Due to a lot of the football money coming (with millions more in the future) and the consolidation of conferences, the SEC is the only athletic conference where schools are gaining enrollment while other colleges across the country are declining in enrollment.
Right now, it’s easy to poke fun at schools in the South. But, more and more non-Southern students are choosing to enroll due to merit aid and cheaper tuition. It may take a couple decades, but the new alumni bases will outpace other schools.
On top of this, due to so much enrollment, these schools can begin to be more selective and produce more quality student bodies.
I’m not saying that Arkansas or Ole Miss (Hotty Toddy!) will be “Public Ivies” in the near future, but perceptions are and will certainly continue to change.
This is likely the best answer. Funding may derail some of these plans but you get a school like Clemson which I recently visited and damn it looks nice.