Ruling grants Oregon State, Washington State full control of Pac-12 - ESPN

A state judge in Washington granted Oregon State and Washington State sole control of the Pac-12 board of directors Tuesday, issuing the ruling at a preliminary injunction hearing in Whitman County Court.

Judge Gary Libey granted a stay of the decision through the end of the week — at no objection from OSU and WSU — during which the 10 schools leaving the Pac-12 following the 2023-24 school year will initiate the appeals process. It is unclear when the Washington Supreme Court will decide whether to take the case.

The decision comes roughly two months after Libey granted a temporary restraining order at the request of OSU and WSU that prevented Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff from calling any Pac-12 board meetings.

«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. «With that in mind, this court finds in favor that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their interpretation of the bylaws.»

In a small Whitman County courthouse, roughly 15 miles from WSU's campus, Libey heard arguments from three parties: OSU/WSU, the Pac-12 and the University of Washington, which entered the case as an intervenor, working on behalf of the nine other departing schools (Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Utah).

Over the course of about two and a half hours, all three parties argued for different outcomes.

OSU and WSU argued — as they have done for weeks in written briefs — that conference bylaws were clear that when schools announced they were joining other conferences, they immediately surrendered their seat on the conference board. That, they argued, was how it