The south started to rise. Soon Bama followed by other SEC and ACC teams began to dominate college football. In fact the final four play off teams in college football in 2017 were three southern teams and the final two are both from the south. The NFL may follow the same trend.
The 2017 wildcard playoffs featured five of twelve teams from the AFC and NFC South divisions. Even more amazing is four of the eight second round playoff teams are also from the south. These teams were the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans, the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers, and the Atlanta Falcons.