STARTING FIVE

1. Overkill Bill Will

Are Fox –and USA Today –attempting to re-create the multi-platform magic of Bill Simmons with Will Leitch? This week the founder of Deadspin has been a regular on Fox Sports 1, while USA Today has been indulging his passion for both pop culture and social media with “The Will Leitch Experience”, which is almost but not entirely different than the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Right now, at least for me, Leitch remains too nervous and hyper-kinetic on camera. That’s who he is, fine. On camera, though, it unsettles everyone and also makes you appear a little shifty. He’s jovial and engaged, and that’s good, but watch how relaxed Charissa Thompson is when she asks a question. She’s Betty Draper’s younger sister who attended Colgate on a volleyball scholarship and now smokes Winstons with her friends at Dorian’s.

2. Johnny Bye Bye

Johnny Manziel announces that he is entering the NFL draft, and bully for him. He’s been out of high school for three seasons and spent two of them entertaining us college football fans with a level of mastery and sheer fun that few players ever achieve –Reggie Bush, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell, Doug Flutie and Roger Staubach come to mind.

Meanwhile in South Bend, tailback George Atkinson III, who began the season as Notre Dame’s No. 1 running back but ended it where his suffix is, announces that he will also enter the NFL draft.

I think most adults would say that the happiest days of their lives were their school days. So those who leave college early are missing something that is very important in terms of their total life. I understand the attraction of the big money, but they are missing something vitally important.

Feel free to disagree with me, but I did not actually write that previous paragraph. John Wooden did. I agree with it; but those are his words.

3. Outkast Won’t Be Outclassed

The announcement of the lineup for Coachella 2014 was made last night and tickets go on sale this weekend. The folks at the annual southern California April music festival must be advocates of the AT&T “More is Better” campaign.

The festival takes place over two three-day weekends, with the second weekend replicating the first. Headliners are Outkast (Friday), Muse (Saturday) and Arcade Fire (Sunday), while hot current acts such as Haim, Cage the Elephant and Lana del Rey will perform.

For old farts such as myself, there’s (similarly) past-their-prime acts The Replacements, The Cult, Bryan Ferry, Pet Shop Boys, Queens of the Stone Age and Beck.

Oh, and Foster the People will perform and let’s see if they troll all 90,000 fans by refusing to play “Pumped Up Kicks.”

Thought: Now that pot is legal in Colorado, how long until the Rocky Mountain State embarks on hosting a similarly ambitious mega-music weekend? And I don’t mean the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

4. Let’s Hug It Out One More Time

Vince, Johnny, E., Turtle, Ari and LLOYYYYDD!!!!! are back and will begin filming the Entourage movie within a week or so. So tell Sloan I say what up.

Me, I’m just happy to see Mark Wahlberg involved in a project again. I was worried about him.

5. Sleazy Rider

You see Pitino/I say Petrino/You say Louisville/I say Loserville,

Pitino/Petrino/Coitus/Exploit us,

Let’s call the whole thing awful…

Louisville hires former Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino to replace Charlie Strong. You have to wonder how long ago the (motorcycle) wheels for this union were set in motion. Athletic director Tom Jurich had to have a pretty good idea that Strong was a hot coach moving up the ladder and this was, after all, most likely to be quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s final season. So Petrino takes a job relatively close by at Western Kentucky –this is a man who not too long ago coached the Atlanta Falcons — and reconnects with some old power brokers.

SI’s Stewart Mandel is not a fan of the hire. Most ethical people are not.

The Bank

Balance: $1,030

Last Night: Took the Blazers minus 12.5 at home versus Orlando for $60. Portland trailed by nine (my bad) four entering the fourth quarter, but a 39-19 final frame put them in the winner’s circle.

Record: 4-2

Tonight: Friedman’s First Law (authored by SI Senior Editor Dick Friedman) is that there’s no such thing as a home upset in college hoops. No. 1 and undefeated Arizona visits UCLA, first-year coach Steve Alford and Pauley Pavilion tonight. The Bruins are 2-point dogs. We’ll take them for $20.

Remote Patrol

No. 1 Arizona at UCLA

ESPN 9 p.m.

You know who scored 20 points for the Bruins their last time out? Bryce Alford, the coach’s son, who is a freshman. So now we both feel old. Arizona is worthy of its top ranking, and they were manly in their win at Michigan, but it’s a Thursday night with national television in Westwood. I pray that Bill Walton is the analyst.