A Grip on Sports: It’s not even the legal equivalent of halftime, but the Pac-12 takes a big lead over the Mountain West in poaching lawsuit due to a ruling Tuesday

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s tough to keep track but there has to be a ledger somewhere. Just how often in the past few years has news concerning legal proceedings been the story of the day in college athletics? If you want to guess more than 10% of the time, you’ll get no argument here. Legal or otherwise.

•••••••

• A half-century ago, being a lawyer was the goal. But sometime in the middle of my sophomore year in college, the idea of poring over contracts and composing briefs lost its luster. Sports writing seemed to be the ticket to happiness. Worrying about injunctions, settlement talks and the like would disappear. Games, players, fans – they would be the focus.

Yeah, right.

Here we are, Oct. 1, 2025 and a U.S. District court ruling from Northern California holds oversized importance for Washington State and its followers. Again.

Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen ruled on the Mountain West Conference’s motion to dismiss the Pac-12’s antitrust lawsuit Tuesday, and the ruling can’t be seen as anything else than a triumph for the conference of champions.

Not a final one, sure. But by denying the MWC’s motion to dismiss the Pac-12’s poaching-penalty suit, van Kuelen handed commissioner Teresa Gould a bludgeon in what is certain to be contentious negotiations between the conferences.

Simply put, the Pac-12 believes the Mountain West illegally took advantage of its circumstances to lock-in anti-competitive payments in exchange for 2024 nonconference football games the Pac-12 desperately needed. The Mountain West maintains the agreement was agreed to freely by both sides.

Who is right? That’s the $55 million question, isn’t it?

No one knows, but Tuesday ruling means there will be a trial. Unless a settlement is reached. And reaching a settlement won’t be as easy as some think – no matter how badly university CEOs want to avoid all the baggage that would be thrown open with a trial.

The Mountain West is counting on the money to keep others, most notably UNLV, in the fold. The Pac-12 needs it to keep the conference afloat and within shouting distance of the Power conferences that left it behind.

Neither can afford to lose. It’s a messy situation that seemed unthinkable in the 20th Century – and disappointingly normal these days.

There are a few facts that no one contests. The five Mountain West schools – Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State – will join Washington State, Oregon State, Gonzaga and Texas State (fixed from earler) in the rebuilt Pac-12 next July. Tuesday’s decision had no impact on that eventuality.

But whether they will leave richer or poorer will be decided by the Pac-12 suit and the another one some of the former MWC teams have filed, contesting departure fees. The latter suit’s stakes are also in the millions of dollars.

What would the Mountain West do with the money it says it is owed? Pass it along to its remaining members and any new ones it helps attract. The agreed-upon payments also have a deadline, which corresponds, in part, to the five schools leaving.

If the poaching penalties or departure fees are reduced or eliminated, it puts the Mountain West’s future in jeopardy, as, without the agreed upon payments, it’s possible schools such as UNLV and Air Force could sue to void their most recent grant-of-rights agreement with the conference. And head elsewhere.

What a conundrum. And what a bore. At least for those of us who want to focus on the on-field games and not the ones in courtrooms.

• After three weeks of not watching any sports on TV, other than part of an M’s game on Apple TV early one Saturday morning, Tuesday was a happy homecoming.

Tarik Skubal did the expected, pitching like Mickey Lolich – look it up kids – and leading my dad’s favorite team, the Tigers, to a win in Cleveland. The Yankees lost, which is always a good thing. Though it meant the Red Sox won, which never is. The Cubs won too, which comes with no caveats. And the Dodgers hit one home run for each billion dollars its spent on players this century. And held on.

Playoff baseball is great. Even if there was an announcer team or two that earned the mute button for a while.

•••

WSU: With the Cougars’ first bye this weekend, we start with the court ruling. We linked above Jon Wilner’s news story that ran in the S-R. But that’s not all we can pass along. John Canzano also opined on the decision and what it means. And The Athletic covered it as well. … Canzano also closed his notebook on Oregon’s win at Penn State. … Wilner had already covered a couple topics on the Mercury News site when the court ruling was released. He took the West Coast coaches to task for complaining about the Big Ten schedule and he explained how USC’s loss could be a big deal with the CFP selections. … The Cougars have been slowing inching up The Athletic’s national rankings. … Utah’s injuries have Kyle Whittingham’s attention once again. … An Arizona State alum is making Kenny Dillingham beam with pride.

• Here is the schedule for (current, old and future) Pac-12 teams this week, listed chronologically. All games this week are Saturday unless noted. The schedule below also includes any game in which mining news about turned out to be nearly impossible.

– Colorado State at San Diego State (Friday, 7:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network): The Aztecs are preparing for a reeling, but dangerous, opponent this week.

– Oklahoma State at Arizona (noon, TNT): The Wildcats are focusing on fundamentals in an attempt to cure a case of the drops. … The athletic department received a large financial gift this week.

– No. 7 Penn State at UCLA (12:30 p.m., CBS): Another change in Westwood. Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, brought in from Indiana before the season, is out. By mutual agreement.

– Boise State at No. 21 Notre Dame (12:30, NBC): Playing before such a huge crowd is a dream come true for the Broncos. But such dreams might include a Freddie Krueger feel if they don’t play well.

– Washington at Maryland (12:30, Big Ten Network): The Huskies’ secondary did some good things against Ohio State. And struggled at times.

– Oregon State at App State (12:30, ESPN+): Things might be going from awful to horrendous for the Beavers. The status of NIL-import quarterback Maalik Murphy this week is up in the air.

– Texas State at Arkansas State (1, ESPNU): It’s been a tough season for the 1-4 Red Wolves. But redemption is only a win over Texas State away.

– Colorado at TCU (4:30, Fox): The on-the-field stuff is tough enough with Deion Sanders asking for more intensity and hoping for a better running game. Add in the $50,000 the Big 12 fined the Buffs for its fans actions against BYU and it’s been a tough week. It could get tougher considering how good TCU is.

– Duke at California (7:30, ESPN): There hasn’t been a better Cal team than the one that took the field 50 years ago.

– Nevada at Fresno State (7:30, CBS Sports Network): The Wolf Pack struggles when it gets in the red zone. In fact, more than any other team in the nation.

• In basketball news, the Washington men’s roster has been reformed. And coach Danny Sprinkle expects to put a different, more successful, product on the floor. … It doesn’t have much in the way of local connections, but this Washington Post story on Princeton’s point guard taking a year off is really interesting.

Gonzaga: We saw freshman Davis Fogle play a lot over the past few summers. And were impressed. That’s even before he decided to leave the state and play his senior year in Arizona, something Theo Lawson delves into today. … Theo also has a story on the men adding another home exhibition contest. With two exhibition games on the schedule, that means the Zags will not be playing a practice scrimmage against a top foe this season, a staple of the past. The NCAA changed the rules covering exhibition games in January. … Elsewhere in the WCC, Portland’s men are the No. 1 ranked soccer team in the nation.

EWU and Idaho: Dan Thompson has his weekly Big Sky notebook, leading off with Montana proving it is the class of the conference. Thus far. After all, the Griz have yet to leave home for a game. … Elsewhere in the (current and future) Big Sky, Eastern’s homecoming opponent this week, Portland State, has played one of the conference’s toughest schedules. The Vikings opened with FCS third-ranked Tarleton State (5-0), lost at FBS 23rd-ranked BYU (4-0) and FCS 14th-ranked North Dakota (2-2), traveled and lost in Hawaii (4-2) before opening Big Sky play with No. 13 Northern Arizona (4-1), losing 31-17 at home. … Just thought we should pass along a golf result. Lauren Greeny, whose mom was the longtime WSU volleyball coach (and former Davenport High star athlete) won her fourth collegiate golf tournament for Montana State over the weekend.

Preps: We are a big Ken Van Sickle fan. Everyone should be. He’s about as nice a person as there is associated with high school athletics. But that’s not why we are also a fan of the Kenny V Slowpitch Softball Classic. Anytime the spotlight can shine on a prep sport besides the major ones, that’s a good thing. Dave Nichols went to last night’s event at the Merkle Sports Complex and has this story. … Cheryl Nichols put together this roundup of a busy Tuesday in GSL sports.

Seahawks: Nationally, the Hawks are starting to creep up the power rankings after having won three consecutive times. … Nick Emmanwori is getting healthier. How will his return impact the defense? … Grey Zabel is the best rookie at his position in the NFL.

Mariners: For years, M’s fans (and some players) have clamored for the front office to add significantly to the roster at the trade deadline. This year it finally did. And the team actually seems to have a chance to win the whole thing. For that, and other moves, Jerry Dipoto’s crew deserves praise.

Storm: Why is the WNBA’s poor leadership a huge problem? Multiple reasons but here is one from Tuesday. The league is about to start its championship series and the focus is on commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the front office. The Lynx’s Napheesa Collier put it there with a 4-minute statement that exposed the players’ – she was backed up by others – distrust and disrespect of those in charge.

•••       

• I’m still struggling with jet lag. It’s playing the snare drum with my sleeping pattern and my ability to write clearly. Ya, that’s the reason. Not sure how long it will last, considering we’re getting on another plane tomorrow morning. And will be eating a Double-Double for lunch Thursday. Until later …