For one, their arena (the McLeod Center) actually has a video board and 2 ribbon boards in addition to its 2 scoreboards. It's brand new - opened in 2006. They've also figured out how to use the facility in order to make money by renting it out for concerts and other events.
http://www.uni.edu/mcleod/facts.shtml
They've also been in the NCAA tournament 4 out of the last 6 years - soon to be 5 out of 7 ('04, '05, '06 and '09). Before that, though, they hadn't been since 1990. The Missouri Valley Conference had always been a good small conference, but what set them apart is that they were the first to crack the RPI code and make a big commitment to scheduling smartly in order to get the maximum number of teams into the tourney. Others have caught up and the MVC has only been sending 1 or 2 a year for the past few years, but at its height in 2006 the MVC put 4 teams in the NCAAs. They've now got upperclassmen recruits playing from the strong recruiting classes generated by all the success in the middle of the decade.
I expect CU to pass the MVC schools except for maybe Bradley. They've got a hell of a program that's close to both Chicago and St. Louis. They're Top 50 in attendance every year. Here's what their arena looks like: