The NCAA filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday, three days after he signed an executive order allowing public and private universities in the state to let some athletes who graduated from high school in 2022 compete for a fifth year, despite the organization’s eligibility rules.

NCAA President Charlie Baker called the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Ohio, an “extraordinary step” intended to prevent the governor’s action from undermining fair competition among college programs.

The executive order gives Ohio universities the option of allowing members of the Class of 2022 to compete for another season, even if they have already played four seasons. The NCAA adopted new guidance in June excluding those athletes from additional eligibility, a policy that has since become the subject of multiple court challenges.

“This Complaint seeks to halt a misguided attempt to give Ohio colleges and universities an unfair, unprecedented and unwarranted competitive advantage in stadiums and arenas throughout the country,” the lawsuit states. “College sports, like all sports, depend on participants following the rules. (DeWine) is attempting to give Ohio institutions a hall pass to break the rules.”

Baker argued that allowing Ohio schools to disregard the NCAA’s eligibility restrictions could create an uneven playing field, putting universities in other states at a competitive disadvantage if they continue following the organization’s rules.

DeWine’s order adds another layer to an expanding series of legal disputes over college athlete eligibility, with court decisions and state-level actions increasingly shaping who can compete.

The Ohio Supreme Court has also intervened in the dispute, announcing it would determine the legality of DeWine’s executive order. The court paused an appeals court ruling that had declared the affected athletes ineligible and directed both sides to submit briefs by Monday in a case led by basketball player Filip Borovićanin.

Baker said the NCAA did not interpret the state Supreme Court’s order as immediately making the athletes eligible to compete. The organization plans to submit its arguments in that case by Monday as the legal battle continues.

The dispute could have consequences beyond Ohio, as competing court rulings and state policies threaten to create different eligibility standards across college athletics. The NCAA is seeking to preserve a consistent national framework while the courts determine whether states can intervene in its rules.