Oregon State and Washington State on Friday filed a complaint in Washington state court against the Pac-12 and Commissioner George Kliavkoff, seeking to prevent departing member schools from taking any actions that could stand in the way of the Pacific Northwest schools' effort to rebuild the conference.
The breach of bylaws complaint was filed in Whitman County and requests a temporary restraining order that would keep departing members of the Pac-12 board of directors from taking any action regarding the status or governance of the conference, according to a news release from Oregon State and Washington State.
The Pac-12 currently has 12 members, but 10 of them are leaving next year: Southern California, UCLA, Washington and Oregon are leaving for the Big Ten; Stanford and Cal are leaving for the ACC; and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are leaving for the Big 12. Each school has cited the desire for more financial stability in abandoning the “Conference of Champions” and leaving only Oregon State and Washington State.
The two schools, which are seeking a declarative judgment from the court, said Kliavkoff recently asked all members of the board to meet Wednesday to vote on a “go forward governance approach.”
Oregon State and Washington State contend that by announcing their intent to leave, the 10 other schools forfeited a right to vote on conference matters.
"We owe it to our student-athletes, coaches, and fans to do everything in our power to protect the Pac-12 Conference and explore all future options,” Washington State President Kirk Schulz said. “WSU and OSU are working in lockstep to identify the best path forward. The future of the Pac-12 must be determined by the remaining members, not by those who are leaving.”
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