On Monday in an Oakland, California, courtroom, the de facto — or maybe it’s de jure — commissioner of college athletics let confusion ring.

Ambiguity bordering on anarchy is often the state of modern college sports. In an approval hearing for the landmark House v. NCAA legal settlement, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken did little to alter that.

She’s considered likely to approve the House settlement, which would deliver billions in backpay to athletes who were unable to profit from their name, image and likeness and establish the framework for future college rosters through revenue sharing and roster limits.

The settlement’s terms have become a semi-operative blueprint for a program like Missouri. Athletics director Laird Veatch has pledged to share the maximum amount of revenue — about $20.5 million — with athletes each year, spending to what winds up being a bit of a salary cap. With walk-ons poised to become extinct due to an increase in scholarships but a decrease in overall roster sports, programs like Mizzou football have pushed athletes to the exits out of perceived necessity.

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On the gridiron, for example, the Tigers have shrunk their roster from upwards of 120 players — the previous limit — to closer to 105, which would be the limit under the terms of the House settlement.

“I’ve hurt a lot of players — we told all our guys in December, like, ‘This is what we think the new framework is going to be,' ” coach Eli Drinkwitz said.

But what if those are no longer the terms?

The latest bit of college sports confusion came from Wilken’s courtroom suggestion that the roster limits should not be so strict and grandfather in current athletes. The limits had drawn a wave of legal objections — including from an MU swimmer and a former football walk-on — whose roster spots would disappear.

Grandfathering in current athletes, Wilken said, “would save a lot of angst.”

Maybe it winds up a net benefit, but changing the settlement at this stage could cause angst, too.

“I spent a ton of time trying to figure out the new revenue share system and how are you going to divide the money and the cap, and what are we going to do for NIL and how do we get to 105 (players)?” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. “And then (Monday), the judge says we may grandfather in roster limits.

“I don’t know what the crap is going on.”

Who really does?

Wilken gave attorneys representing the NCAA and the House plaintiffs one week to address her concerns, which include the roster limits. Approval of the settlement — as is or with changes — still seems close but isn’t quite here yet.

That’s difficult for a football coach preparing for the spring transfer portal window, which opens April 16. The sport is about to undergo another wave of player movement and compensation negotiations tied to a season for which the rules aren’t clear.

“It’s just frustrating,” Drinkwitz said. “Let the practitioners have a say in what we’re doing.”

It’s also difficult for a gymnastics coach prepping his team for the NCAA Championships, which take place next week.

Roster building looks quite different for that tandem of coaches. Drinkwitz, in the highest-profile sport, has millions in player deals. Welker, leading Mizzou’s most successful program at present, doesn’t have that much to wrangle. But both will have to adjust to the roster limits, wherever they end up falling.

“It’s going to be tough,” Welker said, “not only for us but I’m sure other sports as well.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Drinkwitz said. “But my hope is that we understand this is an unbelievable game. College athletics is a worthwhile fabric of the culture of the United States of America — not just football, not just basketball, not just revenue-generating sports, but also the Olympic sports. They all matter.

“We need to have some sort of governing structure that doesn’t have a lawsuit every stinking day. Like, I get it, but we can’t have a lawsuit every single day that dramatically shifts the rules. We have to have some sort of protection so that we can move forward with a great game.

“I mean, (Monday night’s men’s basketball championship game) was phenomenal to watch. The Final Four was so, so awesome to watch. The entire tournament was enjoyable. College football is enjoyable. Shoutout to Shannon and our women’s gymnastics team: Watching with my daughters on Sunday night, our women’s gymnastics team qualify for the Elite Eight and the national championship in Fort Worth is phenomenal.

“Please, please, please, whoever’s in charge — I don’t know who’s in charge; nobody knows who’s in charge — can we get some sort of structure in place that we don’t have to have lawsuits every single day? … So that we can continue this awesome opportunity that we have for these students to have scholarships to get an education but also the joy that we can bring to the fan base and to the people of this country.”