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JOTTINGS

• Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck said he was pleased with Thursday's 48-10 victory over New Mexico State but added, "It is very, very difficult to exceed my expectations, because the minute you're getting close to exceeding my expectations, they immediately go up. It's very hard to do that. I don't know if anybody exceeded it. This is what I wanted to see out of our football team."

• Now that the preseason is over, the oddsmakers at Bovada have the Vikings tied with the Rams for the third- best odds to win the NFL championship, trailing last year's Super Bowl teams, the Patriots and Eagles. The Vikings also have opened as six-point favorites over the 49ers for Week 1.

• It's worth noting that left tackle Matt Kalil, the Vikings' 2012 first-round pick now in his second season with Carolina, had a knee scope and is out indefinitely.

• The Bears' trade for Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack brought to mind the Vikings' trade of a first-round pick and two third-round picks in the 2008 draft to the Chiefs for defensive end Jared Allen. Kansas City got tackle Branden Albert in the first round and running back Jamaal Charles and safety DaJuan Morgan in the third. Charles is the Chiefs' all-time rushing leader. Allen was a three-time All-Pro and one of the greatest Vikings ever.

• The word is that former Gophers men's basketball player Royce White of Hopkins is going to play in Italy under longtime NCAA and NBA coach Larry Brown for Fiat Torino.

• Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari talked to Kentucky Sports Radio about DeLaSalle product Reid Travis, who is now with the Wildcats as a graduate transfer from Stanford. "My thing with him is, let's lose some weight," Calipari said. "Let's be more about movement. You're not going to lose your strength and your power."