The Washington Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by the University of Washington and the Pac-12 on Friday, giving control of the Pac-12 board and the conference’s assets back to Oregon State and Washington State.
The state Supreme Court’s decision lifted a temporary stay that had halted a decision by the Whitman County (Wash.) Superior Court to award control to the two schools.
Oregon State and Washington State will remain in control until the case is settled or goes to trial.
“We are pleased with the Washington Supreme Court’s decision today,” Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy and Washington State president Kirk Schulz said in a joint statement. “We look forward to continuing our work of charting a path forward for the conference that is in the best interest of student-athletes and our wider university communities.”
In a joint statement earlier this week, Oregon State and Washington State — whose football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West met with unanimous approval — stopped a scheduled distribution of millions to all Pac-12 member schools, saying that departing schools should not receive conference money.
The 10 schools leaving the Pac-12 are concerned that Oregon State and Washington State could withhold all conference revenue for this season while those 10 schools are still part of the league.
Washington State and Oregon State believed the 10 departing members gave up their rights to be members of the board and make decisions affecting the conference once they announced their intentions to leave. Another concern for Washington State and Oregon State involved the exiting schools possibly voting to dissolve the Pac-12 and divvy up the assets.
