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The 10 departing Pac-12 schools are fighting back against a Tuesday ruling that made Washington State and Oregon State the conference’s only governing and voting members.
As Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports shared, the University of Washington was the one to file a motion in the state’s Supreme Court on behalf of all the schools that are exiting the league:
Ross Dellenger @RossDellengerThe University of Washington, on behalf of the 10 departing Pac-12 schools, has filed a motion in Washington Supreme Court to put Tuesday’s ruling in favor of OSU and WSU on hold & extend the restraining order to allow the Supreme Court to schedule a complete review. Expected. pic.twitter.com/ORqMlNnzzr
The appeal filing was done in an effort to put Tuesday’s ruling on hold so there can be a complete review from the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, Whitman County (Washington) Superior Court Judge Gary Libey granted the request from Washington State and Oregon State for a preliminary injunction.
Dellenger noted the appeal filing argued that two teams controlling the board would give them the opportunity to “swiftly re-write” league rules and distribute “the conference’s hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues to the detriment of the student-athletes” by leaving out the 10 departing schools.
USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are going to the Big Ten, while Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State are going to the Big 12. Stanford and Cal are going to the ACC.
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN reported on Tuesday’s decision and noted Oregon State and Washington State argued conference bylaws state schools that revealed they were leaving for other leagues forfeited their rights to make decisions on the conference board. They said that was the case when UCLA and USC announced they were going to the Big Ten.
However, they said the other schools changed their tune when it became apparent everyone in the league except for the Cougars and Beavers were leaving.
“I grew up where conduct spoke louder than words. That’s how my parents treated me, and that’s how I treated my children when they were growing up,” Libey said before issuing his decision on Tuesday. “With that in mind, this court finds in favor that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their interpretation of the bylaws.”
Had Libey ruled in favor of he leaving schools, they could have easily outvoted Oregon State and Washington State in any board action.
“At the heart of the dispute is forthcoming revenue,” Bonagura wrote.
The schools leaving are worried that Oregon State and Washington State will withhold revenue they expected for this academic year before departing, while the Beavers and Cougars are concerned the other schools could dissolve the Pac-12 and distribute its assets.
This will all be the backdrop for some high-stakes football games in the coming weeks.
Both Washington and Oregon are in the middle of the College Football Playoff race and play Oregon State during the next two weeks. The Beavers could deliver significant blows to the championship hopes of the Huskies and Ducks all while the schools are fighting in the courts.
