The Vikings played in TCF Bank Stadium in 2010 after the Metrodome’s roof collapsed. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Vikings have completed a deal with the University of Minnesota that will allow the NFL team to play games at TCF Bank Stadium while the Vikings’ new $1 billion stadium is constructed in downtown Minneapolis.

The university’s Board of Regents is expected to five final approval Friday to a plan that includes the Vikings paying $300,000 per game and the costs of all improvements made to the stadium for NFL games, including a heated field and additional seating.

The team was forced to recruit shovelers to clear the stadium’s field while using the facility after the Metrodome’s roof collapsed in December 2010.

The agreement only allows stadium use for Sunday games and one weeknight game per season in 2014 and 2015, and includes additional terms if construction delays force the team to use the facility in 2016 and 2017. The Vikings will play their last season at the Metrodome in 2013. The Metrodome will be razed in early 2014, with the Vikings hoping to open the new stadium in July 2016.

Vikings and university officials praised the deal:

“We promise to be good partners and good neighbors,” said Lester Bagley, vice president of stadium development for the Vikings.

University President Eric Kaler said he was “delighted to be able to help” the Vikings while it builds its new stadium. “I think we’ve reached a very fair agreement to both sides.”

The Vikings will also contribute $90,000 to a neighborhood fund, plus $35,000 in in-kind services that could be used to plant trees or build a playground.

One of the stickiest issues of the plan has amounted to Coke vs. Pepsi. While the university has a 10-year agreement making Coca-Cola the exclusive soft drink on campus, the Vikings have an exclusive pour agreement with Pepsi. The National Football League’s agreement with Gatorade — owned by Pepsi — also created a conflict with “Gatorade-logoed coolers, cups and towels” on the sidelines of all NFL games.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

The new deal between the university and the Vikings allows Gatorade products on the sidelines and in one suite. Print ads featuring Pepsi and Gatorade will be permitted in the Vikings’ programs, according to a summary of the deal.

Richard Pitino was hired as the new men’s basketball coach at Minnesota. (Photo provided by the AP)

Minnesota hired Richard Pitino on Wednesday as its new men’s basketball coach, the school announced.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

Pitino, the son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino, spent one season at Florida International, and led the Panthers to an 18-14 record and an 11-9 record in the Sun Belt Conference. It was the school’s first winning season in 13 seasons.

Pitino, 30, replaces Tubby Smith, who was fired last week after six seasons at the school. Smith was hired at Texas Tech on Monday. Pitino worked for his father at Louisville and also spent time Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida.

A.J. Barker quit the Minnesota Gophers after claims of mistreatment. (Matthew Hoist/Getty Images)

A.J. Barker, the University of Minnesota walk-on receiver who left the team last month after posting a scathing open letter to Gophers coach Jerry Kill, has accepted a scholarship offer to play for the University of Houston, according to a report by the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

“He’s super excited now that he has a coach that truly believes he’s the real deal,” said Ross, a former Wisconsin walk-on receiver. “He’s gonna do great. I’m excited for him. It’s a great opportunity.”

Houston coach Tony Levine has a connection to the Minnesota program, having played wide receiver for the Gophers from 1991-95.

Barker, a walk-on, led Minnesota receivers with 30 catches for 577 yards and seven touchdowns, before suffering a high ankle sprain during a 44-28 victory over Purdue on Oct. 27.

He announced his departure and claims of mistreatment on Nov. 18 on Twitter and in an open letter to Kill on Tumblr.

Kill denied Barker was mistreated and said he wished Barker had talked with him before deciding to quit the team.

A.J. Barker, a junior walk-on who had become the University of Minnesota’s leading wide receiver, announced that he is quitting the Gophers on Twitter — and took several shots at head coach Jerry Kill on the way out:

Well, its official. I am done playing football for the University of Minnesota and I will be looking to transfer next season for my final yr—
AJ Barker (@A_Barker_82) November 18, 2012

For anyone who wants to read the exact letter I sent Jerry Kill, hear why, check out my blog post on my new tumblr: AJBarker82—
AJ Barker (@A_Barker_82) November 18, 2012

It’s over.

Thank you for that last bit of motivation I needed to put myself over the top.  Thank you for showing me your true colors; that you will stop at nothing to prove you have control over me.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to play on your team.  Thank you for “loving” me.  Thank you for proving that with hard work and persistence people can go very far, even if they are less qualified/talented than their competition.  Thank you for not giving me a scholarship. Thank you for providing me with an additional perspective of how to coach a college football team.

Now, in honor of my family and myself I’m done with you for good. In light of that pathetic, manipulative display of rage and love you put on this past Thursday, I have come to the decision, with the guidance of my parents and my closest friends, that my time on this team has come to an end. It kills me that I have to do this before the season’s over, but this is the only way I can protect myself against the manipulation and abuse I’d have to endure from you the rest of this season.

Barker goes on at length to criticize Kill and Minnesota’s role in not diagnosing what he claims an eventual MRI revealed to be a torn ATL and bone bruise above the heel.

Barker had 30 receptions and seven touchdowns before missing three games following an upper ankle injury suffered against Purdue on Oct. 27.

Kill had publicly held back on awarding Barker a scholarship until one came available.