It’s pretty rare that a driver outside of the Chase for the Cup gets to steal the spotlight in October. But Brian Vickers would probably prefer to lay low this week.

Vickers has drawn plenty of criticism for his actions at last week’s UAW Ford 500 at the famed Talladega Superspeedway. Running in third place behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, Vickers accidentally bumped into Johnson - his Hendrick Motorsports teammate - on the last lap of the race. That caused Johnson to careen into Earnhardt; both men spun out, and Vickers cruised to victory.

With Vickers already considered persona non grata in the Hendrick garage (he’s moving to Team Red Bull next season), last week’s events made the North Carolina native even more of a pariah. He’ll be getting a beefed-up security escort this Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in his home state for the Bank of America 500. Track officials arranged the extra security after a deluge of irate phone calls from NASCAR fans.

Johnson can sympathize with the fans. His chances at winning his first Nextel Cup took a hit when he had to settle for a 24th-place finish at Talladega; Johnson is now 156 points behind Chase leader Jeff Burton with six races left to go in the season. Perhaps he can channel his anger this week at Lowe’s, one of his favorite tracks on the NASCAR circuit. Johnson is favored at +450 to win Saturday night’s race. Vickers is well down the odds list at +4000.

Johnson is the two-time defending winner of this event. Not only that, he’s won five of his last seven appearances in Charlotte, and has finished no worse than seventh since crashing out of his 2001 debut at Lowe’s. But Johnson, believe it or not, isn’t technically the best of the best on this track - that honor goes to Carl Edwards (+1400). In three career races at Lowe’s, Edwards has placed third twice and 10th once, for an average result of 5.33 compared to 6.2 for Johnson. Sometimes, the statistics do lie.

Television coverage on NBC gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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The Virginia Tech Hokies are going to be down a man Thursday night when they visit the Boston College Eagles.

Junior wide receiver Josh Hyman, currently second on the Hokies with 13 receptions, was reportedly suspended by coach Frank Beamer for an undisclosed violation of team rules. That suspension could be the tipping point in what promises to be a close ACC battle. Virginia Tech went into Wednesday as a 2.5-point road favorite with a total of 42. That line held firm after reports of Hyman’s status first hit the wire.

The Hokies and Eagles share 4-1 records straight up, and both teams sit at 2-2 against the spread. But many bettors are looking at Virginia Tech’s amazing 10-1 ATS streak on Thursday night ESPN telecasts. The one loss, however, was to Boston College, and Hyman’s absence might be enough to make it two once the dust has cleared at Chestnut Hill.

Fortunately for Hokies supporters, their team is blessed with a deep and dangerous receiving corps. Supporting top wideout Eddie Royal are three other players with double digits in receptions: David Clowney (18), Justin Harper (11) and Josh Morgan (10). This strength in numbers has been crucial to Virginia Tech’s success in the wake of Marcus Vick’s early departure - sophomore Sean Glennon has taken over at quarterback with reasonably good results.

Matching that success against one of the best pass defenses in the ACC would be a major boost to the Hokies’ conference title hopes. Stud linebacker Brian Toal is expected to be near 100 percent after some issues with a sore shoulder; the extended rest since B.C.’s Sept. 30 win over Div. 1-AA Maine has also helped receiver Brandon Robinson, safety Jamie Silva and offensive lineman Justin Bell round into form in time for Thursday’s matchup.

The Eagles have their own suspension issues to contend with, although this could be a case of addition by subtraction. Kicker Ryan Oligher (11-of-14 on extra points this year) is on the sidelines indefinitely after getting into a fight outside a local bar; his job could be taken for good by sophomore Steve Aponavicius, a walk-on who played soccer and baseball in high school. His presence may prove pivotal in a matchup where the line is under a field goal.

Kick-off from Alumni Stadium is at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Morning showers are expected to taper off well in advance.

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If you asked any casual college football fan whom they thought would be in first place in the MT West right now, you’d most likely hear Utah, TCU, or BYU come out of their mouth. You certainly wouldn’t hear Air Force after putting up a losing campaign for the second year in a row last season, but that’s exactly the case. The Falcons find themselves atop the MWC standings with Utah and BYU, and HC DeBerry’s men will be eager to get back on the field this Thursday night to rinse the bitter taste of the Navy loss out of their mouths. Colorado State picked up its first conference win of the season with a commanding effort against UNLV that saw them win by a 28-7 count. HC Lubick has done an excellent job with this club to date considering I felt they were in for a down year. That just hasn’t been the case, and it’s mostly been due to the stellar play of its defense. CSU is now second in the conference and 13th in the nation in run defense, allowing a mere 75 YPG. The pass defense is also second in the league and 22nd in the country, permitting just 162 YPG which in turn pushes the overall defense for the Rams to sixth in the nation, with a combined 237 YPG allowed overall. Points should be at a premium in the frigid air of Colorado Springs this evening, so I’m inclined to grab as many points as I can and watch as these two lock horns in a pivotal MWC battle.

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Grab the healthy helping of points here as Clemson romps huge in the first half, then blast Phish’s chalk dust torture and sit back as the Owls fight to stay within the number in the second stanza. Man this is a heaping load of points the Tigers are laying in this spot. I know they’ve been playing like the team to beat in the ACC of late, but that is a ton of chalk to have to lay in this spot. I can’t foresee the 1st string to get many snaps in this one as HC Tommy Bowden would be wise to rest them up for next weeks Homecoming game against GTECH that is sure to be a battle. They’re not at home, this is a non-conference sandwich game, and they’re coming off a grueling game a week ago that saw them put forth a stunning 4th quarter comeback. I really don’t see them getting up for the mighty Temple Owls in this spot. That being said, Temple is flat out atrocious, and Clemson might be able to cover this number against them while asleep. However, Temple has shown a pulse the last few weeks by covering their last two games ATS, and should put forth another solid effort under the big bright lights of an ESPNU telecast.

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