I've seen very little of the Cowboys, but know that they have a good freshman, and he's surrounded by half decent role players. I believe their success is predicated on how well the role players perform on any given night. The kind of team you feel you can beat, but on any given night, they can all play well and beat you.
Saw some of the Jayhawks game last night, and was shocked the Miners were having their way with them the first half. I haven't followed C-USA at all this season, but looking at their record, UTEP appears to be in the bottom half of that conference. I can remember UTEP was a formidable opponent 2-3 decades back, one of the top mid majors out there in hoops.