I don’t know if there are credible undergraduate Physics rankings, so it’s hard to say for sure. I can’t imagine the quality of education is all that different among major R1 state flagships, but perhaps prestige is a factor for grad school or job placement? For grad schools, which presumably share at least some professors, research and higher level classes with undergrad programs, both Kansas and Nebraska appear to be top-100 based on USNews, NRC and QS. Perhaps not in the same tier as some of the others, but still pretty good, and also a very good value. I know Kansas also has a very highly regarded honors program.
My son still has Minnesota on his list. The 4-year total cost is somewhat cheaper than Illinois with the scholarships, even considering their likely tuition increases. That made it a nice value for a top-25 ish program, but I think he may be leaning to Illinois since it’s closer, he has more friends going there and the cost isn’t significantly more.
I think every state is cutting university budgets, but at least Nebraska is one of the most solvent states in the country overall. Maybe balanced budgets are how they do it. A concept completely foreign to Illinois legislators!
And yeah, not much for the Illini Marching Band to cheer about in the last decade or two. Nebraska seems like a good contender for both band and Physics, and certainly Ohio State, too.