There won't be any tailgating. There won't be anyone scalping tickets. There won't even be alcohol, much less drunk fans playing beer pong along University Avenue with ESPN blaring from a TV in the background.
When the Board of Trustees gathers today, there won't be any of that.
Instead of 90,000 screaming fans watching 22 sweaty athletes, there might be a total of 50 people watching 13 conservatively dressed board members discussing some of the biggest issues facing the university.
Budget cuts. Tuition hikes. It's what they do. And as UF's highest governing body, when the board talks, people listen.
Now, after a three-month hiatus, the board will be led by a new chairman - W.A. "Mac" McGriff III, a private investor from Jacksonville who has been on the board since 2001.
McGriff, 65, said he never imagined when he was taking classes at UF in the 1960s that he would one day end up as head of UF's most powerful body.
"I was thinking about getting out of the business school and getting a job," he said. "I had a wife and a kid."
McGriff, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1969, was born and raised in Gainesville.
"I've been a Gator all my life," he said.
He has three children and eight grandchildren, all living in Jacksonville. He splits most of his time between Jacksonville and a 1,500-acre farm he co-owns in Quitman, Ga., a town of about 5,000 on the southern edge of the state.
"We've got dogs and horses and land that we've groomed up for quail hunting," he said.
Mcgriff, who's been president of the Alliance Mortgage Co. and the Florida Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida, also serves on the Shands HealthCare and University Athletic Association boards of directors.
He's been a registered Republican since age 18 and donated $2,300 to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
Not surprisingly, he said UF's budget issues will be the most difficult thing the trustees will deal with this year. UF still hasn't cut about $16 million of the $42.2 million budget cut announced in May.
"Any of us that have ever been in business have been through this same crap," he said. "And it's not fun. It's not fun."
At today's meeting, there are few action items, but the board's committees will discuss issues like H1N1 swine flu and the merger of UF's Counseling Center and the Student Mental Health Services.
