Boardroom talk might take away the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Utah Valley. A team that has never made the NCAA Tournament is entering its conference tournament as a No. 1 seed with a 24-7 record. If they manage to win, the team will make history. However, politics and a court case are threatening to pull their place from the WAC tournament as a $1 million demand has rocked Utah Valley. 

The drama started after Utah Valley announced they are moving to the Big West conference. But the program refused to pay the “contractually obligated exit fee in the amount of $1 million.” In  February, the conference launched a lawsuit in Tarrant County, Texas. To which the UVU responded by claiming that the Texas court lacked jurisdiction over them. 

And that the exit fee was related to a $5.6 million agreement beginning June 2024 between the conference and its remaining member schools to remain members of the league for two years. “If an institution were to leave prior to June 30, 2026, the exiting institution would be responsible for exit fees and would not receive the above-mentioned distributions or any other conference distributions,” the agreement read. “Exit fees would be increased during this two-year period to $1.5 million with notice and $3 million without notice.”

As we approach the conference tournament starting March 11, the lawsuit is still ongoing. The WAC has now threatened to remove Utah Valley. “As the court-ordered preliminary injunction is contingent upon that directive, the WAC Board of Directors has instructed the commissioner to plan for the men’s and women’s WAC basketball tournaments without Utah Valley University, as it would be a member not in good standing,” the statement said.

After the lawsuit was filed, the WAC commissioner Rebekah Ray announced that the conference had “removed all Utah Valley University home athletic contests from its broadcast schedule until further notice.” In protest, Utah Valley filed a 14-day injunction on February 17 so the athletes could participate. Once the 14-day period was over, the school filed another restraining order, which was granted by Utah’s Fourth District Court. After the period was over, the court granted another preliminary injunction to the university.

However, in the first injunction, Judge Denise M. Porter of Utah’s Fourth District Court wrote in her 11-page summary judgement that the university was “likely to prevail upon its claims and is entitled to the equitable remedy of a restraining order as relief to reinstate their participation in the conference while the fee issue is litigated to prevent irreparable harm. “It means the university needed to put that disputed $1 million in escrow. 

“The conference will release new brackets if the university does not comply with the court’s directive within the order by 5:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday, March 10,” the statement said. “The conference regrets that the intentional actions of Utah Valley University have caused uncertainty and harm for institutions, student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans across the WAC—including at Utah Valley University. ” However, it is unlikely that the conference will do so as the university has fired off a response.

Utah Valley Sends Immediate Response After Disqualification Threat

Utah Valley has an automatic bye to Thursday’s semifinals on the men’s side. Winning two games would mean the team gets its first NCAA berth. Their women’s team is set to be the No. 4 seed in the WAC Tournament. It would also be impacted if this directive is not followed. Their women’s team made the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2020-21. It has another chance to go to the big dance. The stakes are high. So, the university has been obliged to deposit the amount in escrow until the issue is litigated. 

According to ESPN, Utah Valley immediately went to court to file a response. “To set the record straight, the Utah Attorney General’s office contacted the Court on Friday, March 6, 2026 at 5:02 p.m., seeking guidance from the Court on how to satisfy the directive to deposit the funds,” the Utah court documents said (via ESPN).

According to Pete Thamel, the university has paid the $1 million. So, it is expected that both the teams will participate in the conference tournaments without any hitch. It’s important to note that this money will not immediately go to the conference. But it will remain in that escrow account until the dispute is resolved.