Washington State, Oregon State Score Big Legal Victory Over The Rest Of The PAC-12

Washington State and Oregon State have been victorious in securing a temporary restraining order against the rest of the PAC-12.

A state judge in Washington ruled in favor of a temporary restraining order blocking the PAC-12 board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, and likely is a big step towards setting "up a preliminary injunction hearing that is expected to determine who makes up the voting members of the Pac-12 board of directors," according to ESPN.

If an injunction hearing happens, documents, emails and witness testimony could all be entered in court, according to the same report.

"Today's ruling is an important first step to bring clarity and fairness to Pac-12 governance. The future of the Pac-12 should be controlled by the schools who stay, not those who go," Washington State lawyer Drew Tulumello told the media after the ruling.

Oregon State and Washington State score temporary legal victory over the rest of the PAC-12. (Logan Hannigan-Downs/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

What is the goal for Washington State and Oregon State?

The Cougars and Beavers have one priority and objective right now:

Stop the other PAC-12 schools from being able to vote on any decisions related to the future of the conference.

There's still a lot of money at play, and with the entire conference other than OSU and WSU leaving in 2024, it would make sense for the other 10 members to vote to dump all the financial resources, split everything up and then cut and run.

What will Oregon State and Washington State do when the PAC-12 collapses? (Photo by Oliver McKenna/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Washington State and Oregon State want to stop that at any cost. Both programs want to argue they are the final two left standing, and thus, should control all decisions on the future of the program.

The other 10 programs will argue that they're still members and have every right in the world to vote on decisions.

Can OSU and WSU stop the rest of the PAC-12 from voting on the future of the conference? (Logan Hannigan-Downs/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Ultimately, the courts will have to decide. What's interesting is the decision was made in a state court in Washington. What happens if schools in Arizona and California simply choose to not comply? What is the state court in Washington going to do? It's not a federal court with federal powers. I'm not a lawyer, but that seems like something that must be answered. For now, the PAC-12 is in a holding pattern after a huge win for Oregon State and Washington State.