Report: Judge rules in favor of Oregon State, Washington State for Pac-12 restraining order

Judge Gary Libey ruled in favor of Oregon State and Washington State Monday, granting a restraining order in the Pac-12, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

The two schools, which are currently the two remaining in the conference for 2024 and beyond at this point, wanted to halt all Pac-12 board meetings until courts rule further. That was granted Monday, per Dellenger’s report.

Now, the Pac-12 will have to pump the brakes as Judge Libey said.

“Judge Gary Libey rules in favor of Oregon State and Washington State granting the restraining order,” Dellenger wrote in a Twitter thread. “Pac-12 cannot meet as a board until the court rules further. The Pac-12 commissioner may conduct business in a normal course, but the league’s presidents cannot gather in a board meeting. Judge Gary Libey: ‘I’m putting the (brakes) on anymore meetings.’”

Dellenger provided further context:

“Oregon State and Washington did agree to approve any proposal, including a retention plan, that has unanimous support from all 12 schools,” he wrote on Twitter. “This would be done without a board meeting.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel breaks down logistics of Pac-12 lawsuit, Mountain West merger

The Pac-12, as it stands right now, looks to be the effective Pac-2 after a landmark round of conference realignment. Only Oregon State and Washington State are left, and the next steps of the league are still unclear.

That could be coming into focus, though, after the two schools filed a lawsuit Friday over the makeup of the board and voting rights. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, it comes down to — just like most everything else in realignment — money. But there’s another factor in play: the Mountain West.

On3’s Eric Prisbell has reported the idea of a reverse merger between the Pac-12 and Mountain West could still be on the table. But the Pac-12’s assets could make that a complicated conversation, and Thamel shed more light on that on The Paul Finebaum Show Friday.

“With two teams left in the Pac-12, [Oregon State and Washington State] want to assure, essentially, that those two schools comprise the board of directors,” Thamel said. “Now, there are 10s and 10s of millions of dollars of assets at stake. $42 million at the end of fiscal ’22, the lawsuit stated. There’s also another estimated $50 million in NCAA Tournament units. And believe it or not, the Pac-12 Network — often the butt of jokes in our industry — made $40 million last year. The network infrastructure is worth money.

“Essentially, at the core of this suit is Washington State and Oregon State wanting to keep their options open. And if there are enough assets — now there’s liabilities. The overpayment to Comcast, there’s 10s of millions [of dollars] potentially owed there. But if Washington State and Oregon State can leverage those assets and essentially invite or have an amicable merger with the Mountain West, they could use that as a pot of money to also keep the Pac-12 name.”