Rebels-Gators matchup perfect backdrop for all-SEC love story celebration

On the eve of the Rebels’ matchup in the Swamp tomorrow, we thought we’d kick the weekend off by sharing a true SEC love story. It’s story of 2017 Ole Miss and Florida grads brought together by a passion for SEC football along with hard work, fate, golf and love.

In plans leading up to a May 2025 wedding in Charleston, the happy couple in this story found the Rebels’ away game in Gainesville this weekend too perfect an opportunity to pass up to celebrate their engagement.

After all, one is an Ole Miss Rebel and the other is a Florida Gator.

Shane Brown and Frances Buchanan under a tent at a sports event. / Buchanan Family Photo

The Rebel-Gator couple met through country-hopping jobs in the golf industry, first on Long Island, then in San Francisco followed by Kiawah Island in South Carolina. Friends and co-workers at first, the relationship between Frances Buchanan (2017, Ole Miss, IMC) and Shane Brown (2017, Univ. of Florida, Finance), blossomed into something more during their third stint working together in golf.

Entry level jobs in golf often start with internships doing the unglamorous, behind the scenes work of putting on world-class, professional golf tournaments. They do things like painting fences and attaching windscreens — all chores that provide the necessary foundation for future careers in golf and really any other industry.

When Frances graduated from Ole Miss in 2017 with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications, she was armed with great writing and communications skills. Not knowing exactly what she wanted to do, her mom, Allison Buchanan, an Ole Miss Journalism major (1982), and her Dad, Pat Buchanan, Ole Miss Law (1989), suggested IMC.

They advised that no matter what she did for her career, at least she would learn to write and communicate. While she took their advice, she always gravitated toward sports — the operational side of sports to be specific — for her internships.

Hawtin and Frances Buchanan at an Ole Miss game when they were youngsters. / Buchanan Family Photo

From a sports-loving family of athletes, she played baseball, softball, basketball and volleyball in jr. high and high school. Her brother, Hawtin Buchanan, a three-sport athlete in high school, played baseball for Ole Miss on the 2012-2014 teams. Her Mom and Dad had played high school sports and were certainly their childrens’ biggest fans and supporters.

Her four years at Ole Miss were augmented by jobs in sports. From working summer jobs in her hometown during the inaugural first two season of the Biloxi (Mississippi) Shuckers AA minor league team, to the Cape Cod baseball league then a part-time position in the Ole Miss athletic department, she was paving her way to grad school in Sport & Entetainment Management at another SEC school, the University of South Carolina.

It was there following an internship at the Palm Beach County Sports Commission that she had the opportunity to work The Masters in Augusta. Needless to say, with the Masters experience, she had found the sport that would ultimately be her calling.

That led to a post-grad internship with the PGA of America for the 2019 PGA Championship tournament in Bethpage (Long island) New York. That is where she first met Shane.

Buchanan family with Shane Brown and Frances Buchanan (far right) at a Florida game. / Buchanan Family Photo

The same age and high school graduation year, Shane was a three-sport athlete in high school in Jacksonville, playing golf, lacrosse and baseball. A personal goal was achieved when he was accepted into the University of Florida, a competitive and notoriously hard school to get into.

He took advantage of the opportunity and majored in Finance ready to take on the world. After opportunities outside of sports, he decided to apply for a job with the PGA of America, which led to the Championship in Bethpage where he met Frances.

After lots of hard work, the internship paid off for both of them. They each took advantage of the opportunity to work hard and show their skills in Bethpage and benefitted from a bit of fate as well.

In the highly competitive race to land “real jobs” in sports, they each successfully leveraged the intern experience into full-time positions with the next PGA Championship slated for Harding Park in San Francisco in May of 2020. It later got delayed to August 2020 due to COVID-19 and was the first professional sports championship to return post/during COVID.

Shane Brown and Frances Buchanan at a Florida Gators game. / Buchanan Family Photo

After San Francisco, they both got assigned to the next PGA Championship slated for Kiawah in May of 2021. Yet again a bit of fate (or luck) since they were still just co-workers not dating yet, and the organization usually sends young people to a variety of tournaments such as the Ryder Cup or Women’s PGA Championship.

But following that Championship they had both begun to tire of the uncertainty of not knowing where they would be assigned next and the constant moving around, so they both decided to get out of golf.

Shane had an interest in construction project management and landed a position with Yates and Frances became Senior Marketing and Business Operations Manager at USA Water Ski and Wake Sports, a position that would allow her to follow Shane to a couple of locations during his training phase with Yates.

They ended up in Winter Park, Florida where Shane was assigned to a large project at Universal Studios.

While there, an opportunity with the PGA Tour based in Jacksonville beckoned for Frances. It was very similar to her previous roles in golf but without the prospect of all of the moving around. It would be based at the Tour’s headquarters working with the Players Championship at Sawgrass — a course right next door — an ideal chance to get back into golf.

Shane Brown and Frances Buchanan at a PGA event. / Buchanan Family Photo

Since Shane grew up in Jacksonville, and his parents still live in the area, it made sense for Frances to take the PGA Tour job. Shane was content to remain in construction, and it was an opportunity for him to find a project management position back home. He was hired for a fantastic opportunity with Favergray, a commercial construction firm specializing in multifamily and student housing communities and serves as a Project Manager.

Jacksonville is now home. Pat and Allison along with Shane’s parents Terri and Dave are happy Frances and Shane found each other and as Allison says, “Jacksonville’s a straight shot across I-10 from Biloxi.”

Frances and Shane are currently building a house together in the Jacksonville area. Of course, they are certainly a lot closer to Gainesville than they are to Oxford, so this weekend’s matchup provided a rare and perfect opportunity to celebrate their engagement and bring a little Grove to the sunshine state. Many of Frances’ friends will be down anyway, and Shane has a huge Gator network already in the area.

Ole Miss well represented with desserts at joint event around Ole Miss-Florida game. / Buchanan Family Photo

The weekend will kick off with an engagement party tonight at a waterfront home in Jacksonville. The party will be complete with Rebel and Gator toasts, decorations, cookies and more as Guests will have a choice of “choosing their team” when they arrive by grabbing either a “Hotty Toddy” or a “Go Gators” cup. Cocktail napkins feature a Colonel Rebel and the Gator mascot.

But the celebration will continue on Saturday with a rented van transporting some of the group to a Rebel-Gator-themed tailgate in “Gatorwalk Village.” They’ll break out the themed cups and napkins once again along with plenty of cheers, good-natured conversation, competing game-day attire and fun.

One of the features of the tailgate that the family arranged was to provide a “name” for a sign on your tailgate. After much deliberation and consensus, they chose “Hotty Toddy! Go Gators! Lane Kiffin Fan Club.” (Of course the Lane Kiffin reference has a double meaning since there have been more than a few rumors all season about Florida wanting to recruit Kiffin.)

With divided loyalties, all the trimmings are planned for event around the Ole Miss-Florida game Saturday. / Buchanan Family Photo

With such a memorable celebration, the Buchanan-Brown union is sure to see many SEC tailgates in its future. There are serious fans within the family on both sides. So when the game begins all eyes will be on the field in such a pivotal matchup for both teams.

If a referee is needed, the family can always turn their attention to Frances’ sister-n-law (Hawtin’s wife Sarah Beth) who as a former Mississippi State Diamond Girl, brings neutral SEC diversity this weekend. Her favorite saying is, “I just hope both teams have fun.”

Editors Note: Frances’ grandfather was 1958 Sugar Bowl MVP Ole Miss quarterback Raymond Brown.