Oregon State and Washington State have been granted a temporary restraining order that halts a proposed Sept. 13 meeting of the Pac-12’s Board of Directors.

The two universities took the Pac-12 and commissioner George Kliavkoff to court over the meeting, with a hearing before Whitman County Judge Gary Libey on Monday. Judge Libey ruled in favor of Washington State and Oregon State, which argued the meeting could be used by the 10 departing Pac-12 universities to change the conference’s bylaws and prevent WSU and OSU from controlling the league’s assets.

Counsel for the Pac-12 argued that the proposed meeting on Sept. 13 was to discuss a “retention plan” to assure the conference remains staffed through July 2024. A motion to dissolve the Pac-12 and equally distribute its assets amongst the 12 schools — WSU and OSU’s larger fear — is not on the agenda, the league’s attorney said.

With the ruling, the Pac-12’s Board of Directors cannot meet until the court determines who has voting power on the board going forward.

The judge stated that he intended to “put the brakes” on any Pac-12 board meetings in the near future, but would allow the 12 schools to vote unanimously in writing to approve the retention plan or conduct other normal business.

The two remaining Pac-12 schools have argued the 10 outgoing universities have provided notice of withdrawal from the league and, under conference bylaws, have given up their seat on the board.

They argue precedent for this has already been set within the league, which excluded USC and UCLA from meetings a year ago after the two schools first announced their departures.

The attorney representing Oregon State told the judge on Monday that the outgoing schools also sought to have the Pac-12 conference cover part of the transition costs for their moves to new leagues in 2024.

In a release announcing legal action last week, the two schools claimed they are the only universities that can still have members sit on the board. Both universities have said they expect to work together to determine whether the Pac-12 can be rebuilt before looking elsewhere.

“This is a critical step that allows the two universities to continue to explore all options for preserving the conference going forward,” school presidents Jayathi Murthy and Kirk Schulz said in a statement.

The Cougs and Beavs could theoretically operate as a two-team league in the coming years, protected by a two-year NCAA grace period for conferences that dip below eight members, while they search to rebuild the Pac-12.

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision today,” WSU president Kirk Schulz said in a statement. “It has always been our view that the future of the Pac-12 should be determined by the remaining members, not by those schools that are leaving the conference. This position is consistent with the action the Pac-12 Board of Directors took when the first two schools announced their departure from the conference more than a year ago.

“We remain firmly committed to exploring all options to protect the interests of our student-athletes, coaches, and fans. We look forward to the court putting the question of governance to rest so that Washington State University and Oregon State University can make reasonable and necessary decisions regarding the future of the Pac-12 Conference.”