The 1961-62 season was a bit of a turning point for both Iowa State and Texas Western/UTEP. For Iowa State, they’d see slight improvements in hiring coaches like Maury John or Lynn Nance for his two good seasons (1977-78 and 1978-79).
However, after three straight seasons in the past being ranked in the AP Poll at least once (1955-56 to 1957-58), the Cyclones wouldn’t be in the AP Poll again until the December 15, 1987 poll where they were ranked #20.
UTEP, on the other hand, had 25 of their previous 35 seasons (before hiring Coach Haskins) see the Miners win 50% or less of their games.