Both of those teams need wins and conference championships in order to rebuild their brands. For both Texas and USC, dominating weaker conferences and re-establishing reputations would be a lot better than joining stronger conferences and then spending time as the doormat.

Arguments can be made that UT is trending in the right direction (they absolutely destroyed Georgia in their bowl game), but they've given up a lot of ground to aTm and OU in recent years.

Similarly, USC's lost ground to Stanford, Oregon, and Washington through the last decade. If they can't regain their mojo soon, they'll become another Nebraska or another Dallas Cowboys—a team that's passed its heyday and doesn't have the self-awareness to even realize the fact.