PAC-12 future in Colfax court

COLFAX - Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey issued a temporary restraining order Monday, Sept. 11, preventing PAC-12 members from meeting until further notice.

The order comes as the college athletic conference has seen an exodus of members, leaving just Washington State and Oregon State universities committed to the organization.

PAC-12 Chairman and Washington State University President Kirk Schulz and WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun attended the hearing on the lawsuit filed by WSU and OSU to prevent the organization from meeting Wednesday, Sept. 13.

Remaining PAC-12 leaders and schools were concerned the departing schools would seek to sell off organization assets to cover their expenses associated with joining a different college athletics club at the conclusion of this current academic year.

Ten universities in the conference have announced that they are leaving; USC and UCLA plan to join the Big 10.

WSU and OSU originally filed a joint complaint the week prior to the hearing as both believed the meeting and voting scheduled to take place was a potential threat to the conference.

Eric MacMichael is representing WSU and OSU.

Earlier this summer, after USC and UCLA announced they were leaving, the PAC-12 banished them from participating or voting on conference matters.

A preliminary injunction hearing before Judge Libey is expected soon to determine the makeup of the remaining PAC-12 conference board.

Normally, the court allows for 30-60 days to file paperwork and address related matters. However, Libey asked parties to agree on a shortened timeframe.

WSU and OSU are looking to save the PAC-12 and determine how the conference can move forward.

After the departures of USC and UCLA, the next university to leave was University of Colorado. The Buffaloes announced their departure July 27; they are heading to the Big-12 conference.

Shortly after, on Aug. 4, PAC-12 powerhouses Oregon and Washington both announced their departures. Their landing destination is the Big 10, joining USC and UCLA.

Just hours later, the final card was dealt by most of the remaining schools. Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah announced they would join Colorado in the Big 12.

That left just WSU, OSU, Stanford and University of California-Berkeley.

But on Sept. 1, Uinversity of California-Berkeley and Stanford announced their decisions to join the ACC next season, leaving WSU and OSU high and dry.