The landscape of college athletics is in a continuous cycle of change. Those changes don’t seem to be ending any time soon either.

Just over a week ago, the NCAA’s $2.8 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit received preliminary approval. That pushes college athletics a step closer to revenue sharing with student athletes, a change that would have massive financial implications.

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey was asked at SEC Basketball Tipoff in Birmingham Wednesday what changes a potential revenue-sharing model could bring to sports in the SEC. Sankey was asked specifically how the changes could affect Olympic sports on SEC campuses.

He deferred to the schools for specific strategies, but said there will be “adjustments.”

“There are two, maybe three, of our sports that generate net revenue,” Sankey said. “Other than that, there’s a deficit between revenue and expenses. I’ll let our campuses speak to their opportunities.

“Part of the reality is it’s an enormous adjustment. It’s an enormous adjustment if you don’t have a 22% increase in expenses and not have impacts.”

Sankey stated that the SEC wants to “be the center of the Olympic development effort,” specifically mentioning track and field and diving. He also mentioned Texas A&M women‘s basketball head coach Joni Taylor’s involvement in Olympic basketball.

Despite that, Sankey didn’t rule out changes coming to some of those sports.

“Long term implications on a number of other sports are real, so our motivation is to keep intact what we have, but there will be adjustments, and I expect that nationally,” Sankey said. “We don’t have a shift of 22% of revenues and not have impacts associated with that.”

Sankey never specifically mentioned cutting sports or what any exact changes might look like, but said schools could find ways to make up that revenue, mentioning facility adjustments.

“Create new hub space, create new ways to use your facilities. You see different events that are conducted around our athletics departments,” Sankey said.

What the exact future of college athletics looks like is unknown, but with a shift this large on the horizon, some form of change is a near guarantee.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m