The ongoing drama in the Pac-12 continued on Monday with a new round of legal action from schools like USC, UCLA, Colorado, and Washington as they look to stop an injunction by the surviving schools of the crumbling conference.
One of the biggest stories in college sports over the last year is the Pac-12 and how the legendary West Coast conference is being pillaged as rival conferences like the Big 10 and Big 12 bolster their leagues for future media rights deals.
Heading into 2024, all but two schools remain in the conference as schools like USC, USC, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and five others have announced their intentions to take their programs elsewhere next year. However, Oregon State and Washington State are the last schools standing in the remains of the conference and made moves last month to try and save the Pac-12 brand.
In September, they filed a successful injunction to block the 10 exiting programs and the conference from conducting board meetings to make major decisions. In a Sept. 11 hearing Washington State and Oregon State contended that the 10 other schools lost their right to be a part of the board when they revealed their plans to leave the conference next year.
The two schools also hope to gain control of the Pac-12 brand and rebuild it by adding new programs from other West Coast-based conferences. However, on Monday the exiting programs, led by Washington, looked to get that restraining order dismissed in a Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court.
USC, Washington, and UCLA look to dismiss Pac-12 board restraining order
The Athletic was the first to report that Washington — with the support of the nine other exiting schools — filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit created by Washington St. and Oregon St.
“The brief filed on behalf of the nine schools states that ‘A member breaches its obligations … only if it delivers a notice that it will actually withdraw before August 1, 2024. None of the 10 schools that WSU and OSU seek to expel from the Board have delivered such a notice, because none of them will withdraw before August 1, 2024.'”
– The Athletic
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Following the dismissal requestion, spokesman for Washington St. and Oregon St. claimed in a statement that “The departing schools continue to undermine our efforts to secure the future of the Pac-12 Conference. They are relying on flimsy arguments to try to escape accountability for their actions. It won’t work. Their decisions directly damaged the Pac-12 and are causing real harm to the Conference, OSU, WSU, student-athletes, and the people of Oregon and Washington.
“We did not create or seek these circumstances, but OSU and WSU will continue to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our universities, ensure accountability and transparency, safeguard the Pac-12 Conference, and preserve our options moving forward,” the statement added. “The future of the Pac-12 should be decided by the schools who stay, not those who go.”