Nothing says New Year’s Day like bowl games.

These days, however, the Jan. 1 college football lineup is more of a whisper than a roar.

Every first day of the year as a child, I planted myself in front of the TV and watched the best of the best compete all day and into the night. You could count on seeing Oklahoma, Nebraska, Penn State, Miami — the list goes on and on.

That’s been changing over the past couple decades. College football’s version of the postseason still offers plenty of entertainment, but it’s spread out over more than 20 days. In 2010-11, the first game was on Dec. 18 and the last one, the so-called championship game, isn’t until Jan. 10.

New Year’s Day offers just six games, which would be plenty if they were the half dozen best games of the bowl season. Instead, I can only recommend the Rose Bowl (TCU vs. Wisconsin, 3 p.m.) as a must-see.

So what to do? I have some thoughts.

For starters, sleep in. It’s a holiday and a Saturday, so whether or not you went out the night before and ushered in the year with a blast, don’t rush out of bed. There are 364 more days in the year for that.

The Rose Parade, another major tradition, starts at 9 a.m. — that’s about the earliest you should reach for that first cup of coffee.

Make a large breakfast. What you cook is up to you, but I recommend eggs, bacon and hash browns. This will taste particularly good to those of you who had a late night and perhaps too much champagne.

Or if you can find a restaurant open near you, go out for breakfast or brunch or lunch — whichever happens to be the day’s first meal.

Return those unwanted holiday gifts. Some of the major retailers are open, so hit the stores on a day when they’ll be less crowded. Certainly, most people have something better to do, right?

Spend time with family and share a traditional New Year’s feast. According to various cultures, some foods — including cabbage, peas, pork and fish — are supposed to bring luck for the year ahead.

The best luck, of course, is eating a good meal cooked by someone else. So I’m fine with lasagna or pot roast, Mom.

Catch a movie. Not sure if there is anything worth seeing, but it’ll likely be better than the Progressive Gator Bowl (Mississippi State vs. Michigan — both teams have at least four losses). By the way, what’s a “progressive gator”?

Be productive.

Gather those tax forms. Get a jump on that new home workout regimen.

Yeah, right.

Do nothing. This likely will entail watching all six bowl games.

You can wrap up the viewing with the contest that starts at 6:30 p.m.: Oklahoma meets that traditional football power Connecticut in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.