Las Vegas Crowd Goes Nuts as VCU Covers the Spread in Loss to Ohio State

March Madness is a heartwarming time.

People of all creeds come together to cheer for the feel-good stories—the upsets and underdogs, the sight of grown men toppling from chairs in rapture. And the spread. The soul-stirring triumph of the spread.

Yes, amid all the NCAA tournament’s rosy sentimentality, the undercurrent of sports gambling is running strong in Las Vegas, where bettors screamed for another kind of buzzer-beater Thursday afternoon.

ESPN sports betting correspondent Tommy Lorenzo (h/t NextImpulseSports.com) posted video of a tournament watch party exploding at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook on Thursday. Bettors lost it when VCU’s Jonathan Williams slipped in a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the round-of-64 matchup against the Buckeyes.

The shot did nothing for Shaka Smart’s team, which lost 75-72 in overtime, but it meant everything to bettors,  who liked VCU to cover the 3.5 spread.

Breathe it in, guys. This is what March Madness is all about—last-second fireworks that change everything.

If you can’t find the romance in a room full of boozy people losing their gourds over small, greedy moments in sports, you might not believe in love.

Dan is on Twitter. Cheer for the underdog. And always take VCU to cover.