Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order this week clearing a path for the state's 2022-season athletes to keep playing in 2026-27, even though the NCAA's current guidance says anyone who already appeared in four seasons is done. That's a governor's signature landing right in the middle of a fight the NCAA thought it had closed out.
The mechanics matter here. The NCAA's eligibility clock has been under siege since a Vanderbilt quarterback won an antitrust-based injunction in federal court in December 2024, a ruling that said junior college snaps shouldn't count against a player's four seasons. That case cracked the door. State houses and governors have been walking through it ever since, treating NCAA bylaws less like national law and more like a suggestion they can override for their own public universities.
DeWine's order doesn't single out one program. It covers public institutions across the state, which means Ohio State, Ohio University, Youngstown State, Cincinnati, Kent State, Toledo, Akron and Bowling Green could all have 2022-season players with eligibility the NCAA says has already expired. That's depth chart news before it's anything else. Older players presumed gone could be back in a quarterback room or a secondary as soon as this season or next.
What happens next is the real story. The NCAA hasn't been shy about challenging state-level overrides in court, and a governor's order doesn't bind the association, it binds the state's public schools. That sets up exactly the kind of conflict that tends to end up in front of a judge. Watch for the NCAA's response, watch for other states to file similar orders the way they did with NIL a few years back, and watch which Ohio program is bold enough to actually suit up a 2022 player before the association pushes back.
For now this is a legal and roster story, not a settled one. Big Mike's desk has an eye on whether any Ohio school actually plays a 2022-season veteran this fall, and what the NCAA does about it when they do.