Not sure what you mean by overrated but I like cities that are unique. Too much in our country is cookie cutter. New Orleans is one of the unique places. San Francisco, Savannah, Boston, NY, Charleston, Philadelphia are other places that aren’t quite like anywhere else. On the other hand I have had the experience of being in a city and momentarily forgetting whether it was Houston, St Louis, Atlanta or LA, because the highways, strip malls and chain restaurants and stores in that moment looked exactly the same. Not saying those places don’t have their own pockets of charm but they don’t have the overwhelming gestalt that a place like New Orleans has.
I'm not sure when the last time you've been to the cities you've mentioned as "unique places", but they've become heavily commercialized with chain restaurants and chain stores. That's just commercialization of everything that's going on.
You say Houston and Atlanta (not metro, but Atlanta proper) look exactly the same, but that tells me you haven't been in a while. Atlanta has become an eclectic mix of different neighborhoods like Kirkwood, Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, Grant Park, Edgewood, Virginia Highlands, Midtown, Downtown, etc. Both Atlanta and Houston have become amazing culinary cities. Atlanta is actually about to get its first Michelin rated restaurants according to the service, and is consistently ranked as one of the best places to visit for food. I haven't spent real time in St Louis, but LA also has amazing food. You know what Atlanta/Houston/LA have in common? A very diverse population that have taken traditional cuisine and turned it upside down with infusing it with the cultural influence of its immigrant settlers. Both Houston and Atlanta have vibrant art and music scenes. LA I don't care for due to traffic and outrageous prices, but they also have a vibrant art and music scene.
New Orleans does have its uniqueness (architecture, ambiance (Jazz!), traditions, etc,), but the food lacks inspiration, and the city smells like piss and human feces. I refuse to go there during the warmer months as the heat makes the city smell even worse. If that's what you consider unique, then have at it. Most of the famous restaurants take themselves too seriously and refuse to innovate...that's why I said the food outside of the city is much better than inside the city. There's a series on Netflix that's called Ugly Delicious, and they talk about how New Orleans city restaurants are too stuck on the past. Of course, there's spots here and there that are good, but for its reputation, I can leave New Orleans rather than take it. A lot of the chefs that use to work in the legendary New Orleans restaurants have left the city and opened their own places and infused their cuisine with different twists and unique flavors.
In all my traveling, I find cities in secondary and tertiary markets have actually been my favorites in terms of cuisine and culture. Places like Asheville, Savannah, Charleston, Austin, Amelia Island, Nashville, Louisville...I could go on.
So, to tie this back to Conference Realignment, it would be fun to rank the potential schools based not on sports prowess, but places that would be great to visit for the cuisine and cultural enjoyment. IMO, that's one of my favorite things about college sports...the chance to visit cities and towns you normally wouldn't to experience things you haven't before.