During an unprecedented time in the history of college sports, filled with significant events and transformative changes, the latest development stands out as particularly notable.
The NCAA has initiated legal action against a sitting governor.
The organization lodged a federal lawsuit on Friday against Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, aiming to challenge the executive order he issued earlier this week, which could allow Ohio colleges to include ineligible athletes on their rosters.
The 41-page filing, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, sharply criticizes DeWine’s executive order as a “misguided attempt” to provide Ohio universities with an “unfair, unprecedented and unwarranted competitive advantage.” DeWine’s directive instructs in-state colleges to disregard NCAA eligibility standards, mandating that schools grant Class of 2022 athletes an additional fifth season of eligibility.
According to the lawsuit, DeWine is offering Ohio colleges “a hall pass to break the rules, in contradiction to multiple provisions of the United States Constitution as well as state law.”
This past summer, the NCAA modified its eligibility criteria, shifting to an age-based framework that allows athletes five seasons of eligibility instead of four, as was previously the case. Nevertheless, the association — which acts on behalf of the institutions — did not retroactively implement this rule for the seniors who completed their fourth season in the spring. A number of those seniors from the 2022 signing class have filed lawsuits seeking a fifth year.
The NCAA’s complaint seeks a judicial ruling to declare DeWine’s executive order as unconstitutional, assert that it lacks “force of law,” and bar the governor from enforcing the order under federal and state statutes.
“Utilizing state law to undermine fair national competition jeopardizes the integrity of college athletics and contradicts the fundamental lesson all athletes learn early in their journeys — to adhere to the rules,” the NCAA’s complaint states.
President Donald Trump poses for a photo with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, center and head coach Ryan Day as he welcomes the Ohio State Buckeyes to the White House on April 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
It is believed that the NCAA taking legal action against a current governor marks a historic first in the organization’s over century-long existence, adding to the many significant moments during this transformative period for the industry. Legal decisions, some backed by member institutions, have altered the longstanding NCAA regulations concerning athlete transfers, compensation, and eligibility — so much so that U.S. senators advanced a bill in one chamber of Congress last month intending to oversee college sports.
The NCAA’s legal action occurs at a remarkable juncture.
In fact, two power conferences have recently filed lawsuits against their own member institutions, one of which, the SEC (specifically against LSU), remains ongoing. This league, similar to the NCAA against DeWine, is seeking judicial approval to enforce its regulations, potentially leading to LSU’s expulsion from the conference. A comparable endeavor was initiated in June, when the Big 12’s federal lawsuit against Texas Tech put an end to the Red Raiders’ plans to field quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who confessed to gambling on his own team.
The governor’s order was issued on Tuesday, following a week after an Ohio appellate court reversed its earlier ruling that had allowed a group of athletes in a case, Borovicanin v. NCAA, to receive an additional fifth year of eligibility.
Since June, approximately 330 athletes have been granted an extra year of eligibility across more than 150 lawsuits lodged against the NCAA, while around 300 others have had their eligibility denied. The majority of these athletes are in men’s basketball, but there are also a few from football, swimming, soccer, and various other non-revenue sports.
Many of the NCAA’s eligibility claims, like this one, have been spearheaded by the Washington, D.C., law firm Wilkinson Stekloff and principal counsel Rakesh Kilaru.
According to the NCAA’s complaint, the ramifications of the order will be most acutely felt by other states with institutions that compete against Ohio schools. The order confers a “competitive advantage” to all institutions in Ohio since “they can roster experienced fifth-year seniors, in breach of the NCAA regulations they agreed to adhere to, and allow those individuals to compete against other schools that are unable to roster such players according to the bylaws.”
“This will adversely affect both student-athletes within Ohio — who will lose roster opportunities to ineligible athletes — and student-athletes outside Ohio — who will face competitive disadvantages simply because they and their institutions continue to adhere to the regulations,” the suit asserts.
The NCAA argues that the order is unlawful for three primary reasons. The order (1) violates the Commerce Clause by imposing a burden on interstate commerce or regulating actions beyond the state’s boundaries. “A State cannot enact laws that aim to alter national competition by granting advantages to in-state institutions at the detriment of out-of-state competitors; (2) undermines the NCAA’s First Amendment rights by “purporting to provide Ohio institutions with legal protections to maintain their NCAA membership while simultaneously disregarding the organization’s rules”; and (3) contravenes state law as the order is illegal since DeWine lacks the authority to instruct Ohio colleges and universities to roster ineligible athletes.
