Mississippi is a slightly poorer and less populated version of Alabama, and one could say the same for their flagships. Neither school can raise admission standards as it will adversely affect black applicants. So the schools are doing other things to attract top students. Both schools give free tuition to entering freshmen with a 32 on the ACT and a set grade point. Ole Miss only requires a 3.0, with a 3.5 getting an extra $2,700 per year. As a practical matter the Ole Miss student is probably going to get a full ride, whereas the Alabama one is only going to get free tuition. Bringing in a lot of super-bright kids raises the academic quality of the university.
At Ole Miss, and I’m sure Alabama, the Texas 10 percent rule and the Georgia Hope Scholarship have played a big role, in that they have made UT and UGA very difficult to get into. Affluent students wanting the traditional college experience have little choice but to look out of state, and they pay a big premium to do so. These kids are not taking up spaces that otherwise would go to in-state students. They are subsidizing the tuition of in-state students.