Washington State and Oregon State yesterday won a court action “granting a temporary restraining order to prevent the Pac-12 Conference from meeting as a board until further ruling,” according to Amanda Sullender of the Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW. WSU and OSU, who will be the only remaining members of the conference beginning next summer, hope to "stop the other 10 from making decisions on behalf of the conference,” arguing that the exiting schools are “hopelessly conflicted.” WSU and OSU at yesterday’s hearing in Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court argued that allowing a meeting scheduled tomorrow of Pac-12 board members could “let the other universities ‘seize control of the conference’ and spell the end of a 100-year institution.” Judge Gary Libey wrote that the Pac-12 bylaws “state unambiguously” that members “lose their position on the Pac-12 board if they announce their intention to leave the conference before Aug. 1, 2024.” Representatives of the 10 schools leaving the conference were “not in the courtroom” yesterday. Rather than bring legal action to them directly, WSU and OSU “sued Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff,” who “called for the Wednesday meeting in dispute” (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 9/11). In San Jose, Jon Wilner reported a preliminary injunction hearing to “determine which schools have voting rights -- all 12, or only the Beavers and Cougars” -- is “expected to be scheduled in the next few weeks.” WSU and OSU feared tomorrow's scheduled meeting could "result in the 10 outgoing members voting as a block on a plan that would harm the two schools left behind in the realignment game” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 9/11).
WINNING ROUND ONE: Sportswriter John Canzano noted the courtroom featured “all sorts of interested parties,” including WSU President Kirk Schulz and AD Pat Chun. The hearing was “broadcast publicly via Zoom,” and it finished with a “spirited chorus of ‘Go Beavs!!’ and “Go Cougs!!’ cries from viewers who unmuted themselves before the court could end the broadcast.” Yesterday was “indeed a legal victory” for OSU and WSU, and it amounts to a “round-one win in what will be an ongoing lawsuit with much higher stakes.” It came out in court that the 10 departing members “aimed to have the Pac-12 cover part of their transition expenses to other conferences.” Kliavkoff’s attorney Mark Lambert told Libey that Kliavkoff was “in a ‘terrible position’ caught between board members with conflicting agendas.” But Libey “interrupted him and said Kliavkoff was in ‘Montana.’” Libey mentioned “expedited discovery” for the next hearing which means that the "standard timeframes for document exchanges will be shortened.” This process can “sometimes take 30-60 days,” but Libey asked the parties to “agree on shortened timeframes and a much shorter deadline to complete all discovery.” Canzano: “Does anyone really want discovery? Or is a settlement coming? Keep an eye on that. Not sure any of the presidents and chancellors want their communications to go public.” But OSU and WSU “won some leverage” yesterday (JOHNCANZANO.com, 9/11).
