The Nico Iamaleava situation isn’t the disease. It’s just the latest symptom of it.

College football has plunged into chaos. And it’s college football’s fault. After years of screwing the players, the chickens have come home to roost. And the rabbit now has the gun.

Coaches and administrators have, to date, largely reacted to the situation by pissing and/or moaning and/or (in the case of Nick Saban) quitting. The reality continues to be that there are only two ways out of this oversized corn maze.

One, embrace the notion that college football players are employees — and create a nationwide union.

ESPN’s Rece Davis recently suggested a “framework” that would address a situation like Iamaleava’s. That framework would come from a Collective Bargaining Agreement and, more importantly, from the antitrust exemption that a multi-employer bargaining unit would create.

Two, lobby Congress for an antitrust exemption. Multiple bills are currently pending that would overhaul the collegiate sports system. The better outcome (for the various institutions) would be to simply allow the NCAA and its member schools to set rules that would apply throughout the country. While it would be impossible to put the toothpaste entirely back in the tube at this point, the current problem flows directly from the fact that everything about the prior system of NCAA rules violated the federal antitrust laws. The only alternative to breaking down the walls was anarchy.

So it’s that simple. Welcome a union, or finagle a federal antitrust exemption. While either path will be complex and tricky, those are the only two choices for turning the current chaos into some sense of order.