SEC Connections: Florida

In our series SEC Connections, we take a quick look at coincidences, partnerships and parallels between The University of Texas at Austin and our sister schools in the Southeastern Conference. This week, The University of Florida.

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Robert Cade grew up in San Antonio and graduated from UT in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1961, this Life Member of the Texas Exes went to work as a nephrologist (kidney specialist) at the University of Florida College of Medicine and in 1965 led a team of researchers in trying to figure out why football players didn't urinate after a game. They soon learned that players lost so much fluid that they had none left to form urine. Cade developed a drink that contained salts and sugars that could be absorbed more quickly, and the basis for Gatorade was formed, so named for the team that would first drink it, thanks to a Longhorn.