Texas can pretty much do whatever it wants to do. It's one of the two or three wealthiest athletic programs in the country. Every other P5 conference would have to think very, very hard before turning down the opportunity to admit Texas. Eight of its nine conference mates have no prospect of changing conferences in the absence of a major realignment that Texas itself would most likely trigger. So long as Oklahoma is happy enough to stay put, Texas is in a perfectly viable situation from a competitive and financial standpoint. Texas has no incentive to ever sign a grant of rights.

Oklahoma's options are not as broad as Texas enjoys. On its own, Oklahoma could probably find another conference home if it wanted. But OU isn't going to the Big Ten without Texas (or maybe Kansas, which seems a huge stretch absent other realignment), it's not going to the PAC without at least three other middle America programs including one or more from Texas, and it's unlikely to go to the ACC under any circumstances that don't involve the Longhorns. That leaves the SEC, and Oklahoma is understandably cautious about the competitive difficulties it would have in that league from a recruiting standpoint.

Whether OU will or will not sign a GOR is pretty much irrelevant. It doesn't need to sign and it should only sign if Texas chose to do so. But nevertheless, Texas and OU are still better off running the show in the Big 12 so long as the money is competitive with other conferences. And for now, it is.