UW Attorney Drops Bombshell During Court Proceedings in Pac 12 Lawsuit | College Underdogs | Ep. 70 

California State law is not applicable in this situation as the PAC-12 was never incorporated. That is why you don't see this in a California court.

Utah fan. Anyone with a sense of fairness and ethics know that OSU and WSU own the assets. Everyone else abandoned ship. Good for the Beavs and Cougs for standing firm.

I think it's insane for any departing member of the PAC-12 to believe that they can force the conference to dissolve. If the PAC-12 bylaws are like those of any other athletic conference, then a member of the conference loses their voting rights once they accept membership in another conference!

Frankly, sir, I do not give a rat's patoot about anything any lawyer for any of the 10 traitors has to say.

The attorney said blah blah blah. Truth is that OSU and WSU hold the cards. It’s their conference now to rebuild or scuttle. Almost all legal experts agree on this. And OSU/WSU deserve every cent to rebuild something. This will settle and end up somewhere in the $250m to Beavs/Cougs, along with assets and naming rights of the conference.

So the UW lawyer just provided the reason for the Judge to vote in favor of OSU and WSU. They departing 10 would just disolve the conference and basically say see ya to the other 2.

That would be one last Dagger to the remaining Pac-2 to basically ruin their future programs. The departing members have plenty of money to move into their new conferences and should not be trying to completely destroy the historic PAC, conference as well as WSU - OSU programs. Complete BS

Levin is a JOKE! 😂

The Huskies lawyer has no argument. Look up California Corporate Code 18410 (b). The departing schools are trying to cite this as a way they could dissolve the conference. They claim since the Pac-12 offices are based in California, the Pac-12 is an "Unincorporated Association" based in California. The corporate code says, among other things, an unincorporated association can be dissolved "If the association's governing documents do not provide a method for dissolution, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting power of the association." The problem with UW's argument is Judge Gary Libey ruled Tuesday that only Oregon State and Washington State are voting board members of the Pac-12. The 10 departing schools no longer constitute a "majority of the voting power of the association" because they no longer have the right to vote. Go Beavers!

Cool podcast, Thanks for covering this interesting turn of events. It will be fun to watch it play out. My gut feeling is the cougars and the beavers deserve a little more than their piece of the pie, but not everything and I don't know how you adjudicate that.

State law says the members can vote to dissolve but does it say "voting" members because the schools are members but have no voting rights.

The PAC will not be what it once was, but I really hope it doesn’t get dissolved. I’ve been a fan for over 30 years. They really need to come to a settlement quickly, so OSU and Wazzu can move forward with all of their programs. That being said, the departing schools should all get their payouts for this last year, but they should also help pay for any remaining liabilities/lawsuits that occurred while they were members. The PAC-12 assets and any future revenue should be granted to the PAC-2. Those schools and students deserve at least that much.

I hate bringing politics into a sports convention, but I can't think of a better comparison. What that lawyer is claiming sounds a lot like what every lawyer attempting to prosecute the former US president are saying... simple BS! The departing members have no voting rights when it comes to PAC-12 matters!

Ok...I did watch all 3hrs of the hearing. It was a hearing to determine if the T.R.O., and injunction, had grounds. This was an exercise in Washington law, since University of Washington and Washington State University filed suit in Washington State. The question was: By filing an intent to leave does that define the point at which the teams interests are in conflict with the interests of the PAC12. It really is about money....$400million to be specific. Much of that money is contractually distributed, based on the existing media contract, and will continue to be distributed in accordance with the contract. It is really about the money.... And the licensed bowl games that are owned by the PAC12...Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Apple Cup. ESPN wants to own those licenses. During the hearing WSU provided documents showing that all members(including University of Washington) signed a notice of removal to USC and UCLA removing them from the board 13months prior to UW's notice of intent. Hmmm... In closing tje judge found that the corporate bylaws should be upheld and the remaining teams(WSU & OSU) retain sole voting seats. By the way....if you want to piss of a judge.... passive aggressively state that he should observe corporate law from another state in lue of his presiding state and of corporate bylaws voted on and executed by the claimants.

Now that Jonathan Smith has left Oregon State for Michigan State, I don't think the PAC-2 has a prayer of making itself a power conference again. Once the bowl game is done, there's gonna be a mass transfer portal exodus (most likely to MSU). So, you got no media rights deal, no future games scheduled, no P5 quality players or coaches, and then I've heard rumors the remaining PAC assets aren't as much as the remaining 2 teams were hoping for or that there were too many liabilities that they'd also have to take on. As unfortunate as it is to say, they're probably better off just joining the MW.

It’s possible that the Supreme Court of Washington passes on hearing this case as well.

Just a note, I don't think they want to disband it immediately. If OSU and WSU get control they can vote in a change to the constitution of the pac-12 that says how dissolution can happen and approve it into existance.

How can the departing 10 vote to dissolve given that I'm quite sure Washington State and Oregon State would not put a motion to dissolve on the agenda? But they are free to leave along with any penalties that they would incur. And unless the Pac 12 is an extension of the state of California, which it is not, why is this lawyer quoting California law?

Just because an attorney claims something in court, does make it certain, this is coming from the team that just lost incredibly fast. Plus an appeal typically only has around a 10% chance of success at state level, and unlikely to even be heard by US Supreme Court. While people throw around the relegation concept, that seems more like an idea people not invested in the programs might like to see, part of why it is extremely rare any leagues are set up that way. Do you really think university presidents, athletic administrators, or major donors want to get their university in such a precarious situation. Would you want to get established in an arrangement where your pay might get cut massively or just fired any given year, then the entire office staff around you get decimated, with no idea how long it would take to make it back and even if do would take years to rebuild infrastructure had.

I don't buy the whole "California vote to dissolve the conference" thing. The other schools would have done so already if that was feasible.

I can't see the PAC-2 expanding without a media deal in hand. The only way for the PAC-2 to expand is to work with a media partner or partners to say this is what we are willing to pay for XYZ. They, potential media partners, need to know exactly what they are paying for in order to know what to pay. Basically the same "catch 22" that existed before the other 10 members left.

Come on man they would be stupid to stop operations to dissolve conference.. that’s like me saying I’m gonna stop making money to make money🤣🤣🤣

We must realize that there are two forums in this issue. WSU and OSU clearly win the legal forum. The other 10 schools are throwing up arguments that WSU and OSU are attempting to steal money from the current year which is untrue. This is about assets and payments after they leave. The only way to get these future funds is to create an emotional forum to dissolve the conference to divide up these funds that they underestimated a few months ago. They do not deserve a "do over!"

Trey, I've had another thought. The law in many states on non-profit corporations or associations generally provides for the members to meet once per year. So, who is a "member" of the PAC, and when is the date of their annual general meeting scheduled, where they could "vote" for dissolution, as the attorney says. There has to be an official mechanism for voting. I suspect that such a meeting is held every year in the summer, probably in conjunction with a board of directors meeting as the membership of both has been the same. If this is the case, it will come too late for the treasonous ten to steal the conference's assets and destroy the conference.

Great show Trey!

All the departing members must've thought that Oregon State/Washington State would have joined another conference by now, which would make conference dissolution a no brainer. The others I am sure never contemplated that the 2 would try to continue on. Apparently the Bylaws are poorly written in this vein, and this will fall back to whichever state's court has jurisdiction of the conference's legal status. This could force the two to play several years as independents if the matter does get settled. And still, the two could screw themselves if they end up losing these legal battles as the clock ticks, reducing their superior footing that they have at the moment with the Mountain West. In the case of The Big East, it had an active TV contract in force and had their member exodus spread out over multiple years. AND you had the situation where the catholic 7 wanted out, and they wanted their beloved Big East name back, but had little leverage, since the football schools and ESPN were holding most of the cards. They forfeited their BB Tourney credits to the American to get their freedom and the conference name. However, they did not pay exit fees.

This entire situation is getting interesting by the day after the court hearing. Appeal was filed this morning in the Washington State Supreme Court....Its all about getting the best deal for all departing members of the PAC12.

The Pac2 is never going to get Power 5 status because it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's the Super 2 and everyone else. As soon as the players are able to receive their fair share of the TV revenue they generate from their labor and health the Super 2 will leave everyone else in the dust. Even if the Pac2 merges with the Mountain West, nobody is going to take them seriously. They aren't going to have an auto qualifier in the new playoff system that the B1G and SEC will control in 2026nand beyond. If they have to share their revenue with their players then they aren't going to want to share the money they generate with the bottom feeders.

Thanks for wearing a big boy shirt. I will continue to watch while you dress as an adult. 7:40

It is my understanding the voting members are teams who are not planning on leaving. In the past year, there have been about 20+ meetings without USC and UCLA since they announced their move to the Big 10 two years ago. This is the precedent the Pac12 has set and I read somewhere is in their rules. WSU and OSU have a point in that they don't want the 10 team leaves to just pillage all the resources YET the other side, to be fair, are the reason why there are resources are from the school that are leaving and NOT WSU and OSU for example the money USC/Oregon bring in football and Arizona/UCLA in basketball. Even lower Pac12 football schools like the Arizona schools, Colorado etc. bring in and draw more than WSU and OSU substantially. So does WSU and OSU get to keep all the money brought in by the other schools? I would say no. Does WSU and OSU get to determine (solely) how to be a bit fair about this, I would say yes.

I hope the Pac2 is not focusing on the wrong stuff right now. As of now Pac2 doesn’t have a tv deals, there is no football schedule for 2024, there is still CFP changes down the pipe too. As an outsider Pac2 has no stability and it seems to be getting worse.

Wonder if this now moves MWC and pac 2 ahead of AAC with the auto bid and significant money with this.

The legal BS is looking like hoping for a Ref call or a Replay Review call. The Judge seemed to give a definitive ruling supporting OSU and WSU. This is what will happen: 1: By Friday, 10 members of PAC12 will vote to dissolve. They will file a notice of dissolution in California and request an injunction to freeze PAC12 assets. 2: The PAC2 might try moving assets to either Oregon or Washington. This is why the injunction is critical. 3: No realignment will happen until this is resolved. 4: The CFP will vote at the next meeting after the Notice Of Dissolution of the Conference is filed to remove the PAC12 from P5 status. Therefore, any rebuilt PAC12 will be as a G6. 5: The court ruling today will give the PAC2 the PAC12 name and legacy of records. The NCAA gives them up to 2 years to reconstitute as a Conference. This will happen with minimal money and no media deal. What will happen will be very quick. OSU and WSU will have a choice of partial money OR no money. Everything else will be stripped away regardless of their actions. They may get more than the MWC $5 million to join. Maybe $7 million. They may be forced to make an SMU deal with the ACC or B12. So is zero $ with prestige better than $5 million as a G5? Finally, OSU and WSU might wake up and see if they can join the AAC. They might get a buy in starting at $5 million but working to $7 million. In 2026, the AAC might make a run at select MWC schools regardless of OSU and WSU. Joining the AAC early might guarantee they are not left behind AGAIN in a diluted MWC. The AAC might want a quality markets 4: SDSU (San Diego), SJSU (San Jose/San Francisco), UNLV, and Air Force. If ESPN funds the AAC to 21 schools, maybe Boise State, and Utah State. At 21, Georgia State would be added to the East.