The plan for UT to come to UH was based on UT having two more years in the conference. If that gets negotiated down to one, the schedule changes. I believe that’s why the schedule hasn’t been released yet. The two year schedule is different from the One Final Year schedule.
The Longhorns playing at Houston means they are not playing at one of the 8 legacy members. The current plan is that everybody plays everybody at least one time in the two years of overlap. However, if UT and OU are only going to be around for one final season, the 4 or 5 teams scheduled to have UT come to their stadium may want to hold on to that game.
Also, it might be subject to early exit negotiations. “We will agree to these terms under one condition: We don’t have to play in any of the newbies’ stadiums.” … not sure the conference lets that stand in the way of a more lucrative exit buyout.
2b) It’s possible the entire plan to have them come to Houston was meant as negotiation leverage for just this purpose. If you want them to pay a lot of extra money to leave early, one way to push that along is to make more unhappy their experience in the last couple of years. I don’t think this is the case, but it’s possible.