Yes, we are coming at it from different perspectives and will have to agree to disagree on most of it I suppose. Actually, the fact that I've spent this much time defending a school not in my conference that I have zero stake in or loyalty to is a very sad commentary on my obsession with college football. Obviously I need to get out more.
I'm going to guess that from A&M's perspective - all of that "we are committed to making it work for 10 years/solid on the Big 12" thing went out the window when Texas signed that network deal because they felt that this was a sign Texas wasn't really all that committed to the Big 12 and making it work for 10 years. I''ll speculate that they felt Texas backed out of that commitment first and all bets were off. Regardless, college football is what it is and as you said -mostly about money these days, so from the start, I wouldn't have assumed that agreement was worth the paper it was printed on - for anyone. Again, I have to think if Iowa State thought they could get into the Big X today - what would that agreement mean to your school? I'm guessing not a lot.
Bottom line my point is, if you are going to be pissed at A&M then you need to be pissed at Texas as well. If your aren't pissed at Texas then there's no reason to be pissed at A&M. They are acting in the same way on the same basis for the same reason. If you don't like the behavior of one - you shouldn't like the behavior of the other. I don't understand getting that upset with one and letting the other off the hook.
If you or your school feels Texas is committed to making your conference work and will make an effort to look after your best interests - what can I say. I think your trust is terribly misplaced, but its your school and your conference.
Yes, joining the Big 10 would have been a good decision for ISU in retrospect, but hindsight is 20/20. It seems odd to have ISU in one conference and Iowa in another. Who knows what may work out in the future. I do hope that the BYU thing works out. If not - I hope that regardless of whatever agreement your school signed, if another conference comes sniffing around (and I know that doesn't seem likely at the moment, but things can change quickly) they take a serious look.