NCAA moves to block Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's executive order expanding college athletes' eligibility

The NCAA filed a lawsuit against Ohio Gov.

Mike DeWine on Friday, escalating a dispute that began three days earlier when he signed an executive order giving state universities the option to allow athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 to compete for a fifth college season.

The order challenges a new NCAA eligibility rule that excludes those athletes.

The suit was filed in federal court in Ohio.

NCAA President Charlie Baker described taking the legal action as an "extraordinary step" intended to prevent DeWine from making it "impossible for all schools to compete on a level playing field." In the lawsuit, the NCAA accused DeWine, a two-term Republican governor, of trying to give Ohio athletes "a hall pass" from following NCAA rules.

NCAA WINS TENTH CIRCUIT 'STAY', BUT FACES MORE ELIGIBILITY LAWSUITS FROM 2022 CLASS ATHLETES IN CHAOTIC TIME DeWine’s executive order and the NCAA’s lawsuit in response mark the latest escalation in a wave of legal maneuvering that is reshaping college sports rules on a state-by-state basis.

The latest clash quickly prompted reactions from across the college athletics landscape.

"This whole thing has become comical," University of Tennessee athletic director Danny White said on social media in reaction to the NCAA announcement.

Ohio’s eight Division I programs have yet to publicly weigh in on DeWine’s order.

The measure has received support from Lt.

Gov.

Jim Tressel, a championship-winning former coach at Ohio State and Youngstown State.

The state’s Division I ranks include No.

4 Ohio State of the Big Ten, Cincinnati of the Big 12 and six members of the Mid-American Conference.