Kentucky refused an invitation to the NCAA tournament. Kentucky ended its season by winning the Southeastern Conference. With a record of 25-0 overall, and 14-0 in conference, Kentucky refused the invitation because three of their players had already received their degree - and thus were ineligible for the tournament by NCAA rules then in place.

Kentucky was banned from playing any games during the 1952-1953 season, for violations related to gambling several years earlier. During that 1952-1953 season, Kentucky was scheduled to play LSU in Baton Rouge.

So, when Kentucky returned in this 1953-1954 season, do they play LSU at LSU, because they missed last year? Or, do they play LSU in Lexington because they play in Lexington on alternating years?

When the league ruled that Kentucky had to play LSU in Baton Rouge, Kentucky's Adolph Rupp refused. The SEC then found a compromise: LSU and Kentucky would play Georgia an extra time instead of each other. Just to add to the confusion, the ruling was that the extra games would count in the standings for Kentucky and LSU, but not Georgia.

After all that, Kentucky and LSU tied for the conference championship. Kentucky won the playoff, but then refused to go to the NCAA tournament. So LSU went.

One other note: Kentucky had this same problem of alternating home courts with every other team in the SEC, but only refused to play LSU. Could it be that Adolph Rupp knew that LSU was the only team that had a chance to beat Kentucky that year?