To answer the second question, I think there is political pressure. The old argument was that Texas couldn't support all of these P5 schools, and they'd all suck if another was elevated.
Well, as of now, Texas only sucks because they have a lot of self-inflicted wounds. Baylor, TCU, A&M, and Tech are all performing at, or above, historical averages. And then you have Houston sitting there with a very real shot at a "CFP" bowl game.
Houston has made a huge push in the last several years to move beyond commuter school to more of an established university. They're like Louisville, but just several years in reverse. They've attained Tier 1 status, they have an endowment nearing $700 million, and they're starting to see more on campus, invested students who see it as a four-year experience. Texas, the state, would like nothing more than to see Houston continue to ascend in prestige because, as of right now, it's the only Tier 1 school in Texas, with a law school, that isn't in a P5 conference (Texas and A&M are the others).
Texas, the school, has been battling with the state since Rick Perry was there, so what UT wants is kind of secondary to what the state will dictate at this point.
