The NCAA is moving to block Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's executive order to expand eligibility for college athletes.

The NCAA filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, alleging that his executive order gives Ohio schools an unfair competitive advantage.

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The NCAA filed a lawsuit against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday, escalating a dispute that came three days before he signed an executive order allowing state universities to allow athletes graduating from high school in 2022 to play in college for a fifth season.

The order challenges the NCAA's new eligibility rule, which exempts those athletes.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Ohio. NCAA President Charlie Baker described the legislative action as an "extraordinary step" aimed at preventing "all schools from being able to compete on an all-school level playing field."

In the lawsuit, the NCAA accused Dwayne, a two-term Republican governor, of trying to give Ohio athletes a "gym license" to comply with NCAA rules.

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DeWine's executive order and the NCAA's lawsuit in response are the latest escalation in a wave of legal maneuvering that has changed college sports rules on a state-by-state basis.

This latest clash quickly drew reactions from across the college athletics landscape. "This is getting ridiculous," University of Tennessee athletic director Danny White said in response to the NCAA's announcement on social media.

Ohio's eight Division I programs have yet to be publicly investigated at DeWine's command. The move is backed by Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a former Ohio State and Youngstown State championship-winning coach. The state's Division I rankings include No. 4 Ohio State of the Big Ten, Cincinnati of the Big 12 and six members of the Mid-American Conference.

Under DeWine's order, public and private universities in Ohio can allow 22 athletes to play, even though the new NCAA guidelines exclude those who have already played four seasons. The law, which was passed in June, is the subject of numerous court cases.

DeWine's office declined to comment on the lawsuit. Although it is unusual for the NCAA to sue a governor, the organization has done so before. In the early 1990s, the NCAA won a case against then-Nevada Governor Bob Miller over a state law requiring the association to provide additional due process protections during the enforcement process.

The court's ruling opened the door for Michigan to add the former Miami and Boise State player to the Wildcat's midseason roster.

The NCAA said in its court filing that it is trying to "stop the misguided effort to give Ohio colleges and universities an unfair, unprecedented, and unfair competitive advantage in stadiums and arenas across the country."

"Collegiate sports, like all sports, depend on the participants following the rules. (DeWine) is trying to give Ohio institutions permission to break the rules."

The Ohio Supreme Court has already said it will determine the legality of the executive order. As part of that, it stayed an appeals court ruling in a case that had declared the 2022 athletes ineligible. The court asked both sides to file their case by next Monday in the case, in which basketball player Filip Borovitchanin is the main plaintiff.

Baker said the NCAA does not believe the Supreme Court's ruling actually made those players immediately eligible to compete.

This case, like others across the country, is becoming more urgent because it involves football players and a number of basketball players whose status is in jeopardy for the upcoming season. Among them: Gonzaga transfer Javon Bennett, Cincinnati's MJ Collins and Borovitchanin himself, who played Thursday night in an exhibition against Tennessee after DeWine ordered him placed back on the eligible list.

For years, the NCAA has urged Congress to pass federal legislation that would limit lawsuits challenging its rules, which govern hundreds of thousands of athletes across the country. The Senate will protect the College Sports Act, with the goal of extending that protection to the House, but its fate is unclear in an election year.

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