An important game in Rupp's career was the 1966 NCAA championship game at Cole Field House against Texas Western, coached by Don Haskins. It featured Kentucky's all-white starting five versus Texas Western's all-black starting five as well as occurring at the height of the Civil Rights Era. Though Rupp "once vowed that a black would never play at Kentucky,"[17] the game, which Texas Western won 72-65, helped accelerate the ongoing integration movement in college basketball, as well as the overall recruiting approach of the SEC, ACC, and SWC conferences at large.